Tiāndì Yījiā

Doing business from a restored building alongside Changpu River Park (Chāngpú Hé Gōngyuán), this refined, Chinese courtyard–style restaurant is notable for the water feature with multicoloured fish that dominates the elegant dining room. There’s also a balcony overlooking the Imperial Archives (Huángshǐ Chéng). The menu, which spans a number of provinces and styles, is strong on seafood with snob appeal – shark’s fin, abalone and lobster – as well as traditional delicacies such as bird’s-nest soup and local faves such as Peking duck. It also does dim sum. But the black-clad waitresses are not a bundle of laughs and there’s a slightly stiff feel to the whole establishment.