When we hear there’s a new restaurant in 3.3 Mall jam-packed with teddy bears, we accept it, no questions asked.
After all, this is a mall where passersby take selfies next to hot-pink Ferraris outside Costa Coffee, while the car owners themselves (“Fu’erdai,” Costa staff say wisely) drink mochas inside; a mall where myriad identical clothing stores, like ‘I Love Pretty,’ sit beside hip vintage shops and speakeasies.
It’s a weird place. And now, Teddy Bear Theme Restaurant.
Despite being named after the children’s toy (that itself was named after former US president Teddy Roosevelt, after he refused to kill a bear caught during a hunt), the restaurant has a pretty loose definition of ‘teddy bear’ – literally hundreds of soft toys, not limited to the Ursidae family, line the walls of the restaurant’s three ginormous dining spaces.
It’s an ambitious project. Pet project, if you will. There are special edition bears. Panda bears. Rilakkuma, Paddington and Pooh Bears. ‘Bears’ that aren’t really bears.
But, we digress. Apart from a somewhat random page dedicated to Korean cuisine, the menu offers generic Western grub: pizza, steak and sandwiches.
Our beef burger (RMB78, including salad and fries) is quickly devoured in the company of an oversized rabbit and lion. Whether this is off-putting or not depends on your tolerance for strangeness – or, we suppose, your age.
Us? We watch the TV, screening an oddly arresting documentary about a bear in the wilderness. Paddington follows, demonstrating an admirable commitment to theme.
Still, we’re left with doubts. The burger itself isn’t bad, but in an area full of great burger options, why settle for mediocrity? Why would anyone visit essentially a toy museum for the food, anyway? And, furthermore: who is actually going to this place, other than intrepid reviewers or people looking for teddy bear photo ops?
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