It's a good place for vegetarians, and the restaurant also dish up chinese culture with its own cuisine. Moreover, the building is a typical courtyard home.

Make your way through a somewhat smelly, noisy and industrial-gray hutong and you'll be rewarded with some of the most tasteful, delicate and thoughtful dishes free of meat and MSG this side of the Pacific.

Upon entering Baihe Vegetarian Restaurant, careful, courteous service will guide you through the homey and humbly buzzing siheyuan past library, waiting and bar areas to bespoke and thoughtfully-arranged seating.

The hotpot with satay is filled with countless mushroom varieties for the insatiable fungus-phile, the tofu with chopped chilies reminds that bean curd can actually have taste , and the hot sizzling shrimp makes of imitation fish a serious contender to the real thing.

In other words, flavor, creativity and civility mean Baihe is a fair dining alternative—and not just for vegetarians. They and meat-lovers alike will leave this place contented. Sadly, you'll have to walk back out through that gray, drab alleyway. -Manuela Zoninsein