Zagat Goes to the Olympics

Zagat, the ever famous restaurant and hotel guide, will be releasing its first ever Beijing edition that will be ready for all those who will be traveling to the capital city for the Olympics, according to the New York Times.

According to the reader reviews, Beijing's most popular restaurant is Alameda, top food goes to Made in China (no way!), and best hotel goes to the Peninsula Palace (ahh???). Alameda is always popular among expats and regularly wins awards, but Made in China? I've eaten there and had great meals, but its far from the city's best and the prices are just flat out outrageous.

As for the Peninsula as Beijing's best hotel, I'm a little surprised. Beijing has many high end hotels and it seems they are adding five star establishments exponentially. The Grand Hyatt is arguably the city's best, but is hampered by relatively small room size. The Peninsula was the spot in the early 90s, but now it just seems to have lost its glamour and the rooms are just okay. With all the other new hotels like the Ritz Carlton, The Regent, and the ones that have yet to open like the Shangri-La's and the Park Hyatt, its going to be tough for the Peninsula to keep its top spot.

Oh yeah, the top tourist destination was the Forbidden City, what a surprise, right?