The delicious dishes from the top Chinese mainland restaurants have been made into La Liste. (Photo/China Daily)
"This means that restaurants don't know which aspect to focus on in order to be selected. The La Liste ranking is based on many factors. There is different criteria－flavor, service, wine lists," says Xie.
According to Xie, in the past, Westerners learned about Chinese cuisine through Chinese restaurants overseas, many of which are in Chinatowns around the world.
These eateries often localized their fare to cater to local tastes and are different from those based in China.
"But thanks to La Liste, we can now find outstanding Chinese restaurants in China," she says.
Speaking about weaknesses, she says that many Chinese restaurants have problems with their wine menus, but are improving by pairing wines with dishes.
Also, many overseas wineries, wine-producing regions and wine associations are teaching Chinese consumers about pairing wines with Chinese food by holding wine dinners in Chinese restaurants.
Highlighting another issue, she says: "It's not easy to do wine pairing if all dishes are served at the same time. But this is changing with Chinese dining habits being influenced by Western norms."
