While You Were Sleeping: June's New Bar and Restaurant Openings

Summer in the city is always a whirlwind, with people in and out of town, and restaurants and bars coming and going. Never has this been more true than this year, when the city's renovation initiatives are leaving a path of destruction (and little piles of bricks).

New Restaurants

Mai Fresh
A new breezy Beiluogu Xiang courtyard eatery might just fill the spot of your favorite bricked up restaurant. Opened by Ji "Jeff" Ping or nearby Mai Bar and Saniltun's Parlor and JW Tailor Bar, this new brunch spot satisfies without being pretentious. Try the trio of open bagel sandwiches (pictured above)

Under Clouds
Yunnan Province doesn't exactly conjure images of slick, cosmopolitan trendiness; instead, most of us associate the southern locale with exotic fare and rustic charm. And yet Under Clouds counters those conventional notions, serving up a far more posh version of the cuisine than what's found at hutong mainstays like Little Yunnan or even more upscale alternatives like Sanlitun's In and Out or Middle 8th.

Nasca Cafe
Nasca Cafe has opened their fifth restaurant, this time picking Lido as their location of choice. Considering the fact that Gung Ho and Tube Sation recently closed there, that might be a solid choice. The menu is a compilation of pizzas, burgers, salads, snacks, and barbecue ribs.

Bottega
Italian favorite Bottega has opened up their new branch in Xinyuanli after closing their Sanlitun branch (and their Nali Patio branch is also still in the making, to be opened soon!). The space is much, much bigger, but in the same style, and we're happy to confirm that the food is as incredible as before. Try one of their new pizzas, like the carciofina pictured above, a pizza without a tomato base topped with artichokes, salty salami, and mozzarella.

Root Pop
Shuangjing newbie Root Pop wowed with their fully vegan menu including mostly American grub you wouldn't necessarily associate with veganism such as burgers, fries, salads, hot dogs, and more. The restaurant was opened by Glo Kitchen and Tribe mastermind Brandon Trowbridge, who spent a lot of time finding vegan alternatives for meat, cheese, and other ingredients without compromising flavor.

Bistro 108
Located in the strip of restaurants in Beijing's sleepy embassy district this new French restaurant has a lively terrace and serves up some great French dishes. Try the filet de boeuf sauce au poivre, the wine braised beef bourguignon (pictured above), or the mouthwatering fish tartare.

Bistro 3
The team behind Courtyard 4 cocktail bar Infusion Room have opened an on-site bistro that boasts a tasting menu as refined as anything from their bar. The dishes border on fine dining with their intricate textures, but there's no dress code or white linen by any means.

Vineyard Cafe
Though longtime Beijingers have fond memories of the pioneering Western food at Vineyard Café since it opened a decade ago, owner Will Yorke wasn’t exactly devastated when his restaurant was shut down along with a number of neighboring Wudaoying Hutong venues this past spring. After all, he already had many other irons in the fire, including Stuff’d around the corner and, more famously, the Arrow Factory brewery on the Liangma River. But also, Vineyard Cafe lives on in Chaowai Soho, primarily as a takeaway joint found on Sherpa's.

Origine
Our heart has been gradually breaking following the depressing chai-ing going on in the hutongs, but thankfully, one new restaurant's opening has mended some of the little broken pieces, even if just a little bit. Origine serves up delicate French cuisine, but also has an accessible wine list that won't burn a hole in your wallet.

Constellation
Homesick foreigners hankering some wholesome eats are sure to delight in the offerings at Constellation Café. The Xingfuyicun newbie boasts a selection of paninis and other sandwiches, salads, smoothies, mac and cheese among its arsenal of comfort food. And while that simple, filling fare is sure to quell both the appetites and longings of most patrons, an even better facet of the café’s food is some of the subtly creative twists given to these classics. Think of it as your grandma’s fixings, gone gourmet.

New Menus

Obentos
With the changing of the seasons you can always expect a new menu at Obentos, one of our favorite healthy lunch spots. This summer is no different, with a new seasonal salad (RMB 52), a new seasonal abundance bowl (RMB 68, pictured above), and a new seasonal bento (RMB 78).

Pachakutiq
We've been fans of Peruvian joint Pachakutiq since our first visit just under a year ago at its original location on Jianguo Lu. Since having settled in Sanlitun Soho, they've been working on adapting their menu, adding both more Peruvian and Nikkei dishes to their already mouthwatering list of rare-to-Beijing offerings.

Moka Bros
All three Moka Bros locations recently revamped their menus, adding the option to have half a salad and half a sandwich/wrap, new poke bowls (including the Sassy Salmon pictured above), new salads, a DIY rye bread menu, and a rendition of the artichoke spinach dip popular in Modo before that was closed.

Tiger Pancake House
Shuangjing's Tiger Pancake House has added a bunch of new dishes to their colorful menu. The strawberry pancakes pictured above, for example, but also new salads and some meatier options.

New Bars

Aperitivo
Aperitivo 1.0 shut it doors after more than a decade, but just as quickly re-emerged with a new spot in Sanlitun Soho. Its new digs are a little smaller, but it does have a more polished, modern vibe that amounts to a considerable upgrade. The food and drinks have made the move thankfully relatively untouched.

Charlie Chaplin
After the success of the original Charlie Chaplin Bar in north Sanlitun, the team have opened a second location on the west side fo Xinzhong Jie near Great Leap's #12 location. We tested the bartenders skills by giving him our favorite flavors, and approved of the concoction of raspberry juice, rosemary, lemon, and top-shelf booze we were presented with.

Hoper
It would be an understatement to say cocktail offerings are dwindling in the hutongs, with beloved mainstays having shuttered after recent rampant crackdowns and construction. But one impressive relative newbie spot has thankfully bucked the trend and not only begun business a few months before this tumultuous time, but also survived. The name of this hope instilling institution: Hoper.

Transmountain
Beijing's newest taphouse, Transmountain, located in Zuojiazhuang, is an ambitious project, boasting 30 taps stocked with local and imported brews and hopes to fill a gap in the market northeast of the Second Ring Road.

Yu Shi
A new unpretentious wine bar tucked into a quiet corner, this new Central Park spot might have limited by-the-glass options, but a pretty big by-the-bottle list. While deeper devotees might be underwhelmed by its selection and breezy ambiance, the menu is thick enough to have at least a few satisfactory options for all but the most uppity of patrons. But Yu Shi’s bigger priority seems to lie in not scaring off casual newbies with snootiness.

Bungalow Tiki
Tiki devotees were happy to hear that after a heart-crushingly sudden closure last April, the tropical venue has reopened not far from that location with a new spot that is similarly colorful.

Anchor Bar
After having been bricked up on Xingfucun, Anchor Bar has found a new home in Yolee Plaza. Their new location is much bigger and spiffier, but maintains its fun, low-key atmosphere that it was known for. The new spot even has a handful of outdoor tables and chairs.

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Email: margauxschreurs@truerun.com
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Images: Kyle Mullin, Tracy Wang, Margaux Schreurs, courtesy of Root Pop, Uni You, courtesy of Moka Bros