Capital Bites: Sanlitun Action

The popular Japanese restaurant Hatsune celebrated it’s ninth birthday Wednesday night with a big all-you-can-eat and drink party at their digs atop Sanlitun Village South. There was a steady flow of champagne and colorful cocktails, as well as plentiful plates of Hatsune’s signature sushi rolls and other goodies flying around the room. By 10pm, the restaurant was packed with people who came to help them celebrate, or just liked the idea of unlimited booze and sushi for RMB 150. Good times all around, even after the music got too loud to talk and the queues for personal plates of sushi snaked around the sushi bar.

Taking it’s place among the newly-opened restaurants on the top of Sanlitun Village South, Modo is opening this Sunday. As reported previously, this sleek eatery/wine-bar will feature Enomatic wine dispensers, allowing diners to try 16 wines by the glass. As Modo was opened by the team behind Beijing favorite Mosto, the food is likely to be a treat as well. Stay tuned for the restaurant review.

A little further north, the meat-lovers in Beiijng may have hit the jackpot. Butcher’s Steakhouse is a veritable temple to meat. Not only do they offer a large assortment of raw meats for sale, including a grand selection of sausages, they also offer a 3-kilogram burger. That is, one kilo of meat, one kilo of bun, one kilo of fixings. The wise among us will share, but for those who can successfully tackle and eat one by him/herself, the burger is free. If anyone out there actually performs this feat, I'd love to hear about it. (If you’re curious about this monstrosity now, see Jim Boyce's post, and our review will be coming soon.)