While You Were Sleeping: April's New Bar and Club Openings
You can't always be paying attention. We get that, that's why we're bringing you a roundup of everything we reviewed in April, from the bars to the cafés to the restaurants.
READ: The Best 30 Chinese and International Restaurants for Beijing Visitors and Tourists
New Openings
Fugue
This new Sanlitun branch of Fugue is impressively stocked especially in its Highland section, includes 12-year-old Dalmore (RMB 70 for a single or RMB 140 for a double), 18-year-old Glenmorangie (RMB 130 for a single or RMB 260 for a double), 32-year-old Brora (RMB 2,000 for a single and RMB 4,000 for a double that is sure to leave you seeing double), and everything inbetween. Together, they amount to over 300 whiskey varieties, a hefty enough stock to make other establishments more than a bit envious.
Greybox Coffee
Although the newly-opened Greybox Coffee is located at the heart of Beijing’s Central Business District in the Kerry Centre, the reasonably sized café seems unbothered by the bustle of city life. Unfortunately, the drinks and food on offer at this cafe do not match up to the design.
Hffousa Taco (pictured at the top)
Hffousa Taco, the first one of which had opened in Indigo Mall near 798, has opened a second branch in North Shunyi. The new restaurant focuses on a range of Tex Mex options, including burritos, tacos, and some more balanced items (like salads).
Buddy's Bar
Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got ... Yes, that timeless refrain is a sentiment that most of us expats can relate to after a long day of gridlock commuting, language barrier miscommunications, and other routine Beijing misadventures. But Lido dwellers have far fewer options, compared to their Gulou and Sanlitun counterparts, to take a break from all their worries. The relatively quiet north western Chaoyang neighborhood's new Buddy Bar now offers a very welcoming, local vibe that those living in Lido will appreciate.
Ginger
Ginger and jazz. Those are the deliciously suave terms that echo in your mind long after you've left Sanlitun north's newest cocktail bar. Fittingly named Ginger, and situated next to (the less than wild) Wilderness Brew on Xindong Lu, the bar aims for a late 1960s or early 1970s atmosphere with paintings that resemble vintage album covers and curvy, cushy chairs.
Nyonya Kitchen
Nyonya Kitchen has come a long way since in Lido in 2004. At the time, the Malaysian eatery had very little in the way of competition and was a novelty for Beijing foodies that had nowhere else to turn to for Southeast Asian eats. Now, Nyonya is part of a far more vibrant F&B landscape in the capital, but is still holding on strong with a new location in Guomao's freshly unveiled New World Mall.
F Bistronome
From Flo Group, the team behind establishments like the Beijinger Restaurant Award-winning Maison Flo and Cafe Flo, now comes F Bistronome in Guomao's up-and-coming China World Mall. This new concept strikes a middle ground between the fine dining of Maison Flo and the more casual approach of Cafe Flo, and puts a focus on sharing and group dining.
Little Susu
We've been stalwart fans of Vietnamese restaurant Susu since it first opened in 2011 (so much so that we included it in our recent list of essential restaurants for visitors to Beijing) so we were delighted when we hear that they were opening a second location in the recently opened new area of the China World Mall.
Daily Bak
This new pastry shop in Sanlitun focuses on providing basic and humble bread, rather than many of the other over-the-top ventures. It's located on the east side of Shimao Department Store, just try not to be put off by the Christmas decoration.
Ningxia Taste
The next best thing to buying a ticket and flying out to Ningxia Province, this restaurant focuses on, as the Ningxia regional cuisine does, lamb, lamb, lamb, and lamb.
Sproutworks
During our latest visit to China World Mall, in what has become a near daily outing to Guomao for us as we try to keep a grasp on all the new restaurants opening, we visited Sproutworks, a Shanghai-import (with five locations) with a focus on healthy salads, soups, gourmet paninis, and fresh juices.
New Menus
Blue Frog, Element Fresh, and The Georg
With spring well underway (in fact, we might start calling it summer), we've been running around town trying all of the new seasonal menus on offer; this time the menu at Blue Frog's newest China World Mall location, Element Fresh's spring and summer offerings, and The Georg's new brunch concept.
High Town
When we heard about a new brewery heading to the second floor of Sanlitun's Nali Patio last December, we were cautiously excited; that's because we've come to keep our expectations low for every beer-focused venture that is launched, apparently daily, in the capital. Four months on and a menu update to reflect the changing seasons, we're happy to announce that High Town remains an easy venue to recommend to friends thanks to its well thought out and excellently presented array of Western dishes.
Opera Bombana
Never lacking in ideas or creativity, Italian restaurant Opera Bombana boasts a monthly rotating Sunday brunch menu. This month, they take us on a culinary tour of Emilia-Romagna, a bustling region in the northeast of Italy, set to the backdrop of both mountains and the sea.
More stories by this author here.
Email: margauxschreurs@truerun.com
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Photo courtesy of Hffousa, Kyle Mullin, Carmel Moersalim, Margaux Schreurs, Robynne Tindall, Tracy Wang
