In Nibbles, a weekly series, we serve up a run down of the best dining deals, food & drink events and restaurant/bar openings and closings.
Openings/Closings
Happy New Year. Food and drink predictions for 2015? Will it be the year of the first Michelin star for a Beijing kaoya chef? Prison canteen meals to become latest hutong craze? Weekend brunch becomes so popular that the government shortens the working week to four days? Or craft beer becomes so poular that Yanjing goes out of business? Whatever happens here’s hoping for a whole new wave of 'Interesting People' to set the 2015 Beijing restaurant and bar scene alight.
Sanlitun will begin the year bagel-free, after the closure of Tavalin Bagels. No plans yet to reopen, sadly, but we've head whispers a new store is a possibilty. Panda Brewpub, who we only got round to profiling last month, has closed its new Beixinqiao pub for ‘renovations’. Let’s hope it’s not prophetic that it’s named after a highly endangered species.
Where indie ventures are struggling, bigger chains are flying. Blue Frog has opened at Ocean International in CBD and Thai/Italian/fashion fusion (yes) Greyhound Café has opened in Shin Kong Place, Dawanglu. That said, the owners of hip and homey Italian, Mercante, have opened a new place called Fiume, near Liangmaqiao, while the team behind CuJu are bringing new joint, Caravan, to Jianguomen.
Japanese ramen chain, Hakata Ikkousha (博多一幸舍) has earned a following all over Asia and opens a new branch in Parkview Green. Xindong Lu has a gleaming new German brauhaus in the shape of Hacker-Pschorr. Looks reliable, but to make it big in Beijing you really need to think outside the box. Take the Korean/Italian-style pizza place in Sanlitun SOHO that calls itself Mr. Fabbro – now there’s somewhere destined for success. Or a little place we spotted just down from Gui Jie, called L.A. Seafood Party. You know what they say, people: Ain’t no party like an L.A. Seafood Party.
Deals
The Ritz-Carlton Beijing Financial Street has black truffles on the menu throughout January. The chef de cuisine of Cépe, Chef Davide, hails from Italy, where he spent his childhood harvesting black truffles with his father. His creative menu offers steamed Boston lobster, green lentil soup, beetroot gnocchi, pan-seared grouper, roasted breast of duck, vanilla souffle and all kinds of traditional and innovative Italian dishes. RMB688 (5-course), RMB788 (6-course) both subject to 15% service, a la carte menu also available.
New Menu
There can be no overstating the resourcefulness of chefs. It’s not like people are constantly inventing new foodstuffs to play with – they must be creative with the same old ingredients we’ve been growing for the last 10 million years. Tribe’s wide-ranging menu suggests the chefs are a creative bunch indeed, and they’ve just upped their game with a whole new set of seasonal winter items.
The mango and avocado vegan sushi rolls (RMB48, below) are not wrapped in plain white rice, but red and brown rice, giving a unique new flavor. The shrimp and pumpkin baozi (RMB38, below) are dipped in Thai curry-style sauce infused with vinegar. Unbelievably flavorful and, as added bonus: it’s non-stop, health-boosting, planet-saving, organ-detoxifying goodness. Beet features heavily in the new winter items, not least the tribe salad (RMB52), which is thick, filling and tangy, and the chuan xin lian (peppery leaves from Sichuan) provides a peppery kick to the chicken chop salad (RMB58, above).
Tribe is now open for (all day) breakfast from 8am daily; the buckwheat banana pancakes (RMB48, below) are our pick of the bunch.
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