Joy City Chaoyang is the biggest mall in the world. That’s not true, but it feels like it. Seven floors, zigzagging escalators, countless milk tea shops. The requisite expensive grocery store in the basement. Cosmetic shops both South Korean and French. Elevators you board only to watch them bypass the floor you’re looking for. Roughly 75 branches of Starbucks, each one with a Costa beside it.
Our late-stage capitalist future has arrived. Given the rest of our lives will be spent in malls, it’s a good thing they’re getting better.
Woodstage is the latest attempt to make a mall feel less like a mall. Created by the founders of pop-up food events Woodstock of Eating, Woodstage is a food court with a distinctly festival feel. The shops here are set up like stalls around communal seating and, most crucially, a stage (with pillows!). Rather than outlets of predictable chains, here you’ll find pint-sized versions of independently-owned, Beijing-based restaurants.
There’s Ramo – formerly famous for its hipster-chic Italian restaurant on the nowbricked Fangjia Hutong – selling pizza by the slice. Cannon’s is serving its popular smashed-patty burgers alongside freshly-baked cookies. Peiping Machine Brewing has adorned the length of one wall with craft beer taps. Boutique hotel The Orchid’s restaurant Toast – i.e. the hutongs’ favorite brunch spot – also has a set-up here, serving hearty plates of hummus and pitas.
Image via Taco Stop
The most exciting of the bunch is Taco Stop, the new brainchild of the Palms L.A. team. The made-to-order taco bar takes the tried-andtested Chipotle method of serving and adds its own flavorful flourishes. Our tostada bowl (RMB52) features organic Aussie beef, which we request cooked at a juicy medium-done. The beef is placed atop our lime rice and then smothered in a mixture of goodies – there’s avocado, natch, plus sesame seeds, crispy seaweed pieces and our choice of tangy dressing. It all comes in a crunchy tortilla bowl, which, yes, we do eat afterwards, thank you very much. (Also worth noting: the surprise hit at Taco Stop is the agua fresca made with Chia seeds.) Patrons can also choose to have those same fillings – or chicken or pork – in taco or burrito form.
The new concept from Palms comes under a year after their Gulou location was shuttered in the widespread brickings of hutong venues, and the fact that so many hutong restaurants are resurfacing in a Chaoyang mall is telling. In 2018, Beijing’s dining scene revolves less around traditional courtyards than it does around megawatt commercial center concept spaces. The change in venue may make us sad – but fortunately, the relocation has no impact on the taste.
[Cover image via Taco Stop]
See a listing for Woodstage and read more Beijing Bar & Restaurant Reviews
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