Is this Beijng's best value Italian restaurant?

Alio Olio, Beijing's newest Italian restaurant, has just opened its doors at Chaoyang Park West Gate. The Beijinger muscled itself to the front of the queue to bring you a sneak peak. There's another reason we're a bit more curious than normal. This is the new restaurant of Annie's former Italian manager who left the company last year.

Inside it's comfy and informal (and no-smoking, woop), and they've got the lighting just right. The lamborghini pictures on the wall are a nice touch. A spiral staircase in the middle of the room takes you up to a smaller area with a big arched window that looks ideal for parties and small events. And you can smoke up here too.

A roaring wood-fired pizza oven sits in the far corner. So, what about the food? We started with some pizza bread (basically a pizza sans topping - RMB 18), nicely seasoned and served with good olive oil. The verdict? Great. Bruschetta similarly showed good olive oil. The menu is large, split into appetizers (including all sorts of antipasti), salads, soups, pizza, pasta, mains, desserts and some more interesting sections like a snack menu featuring light bites like calamari, chicken wings and more.

There are 24 pizzas on the menu, and prices are very, very competitive. We couldn't help noticing that a 9-inch margarita is RMB 26 - that's 2 kuai cheaper than a certain other low-cost Italian chain with a branch just down the road. Most pies are under RMB 48 for a 12-incher, and we were impressed with the cheese and topping quality generally, and also the crust (though we like it a little more crispy).

Mains like these lamb chops are a generous portion again for RMB 78. Continuing the theme of price, even the booze is bargain basement. A glass of house wine is just RMB 20, and a small range of cocktails are all RMB 35. We can't help thinking this aggressive pricing strategy is targeted towards its rival - at these prices it must be tough to make much profit but they're sure to get lots of diners through the door.

It's soft opening period at the moment, but Alio Olio seems to be off to a running start. They told us they also plan to do delivery, but probably just to the immediate residential areas surrounding Chaoyang Park west gate.