This small piece of Lao Beijing is hidden 20 metres down a hutong, the only landmark being the two big red lanterns with the owner name in characters. In stark contrast to the quiet alleway that houses Liu Zhai Shifu, the inside brims with colour and noise. This courtyard space is packed to the rafters nightly and, unless you抳e booked one of the 20 tables, think about dining elsewhere. Most customers are regulars. The Liu family lived in this courtyard house for over 100 years, but decided to turn it into a restaurant 9 years ago, serving typical Beijing cuisine at bargain prices. The typical Beijing repertoire includes madoufu, pan-fried mung bean pulp, zha guanchang, deep fried 搒ausage?accompanied by garlic dipping sauce, zha gezi, deep fried?揻rench fries? and suzha wanzi, deep fried vegetable meatballs.

8 Meishuguan Dongjie, Dongcheng district, opposite Sanlian Bookstore (tel 6400 5912) Open 9am-2pm, 4pm-10:30pm.