Private kitchen, also known as a speakeasy, is a term in referring to an unlicensed, restaurant-like establishment.At the beginning of the 20th century, the three most famous private home cuisines in Beijing – “Duan’s Cuisine” from the military, “Wang’s Cuisine” of the financial circle and “Ren’s Cuisine” from the banking sector were ebbed and flowed with the rise and fall of the official master, finally withering away completely. However, Tan’s Cuisine, a private home cuisine originating from an official family of the Qing Dynasty, took root in Beijing thanks to its unique characteristics of color, fragrance and appearance etc.
私房菜或者是私宅料理，是指在住宅内小本经营的食店。它们不会有任何宣传，而是靠口耳相传。在20世纪初，京城最出名的三大私家烹饪：军界的“段家菜”、财政界的“王家菜”、银行界的“任家菜”都随着官府老爷的盛衰而起落，最终灰飞烟灭。而谭家菜，这个清朝官僚家庭产生的私家菜却由于独树一帜的色、香、形等特点得以扎根京城。

Tan’s cuisine is neither too salty nor too sweet and combines northern and southern flavor. Chefs of this culinary style give priority to revealing the original taste of ingredients, careful observance of cooking durations and temperatures as well as condiments and soft consistencies. Therefore, Tan’s cuisine is delicious, soft and tender with mellow, soft and original flavors. The dishes are moderate and mild, maintaining the original flavors of their ingredients. Tan’s Cuisine has its own unique style and includes nearly 300 dishes, of which the sea food dishes are most famous. The bird’s nest soup has the most notable of special characteristics.
谭家菜咸甜适口，南北均宜，调料讲究原汁原味，制作讲究火候足、下料狠，菜肴软烂、因而味道鲜美、质地软嫩。口感醇厚、绵润、本色。中庸和平，讲究原汁原味，谭家菜自成菜系，有菜品近三百种，以发制烹调海味菜最有名。尤其是谭家菜中的清汤燕菜更有其独道之处。

Dishes from bird's nest and shark’s fin are the most famous of Tan’s Cuisine, the cooking techniques of which retain traditional private home cooking methods. The shark’s fin is thoroughly soaked in warm water. Caustic soda is never used to quicken the soaking as it results in loss of nutritional value. All traditional Chinese dishes are cooked complete with soups which are elaborately prepared by chefs: this is particularly true of the preparation of rare delicacies such as shark’s fin. When making the soup, chefs boil the whole chicken (homebred Chai hens from rural areas), the whole duck, the dried scallops and the ham in the correct proportions and stew over fire for two days. The whole chicken or duck will melt into the soup. The soup will then be filtered with bamboo basket with small perforations and a mellow liquor is left over. The shark’s fin is then added to the soup and stew over a gentle heat for a day. The whole process for cooking shark’s fin takes three days. In this way, the simmered shark’s fin will have rich juices and strong flavor; being soft, tender, smooth and extremely delicious. Tan’s cuisine shark’s fin is bright yellow and mellow in taste. The dish is not greasy and it imparts a great aftertaste.
谭家菜以燕窝和鱼翅的烹制最为有名。其保留翰林府家庭制做方法，鱼翅全凭温水泡透、发透，决不用火碱急发，以免破坏营养成分。凡传统中国菜，都需用厨师精心“吊”制的高汤来烹制，尤其是鱼翅类山珍海味。谭家菜吊汤是用整鸡(农家养柴母鸡)、整鸭、干贝、火腿按比例下锅，用火工二日，将鸡、鸭完全熬化，溶于汤中，过细箩，出醇汤，将鱼翅放入汤中，用文火靠上一日，整个鱼翅烹制过程需三日火工。这样焖出来的鱼翅，汁浓、味厚，吃着柔软濡滑，极为鲜美。谭府鱼翅菜金黄发亮，浓鲜绵润，味厚不腻，口感醇美，余味悠长。

Tan’s cuisine bird’s nest soup has its own unique characteristics. Since the caustic soda will greatly deplete the nutritional content of the bird’s nest, chefs never use caustic soda to soak the bird’s nest leading it to take on a whiter color and appear greater in quantity. The dish’s clear soup looks water like with a light beige color and it is very tasty. The bird’s nest is soft and smooth and not broken. This dish is a nutritious one that is a signature Tan’s Cuisine dish.
谭家菜中的“清汤燕窝”更有独到之处。它不采取用碱涨发燕窝的办法，虽然那样发出的燕窝颜色白，量也显得多，但是营养受到很大的损失。此菜汤清如水，略带米黄色，味道鲜美，燕窝软滑不碎，营养价值很高，是谭家菜中的代表作。

Special cuisines: braised shark's fin with brown sauce, bird’s nest soup, Tan’s stewed pork with brown sauce and Arhat prawns.
特色菜品：黄焖鱼翅、清汤燕窝、谭家红烧肉、罗汉大虾。