Rich pickings

The Pangu Wenqi Chinese Restaurant's (盘古文奇美食汇) average check varies from 1,000 to 2,000 yuan per person but a hungry diner with a thick wallet can spend a lot more. The restaurant is located on the 5th and 6th floors of the Pangu 7 Star Hotel Beijing, which overlooks the Olympic venues. It provides Chaozhou cuisine and offers expensive soups, seafood and marinated meats.

You can spend around 1,000 yuan on a helping of top-quality Japanese abalone, or a pot of shark fin soup, or bird's nest soup, or a 200-gram chop of 5A Kobe beef. But there are also plenty of dishes that cost from 50-150 yuan a plate.

No effort is spared to provide the best food: all ingredients are transported from Chaozhou, in Guangdong province, the home of the cuisine. Dishes are beautifully presented and are healthy, using only a small amount of salt and oil, according to Chiu Chow chef Robert Luo.