Best brunches

From champagne, crabs and clowns to candy floss and chocolate fountains, Beijing's brunch restaurants are all competing for your attention. Time Out tells you the best places to blow your waistline in style

Best for... sweet crepes

Elements (Hilton Beijing) 1 Dongfang Lu, Dong Sanhuan Bei Lu, Chaoyang district (tel 5865 5240). Available 11.30am-3pm every Saturday and Sunday. 希尔顿酒店 朝阳区东三环北路东方路1号

Cost: 300RMB* including free flow sparkling wine, 228RMB* without

Food: ***

Atmosphere: ****

Value for money: **

This bright, colourful buffet is easy to navigate thanks to the separate food stations displaying different types of cuisine. From seafood (lobster, caviar, whole prawns and mussels) to pan Asian treats (chicken satay, Beijing duck tempura, spring rolls with sweet chilli dipping sauce) and even a great hog roast, there's enough here for repeat visits. Unfortunately the juice served isn't fresh and Elements only offers sparkling wine as opposed to champagne, but delicious real fruit smoothies and other alcoholic drinks are available from a separate menu at extra cost. Sweet tooths should head to the crepe station for great pancakes topped with a dollop of whipped cream, fresh berries and a choice of M&Ms, broken cookies, crushed almonds, chocolate flakes or fruit. Yum.

Best for... a total blow out brunch

Monsoon (Intercontinental Hotel) 11 Financial Street, Xicheng district (tel 6606 8866). Available 11.30 am to 3pm every Sunday. Dessert buffet runs until 5pm. 金融街洲际酒店 西城区金融街11号

Cost: 368RMB* including free flow of Veuve clicquot, Mumm or Moet&Chandon champagne

Food: ****

Atmosphere: ******

Value for money: *****

The din in Monsoon is deafening, but it's a happy sort of racket – with a pair of Brazilian guitar players singing covers thrown in for good measure. The food selection is extensive and includes lobster, fresh seafood and sushi, traditional fried breakfasts, Chinese dim sum, laksa curry, a delicious rack of lamb, barbeque ribs, burritos, fresh fruit and juice and made-to-order pasta. The adjacent X Change bar is filled with desserts – including a chocolate fountain, Haagen Daz, hand-made chocolates, cookies and cakes. Best of all, the spread is kept out until three o'clock and, though the experience would benefit from quicker plate clearing and champagne top ups, this has got to be one of the best brunches in town. The highlight? When a fat, smiling chef came over and offered us a stick of candyfloss. Wonderful.

Best for... romance

Cafe St Laurent (Alfa) Beijing 6 Xingfu Yicun, Chaoyang District (tel 6413 0085). Available from 10.30am-3.30pm every Saturday and Sunday. 阿尔法 幸福一村6号工体北门对面

Meal for two around 250RMB

Food: *****

Atmosphere: ***

Value for money: ***

The recently opened CaféSt Laurent – brainchild of Canadian Embassy chef Billy Kawaja – is not only a wonderful new addition to the city's brunch scene, but a remarkable metamorphosis for the venue usually associated with '80s' Night debauchery. Poached-to-perfection eggs benedict with smoked salmon, avocado and herb hollandaise (70RMB), rich chocolate brioche French toast with grilled bananas (65RMB) and light lemon ricotta pancakes with seasonal berries (67RMB) typify the innovative menu and are all delicious. While the menu perhaps has an excessive number of sweet dishes, the unusual desserts are worthy of further indulgence – treat yourself to the tangy blueberry soup with lemon tarragon sorbet (64RMB) or the distinctive fresh cow's milk cheese with a medley of berries and wildflower honey (65RMB).

Best for... oyster lovers

Scene a Café(China World Hotel) 1 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang district (tel 6505 2266). 11.30am-2.30pm every Sunday. 中国大饭店 朝阳区建国门外大街1号

Cost: 418RMB* including free flow sparkling or New and Old World red and white wine, 288RMB* without.

Food: ****

Atmosphere: ****

Value for money: *****

Though Scene a Cafe doesn't offer a champagne brunch on Sundays, those simply looking to eat great food and nurse their hangovers, rather than exacerbate them will enjoy the selection at the China World Hotel's casual dining restaurant. The seafood selection is particularly good, especially the not too large, not too small fresh oysters flown from New Zealand. Considering six pieces at any other restaurant costs as much as 280RMB, this brunch is worth the visit for the oysters alone. The oysters can be baked with cheese or pan-fried with egg like an omelette for those who are not fond of eating them raw. Other goodies include Australian mussels, red flower crabs and pink crabs. The crab meat from these two types are sweet and full and the impressive condiments on display – tomato salsa, wasabi-mayo, soy mirin ginger – offer enough variety to please everyone.

Best for... a sophisticated Sunday morning

Cafe 99 (The Regent Hotel) Second floor, 99 Jinbao Jie, Dongcheng district (tel 8522-1888 ext. 3823). Available 11.30am-3pm every Sunday. 丽晶酒店 东城区金宝街99号

Cost: 365RMB* including free flow Vollereaux Blanc de Blancs champagne

Food: *****

Atmosphere: ***

Value for money: ****

Cafe 99's brunch selection is not as extensive as the Intercontinental or Westin's, but rather a 'the more you look, the more you find' type of place, with several food stations that aren't much to look at but ready and waiting to cook up moist dim sum delicious foie gras and even grilled meats (including fantastic tandoori chicken kebabs) at your request. The quality is also very high, with several smaller, pre-prepared taster dishes, all of which are delicious, well presented and highly original. Particularly tasty is the prawn and mango spicy salad served in a cocktail glass and the tender individual quail wings on a bed of pepper. Though there are no oysters or lobster on offer here (perhaps surprising given the price), there are three types of caviar on offer, fresh sushi and high quality Peking duck, though few of them are strictly vegetarian so if you're not a meat eater, you may find less to fill your plate with here.

Best for... a great value brunch

Senses (The Westin Beijing) 9b Financial Street, Xicheng district (tel 6606 8866). Available 11.30am-3pm every Sunday. 威斯汀大酒店 西城区金融街乙9号

Cost: 298RMB* including free flow Piper Heidseck champagne, 228RMB without. Children 98RMB*

Food: *****

Atmosphere: ******

Value for money: ******

From gleaming seafood platters, caviar, lobster and succulent roast duck to barbeque-blackened steaks and freshly prepared sushi, the Westin's buffet is probably the most extensive of them all. Dessert stations offer everything from glistening syrup-covered pancakes and colourful fruit trays to delicate tarts and pastries; and liquid refreshment comes in the form of nutritious smoothies, fragrant coffee, flavoured vodkas and expertly recommended ASC wines. And did we mention the magician, the balloon artist, and the crimson-clad, synthesized rock-cum-classical string duet? Yes, Bubbly Sundays at the Westin seems to have it all; if a brunch could be a performance, then it would be the Cirque du Soleil – vibrant, dramatic and, quite simply, an extravaganza. At this price, the Westin's is by far the best value brunch too, and yet the quality and variety of food, drink and entertainment far exceeds that on offer at some of the more established hotels. There's even a DVD corner to keep the kids entertained while mum and dad concentrate on quaffing. Great stuff.

Best for... quality

Garden Court (St Regis Hotel) 21 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang district (tel 6460 6688 ext. 2340). Available 11.30am – 3pm every Sunday. 国际俱乐部饭店 朝阳区建国门外大街21号

Cost 398RMB* including free flow Mumm champagne

Food: ******

Atmosphere: ****

Value for money: ****

Of all of the five star brunches in town, the St Regis' is probably the longest serving and most luxurious of them all. Set in the opulent surrounds of Beijing's most exclusive hotel, the brunch here offers linen service, a classical music accompaniment and touch of class. Rather than a clutch of unusual or gimmicky dishes, the St Regis offers a more classic selection, cooked to perfection. Fresh oysters, succulent red snapper, lobster, prawn and crab, as well as a selection of more than half a dozen types of caviar (served with sour cream and warm, freshly cooked blinis) make up the stunning seafood quota, while bacon, eggs and beans will keep the Americans and Brits abroad happy. But the Peking duck, Thai yellow chicken curry, tender lamb chops and beef steak ensure there's a diverse range of dishes to suit every palette. The most outstanding part of the St. Regis brunch is the quality of the food. All freshly prepared there is an excellent assortment of fish and meats from juicy beef joints and lamb chops to succulent red snapper. Fresh fruits, including passion fruit seldom found so fresh in Beijing, are also a healthier alternative to the rather limited desserts selection. The slower than average champagne top-up rate and the fact that many dishes – especially the cheese selection on our visit – run out before the 3pm cut off point, mean that the St. Regis, whilst being the most respected and high-end of all the Beijing brunches, may need to keep an eye on the competition if they want to remain number one.

Best for... carnivores

Kranzlers (Kempinski Hotel) 50 Liangmaqiao Lu, Chaoyang district (tel 6465 3388 ext. 4105). Available 11.30am-3pm every Sunday. 凯宾斯基饭店 朝阳区亮马桥路50号

Cost 285RMB* with free flow of sparkling wine, wine and beer, 235RMB without

Food: ****

Atmosphere: ***

Value for money: ****

With a great selection of roast meats and freshly baked breads and cakes, all washed down with beer from the Paulaner Brauhaus microbrewery; Kranzler's is flying the flag for some good old-fashioned Germanic gluttony. Though, much like Germany itself, this Kempinski favourite is far more cosmopolitan than most give it credit for – a fine selection of seafood, cold salads and European and Asian hot dishes should suit most palates. Gorge on the tender roast beef and excellent roast suckling pig, but save room for dessert as being next door to the Kempi Deli certainly has its advantages – as the buffet has an array of rich cakes. If all the sugar gets the kids hyperactive there's a playroom and clown to keep the ankle-biters entertained, while you mellow out to the live jazz band.