the Beijinger

Our estimable cross-town competitors City Weekend announced their Readers’ Choice awards in a blog post last Wednesday. Now that both of us have announced the results of our respective reader surveys (see a full list of ours here), let’s take a look at what these two magazines’ readers agree and disagree on.

Yesterday we compared the results of the Beijinger’s Bar & Clubs Awards with our crosstown rival’s recently announced awards. Today we do the same with restaurants – comparing the results of our reader survey concluded in March and City Weekend’s reader awards announced last week.

Beijing has had its say over the past three weeks and the final is here, and boy, have we got a heavyweight matchup for you? It's America versus New Zealand as long-term favorite Kro’s Nest is going to head-to-head with delivery upstart Gung Ho! Pizza in a match to decide who lifts The Beijinger Pizza Cup.

Kro's fought off a late surge from stalwart The Tree in the Final Four to earn its spot in the final, whereas Gung Ho handily dispatched Hutong Pizza to earn their berth.

Neither establishment had an easy path to those penultimate matches. Kro’s path included victories over Pizza Buona, Paddy O’Shea’s, La Pizza and finally The Tree. Gung Ho’s path meant fending off Vineyard Café, Annie’s, Sureno and Hutong Pizza.

No less exciting will be the third-place playoff match, which pits two great pizza spots with long traditions different styles, and different turfs – Sanlitun’s The Tree and Houhai’s Hutong Pizza.

Seven years ago we set the bar high with Beijing’s first-ever reader-driven restaurant awards in Beijing’s English media. Here’s a look back at what was hot in Beijing’s restaurant scene in 2004, our first ever awards, and along the way we’ll remind you of the winners of this year’s awards.

An American doctor who practiced plastic surgery in Beijing for several years between 2004 and 2007 is under arrest in Dubai for impersonating a celebrity surgeon and allegedly disfiguring several of his patients.

Newcomers Salt and Chef Too joined long-time award winners Alameda, Annie's and Made in China as the most decorated dining establishments in the 2008 that's Beijing Reader Restaurant Awards which were presented yesterday at a gala ceremony at CJWattended by a crowd of 300 revelers.

Da Dong Roast Duck and Salt shared top honors in the Restaurant of the Year category. Runners up in the Chinese Restaurant of the Year were Din Tai Fung and the Grand Hyatt's Made in China, while Alameda and Chef Too were named runners up in the Non-Chinese category.

Fifty-six restaurants in all were decorated in the annual balloting which takes place each spring. A full list of winners appears below; for full details – plus editors' and experts selections, grab a copy of the May edition of that's Beijing magazine, which hits the streets on April 24.

Winners of the 2008 that's Beijing Reader Restaurant Awards

Beijing Duck

Best: Da Dong

Outstanding: Made in China, Grand Hyatt; Quan Ju De

Bands from six Beijing High Schools – The Western Academy of Beijing, Beijing World Youth Academy, International School of Beijing, Tsinghua, No. 55, and Harrow – are set to rock Vics in Sanlitun tonight in a fundraiser for Japan.

Tonight (June 15) it's once again time for you to put on your thinking caps to help a worthy local charity, have a great time and possibly walk home with stupendous goodies. Turn up at the Sanlitun location of Schindler’s for what is quickly evolving into an annual tradition: the Magic Hospital Charity Quiz Night.

Teams of up to 8 are welcome to join (reservations suggested – team slots are filling quickly as of this writing).

For more information on signing up, what you can win, and the charity you can support, check out beijing-kids.

Let’s say you’re opening a subway station smack dab in the middle of the CBD, within the shadow of the iconic CCTV Tower and the soon-to-be-tallest building in Beijing. Next door is the well-known Kerry Centre and the nearest intersection is Guanghua Road and the Third Ring Road.

What would you name it?

How about Jintaixizhao, rehashing a reference to a centuries-old scenic vista long lost to the sands of time that few modern day residents have any clue about?