In the true spirit of all things Shanghai, this flashy newcomer isn't afraid to strut its stuff in the capital. Adorned with antique furniture and purple lanterns, this upscale four-story venue, with multiple private rooms, top-notch service, and impeccable dishes to boot, treats Beijing palates to the refined taste of the south. Though the menu is laden with seafood, shark's fin and abalone, the hongshaorou, is the piece de resistance. Reminiscent of thick molasses, the sauce provides explosions of sweet and savory flavors, as the cubes of fatty pork melt in the mouth. We also recommend the pink briny bacon, stir-fried with emerald-green dragon beans, the quality of which somehow managed to drown out the Kenny G background music. But the true measure of a Shanghai restaurant is always the steamed dumplings. We ordered the crab roe and pork xiaolongbao and though the actual fillings were somewhat frugal, the soup inside did more than enough to sate our hunger and establish Shanghai's Yuan Yuan as a classy new immigrant in Beijing.

(that's Beijing December 19,2007)