Eight New BJ Restaurants Gain Diamonds in 2026 Black Pearl Guide

Katie Coy, Managing Editor | Feb 6, 2026 11:30 am | Add a comment | 320 reads

The 2026 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide – which can be seen as China's version of the Michelin Guide – was released last week and saw 35 Beijing restaurants on the list. Launched in 2018 by Meituan-Dianping, the annual guide evaluates restaurants based on culinary skill, consumer experience, and inheritance and innovation.

Instead of stars, the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide awards diamonds: three diamond restaurants are "must visit once in a lifetime", two diamond restaurants are "perfect for special occasions", and one diamond restaurants are "great for family/friends gatherings".

Of the 35 Beijing restaurants on the list, there is one three-diamond restaurant, five two-diamond restaurants, and 29 three-diamond restaurants. Eight new restaurants gained diamonds this year, however the number of Black Pearl restaurants is down two from last year overall.

Two big changes in this year's awards were Jingji Aristocrat Cuisine by Rong managing to snag the elusive three diamonds (moving up from two last year), while Gastro Aesthetics DaDong lost a diamond, moving from three to two.

It's interesting to compare the Black Pearl Guide with the 2026 Beijing Michelin Guide, with a key difference being that the three-Michelin-star restaurant Chao Shang Chao was only awarded one diamond, and the other three-Michelin-star restaurant Xin Rong Ji, was only awarded two diamonds. Another contrast is that three diamond restaurant Jingji Aristocrat Cuisine by Rong, only received two Michelin stars in this year's guide.

There is still quite a lot of crossover though, and you can see the full list of 2026 Black Pearl Restaurants below with those that were also awarded stars in the 2026 Beijing Michelin Guide, being highlighted in bold.