Capital Bites: New Vietnamese, Nightclub Eats and Fresh Menu at Great Leap
Hopefully, everyone is caught up after a full weekend of Halloween festivities, but get ready to do it all again because this week, the city is back at it with plenty of parties on All Hallow's Eve itself (Thursday), a few straggler events on November 1 (Friday), and Modernista rolling hard through November 2 (Saturday). If you're at a loss, check here for what to do.
There are a few spooky dinners around town on Thursday. This looks like a particular winner – Indian buffet, graceful music and dancing elves on Halloween? How can you resist?
Migas had pumpkin soup last week, but now they've rolled out a Halloween-inspired set menu which they will be running through Friday. The five-course menu (RMB 288) includes a porcini soup with truffle foam, a pumpkin soup with squid, stuffed spinach sole, pork loin with sweet potato puree and spicy pineapple and a pumpkin cake with chestnut mousse and apple cream.
Speaking of menus, Great Leap Brewing will be adding new food items to their selection over the next few months, including a Cobb salad, an Asian noodle salad, a roasted chicken breast sandwich, a southern-style fried chicken sandwich, and a selection of house made sausages. They'll also be introducing a new weekend brunch, of which you can grab an early tasting November 9-10 for RMB 100. Check out what's being served here.
If you haven't been to one of GLB's Chef & The Brewer meals yet, now might be a good time to try it – they'll be hosting The Chef & The Brewer Charity Dinner on December 6 at the Fairmont Hotel Beijing, pairing their beers with delectables from The Cut, in addition to hosting an auction on holiday gift items just in time for the season. All proceeds go to the Little Flower Projects to help Beijing's orphans.
Parkview Green continues filling out. Vietnam Station has opened on the lower level across from Japanese katsu place, Saboten. It has a strange vibe going on, which isn't out-of-the-ordinary for a shopping mall restaurant in China, but we've come to expect slightly more from Parkview Green. Bowls of pho run RMB 43-72 and mains are RMB 96-138. The broth in our beef satay pho (RMB 53) was savory and rich; Vietnam Station will fit the bill if you are looking for Southeast Asian cuisine in the midst of a long day of retail therapy, but I don't expect that this will become destination dining anytime soon.
Alongside of the new club and lounge, Ink, is Ink Bistro which opened on Sunday. For the first month, they are open for dinner only (6-10pm) so you can grab a bite along with your booze and to sustain you on the dance floor. They'll be throwing a retro vs. nu disco Halloween party on Friday at the club. If you're at all curious, think about getting along for some food before things start heating up at 11pm.
Earlier this month, I told you about Chi Restaurant, a new spot in Wudaoying Hutong by Brand Nu founder, Nathan Zhang and the husband-wife team of Saffron, Yao Yang and Li Yang, that sources local and organic products for their menu. Well, they're officially opening tomorrow for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We'll have more on that soon, but if you try it first, let us know what you think in the comments below.
Finally, Chi Fan for Charity is all-across town this Saturday, November 2. A number of restaurants still have open seats (RMB 500-1,000) at their tables so check here for availability and to book spots. Wrap up a hedonistic Halloween week with a bit more hedonism – but at least you'll be giving to charity along the way, right?
Photo: Cat Nelson
Email: catnelson@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @haimei_baole
Instagram: @haimei_baole
Weibo: @cat_nelson
More stories by this author here
