When we came in, they had a group of ladies dressed as Qing dynasty courtesans dancing in the main courtyard. Advertising boasts dishes once prepared for the emperor, so be prepared for a luxurious evening. They have fix menus with a lot of tiny dishes, all of them delicious, starting from 100Y/24dishes/person and ending with 500Y/20 dishes/person. The greatest variety of meat that I have ever seen in a Chinese restaurant. There's steak, lamb, bar-b-q pork chops, roasted Chinese sweet potatoes, fried calimari and whole cooked fish. The roast lamb joints are very tender and melt in your mouth. Fan Zhuang was opened in 1925 by chefs who used to work in the royal kitchen "Yu Shan Fang", many snacks are still strictly made by hand in its traditional methods. it also offers the most famous Chinese set meal "Man Han Quan Xi", but beware; you'll need to have a huge appetite. The food is a bit expensive compared with some other restaurants in the city, but you definitely can't find another restaurant with the atmosphere! The waiters/waitresses all wear traditional clothes. 

Our very interesting dinner included turtle, deer, and other rare imperial treats! If you like, you can splurge and book an Emperor's Banquet which you get to dress up as an Emperor. It is necessary to reserve and order well in advance for the Emperor's dinner. I think you eat over the course of a couple of days. The cuisine originates from the imperial kitchen which cooked food for the emperor and his family. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, some chefs from the imperial kitchen opened restaurants in the capital to introduce the special food once only eaten by the imperial family. The Fangshan (Imperial-style) Restaurant sits on the island in Beihai Park in a traditional courtyard facing the lake. Apart from delicious dishes meticulously prepared with rare and expensive foodstuffs such as birds nests and sharks fins, the restaurant is also known for its pastries, including pea-flour cakes, kidney bean-flour rolls, miniature corn buns and sesame seed buns with chopped meat filling. The restaurant is open Monday - Friday: 11AM -1:30PM and 5PM - 8PM / On Saturday and Sunday: 10:30AM - 1:30PM, 4:30PM - 8PM