Jieyou Travel Jieyou Inbound China Travel Routes

Michelin 3 Stars · Beijing

Chao Shang Chao

潮上潮 — Three-starred Chaozhou cooking in the heart of the Beijing CBD — cold crab, superior shark-fin-free broths and claypot rice executed with a…

Build a trip around thisMore in Beijing
Chao Shang Chao

Why we list it

Three-starred Chaozhou cooking in the heart of the Beijing CBD — cold crab, superior shark-fin-free broths and claypot rice executed with a discipline that made it the fastest three-star rise in the city’s guide history.

Booking note: Lunch easier than dinner; bring an appetite for broth courses.

What to order

  • Cold marinated crab
  • Chaozhou claypot congee
  • Pan-fried oyster

Teochew cooking at three-star level

Chaozhou cuisine is the most austere of China’s great regional traditions. The point is the original flavour of the ingredient, carried by an aged master brine that some kitchens keep alive for decades, and by broths simmered to clarity rather than richness. Chao Shang Chao brings that discipline into the Beijing CBD, and it is the capital’s most convincing argument that restraint can be a luxury.

The dining room is modern and quiet, closer to a private club than a banquet hall. Service runs on a Teochew rhythm rather than a Beijing one: courses arrive in a considered order, tea is poured between them, and nobody rushes the table toward a turnover.

Brine, cold counter and broth

Three techniques define the kitchen. The first is the brine — star anise, cinnamon, galangal and soy, built up over years and used to poach goose, duck, pork and offal. The second is the cold counter: fish poached in salted water and served at room temperature, the dish that locals call fish rice though no rice is involved. The third is broth, double-boiled until clear, seasoned at the last moment.

The meal moves in the Teochew sequence — cold courses first, then broths, then the main seafood, then congee to close. Gongfu tea arrives between stages; it comes from the same coastal strip as the food and is rinsed, poured and re-poured throughout the meal. Sweet endings are simple: fried taro with sugar, or a cool almond cream.

What to order and when to go

The cold marinated crab is the house signature and should be the first thing on the table; the claypot congee comes last, as it should. Oyster omelette and braised goose with tofu are the other two dishes regulars never skip. Ask the kitchen to size the order for the table — Teochew menus are built to be shared, not sequenced per person.

Lunch is noticeably easier to book than dinner and the tasting rhythm makes a two-hour table sensible rather than indulgent. Reserve three to seven days out for dinner, longer around holidays. Vegetarians are looked after but the kitchen is happiest cooking seafood, so say so when booking.

It is also one of the few starred rooms in Beijing where a solo diner is comfortable: the cold counter is properly served, and the kitchen will build a shorter sequence without making it feel like a compromise.

Dishes to know in Beijing

More tables in Beijing

Routes that pass through