The Beijinger Reader Restaurant Awards 2012: Experts' Panel – Part Two

This is part two of a three-part series. Read part one here.

Every year we ask you, the readers, for your opinion on the best in Beijing dining at the Reader Restaurant Awards. We value your opinion very highly but we thought you'd also value the opinion of the experts so we canvassed a select few. Here's part two of their picks (and a little introduction as to why we consider them to be experts). Bon appetit.

BEST FOR A ROMANTIC MEAL
Capital M

BEST FRENCH
Jaan, Raffles Beijing

BEST HOTEL BRUNCH
Bubbly Sundays, Senses, Westin Beijing Financial Street

BEST FOR IMPRESSING VISITORS (CHINESE)
Da Dong

BEST FOR IMPRESSING VISITORS (NON-CHINESE)
China Grill, Park Hyatt Beijing

BEST INDIAN/PAKISTANI
Mughal's

BEST ITALIAN (AFFORDABLE)
Annie's

BEST ITALIAN (HIGH-END)
Cepe, Ritz-Carlton Financial Street

BEST JAPANESE
Yotsuba

BEST KOREAN
Ssam

BEST LATE -NIGHT DINING
Bellagio

BEST MEXICAN /TEX-MEX
Mexican Kitchen

BEST MIDDLE EASTERN
Rumi

BEST OUTDOOR DINING
Capital M

BEST PIZZA
Kro's Nest

BEST PLACE FOR A CELEBRATION
Capital M

BEST PROVINCIAL GOVT. RESTAURANT
Chuan Ban

RESTAURANT PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
Ignace Lecleir, Temple Restaurant Beijing

Who are the experts? Read on to find out.

Dong Keping
A renowned Chinese food critic with years of industry experience and unique opinions about Chinese and Western food. He also consults for many Beijing restaurants and Beijing chefs.

Emily Young
A former assistant dining editor for the Beijinger, Emily now covers the local food scene for DailyVitamin.cn.

Tom O’Malley
A former dining editor and contributing writer to the Beijinger, Tom is a battle-scarred defender of British food and cooking.

Xixi Cheng
Xixi is the founder of Beijing Foodies, whose charity dinners with food-crazed Beijingers have raised over RMB 100,000 for good causes.

Jim Boyce
Putting up with bad service daily so we don’t have to, Jim wields great influence through his nightlife and dining blog, BeijingBoyce.com. He is also the founder of Grapewallofchina.com, one of China’s best wine blogs.

Edward Ragg
Edward Ragg is co-founder, with Fongyee Walker, of Dragon Phoenix Fine Wine Consulting and an associate professor at Tsinghua University. He writes for the world’s top wine magazines and a number of prominent wine sites.

Vincent Tung
This top food blogger, also the owner of Cafe de Sofa at Houhai, reviews Beijing restaurants using his own rating system, bestows his own annual awards, and has thousands of followers.

Michael Crain
The founder of Chi Fan For Charity.

Zhao Ziyun
The food editor at the Beijing News, Zhao is always looking for great food news, great restaurants, and even better experiences.

Richard Xu
Xu is Editor-in-Chief of New Western Cuisine magazine and a Fellow at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

Shu Qiao
Shu is among the most renowned food columnists in China, having published several collections of her essays and even a novella, which was made into a food- and revenge-themed motion picture.

Jen Lin-Liu
Lin-Liu is the author of Serve the People and founder and owner of Black Sesame Kitchen. Her upcoming book details a culinary journey along the Silk Road.

Ye Jun
As chief food writer at China Daily, Ye Jun has penned articles on everything from the unstoppable rise of Sichuan food in Beijing to roundups of bargain-basement noodle restaurants.