Here are all the new restaurant, cafe and club openings we featured in our January 2018 issue:
New Restaurants (plus a Cafe!)
Feitun Charcoal Grill
Feitun offers a palatable composite of Singaporean and Malaysian cuisines, with Thai and Indonesian dishes thrown in for good measure. In other words, this new restaurant delivers a Southeast Asian smack to the palate.
The much lauded, time-tested bak kut teh (Hokkien dialect for ‘meat bone tea’, RMB38), introduced to Singapore and Malaysia in the 19th century by Chinese coolies, is a signature and must-try dish. It’s a piquant broth boiled with meaty pork ribs, bones, garlic and a complex selection of herbs.
Another standout menu item is the Kampar curry chicken bread (RMB55), which is prepared on site. Preparation takes about 30 minutes and, when the dish arrives at your table, a waitress will cut it open in the same manner one opens a pomelo.
Price: RMB100
Who’s going: lady groups, lonely men
Good for: food porn, zesty flavors
Nearest metro: Tiyu Xi Lu (Exit A), 5 minutes
Read our full review here. See listing for Feitun.
Ginstar Zhujiang New Town
Regulars at Ginstar’s Meilin Hai’an Garden location love the establishment for its reasonable prices and casual, comfortable interior. The same folks will undoubtedly be impressed by the chain’s newest shop in Zhujiang New Town, which boasts striking decor and offers city denizens yet another relaxed place to enjoy reasonably priced burgers, pizzas and submarines.
Steak house quesadillas (RMB48) come stuffed with mozzarella cheese, succulent beef, jalapenos, peppers and onions. The dish makes a fantastic snack and works wonders with a frothy pint of craft beer.
Find yourself California dreamin’ during an unrelenting evening shift at the training center? Then you, dear reader, are in need of a California cheesesteak sandwich (basically a Philly cheesesteak with fresh vegetables). Composed of Australian Angus beef, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and onions set on an allegedly homemade bun, this submarine will cost you RMB48.
How much: RMB75
Who's going: budget conscious English teachers
Good for: strong cocktails, filling pub grub
Nearest metro: Zhujiang New Town (Exit A1), 10 minutes
Read our full review here. See listing for Ginstar ZJNT.
Lost in LA
There’s no shortage of small, minimally decorated cafes in downtown Guangzhou, uniformly glazed over in pure white paint. It has become a stereotype. Nonetheless, each time a new establishment following this model opens its doors, it never fails to draw the inevitable flow of dedicated female selfie connoisseurs incapable of resisting the perfect backdrop. Even for a place like Lost in LA, which is located in distant Panyu, business is essentially guaranteed.
For snacks, there is the run-of-the-mill assortment of potato wedges, chips, chicken wings and nachos – all hovering around the RMB30 mark. More filling nom noms include croissant sandwiches with either tuna, bacon, scrambled eggs (RMB38) or smoked salmon (RMB48), as well as a few pasta selections.
Listed on the drink menu are your regular espresso-based drinks, along with an interesting mix of specialty coffees, a few teas, smoothies and fresh juice. Avoid the black tea latte (RMB38) however: a milky wash of a drink that we found insipid.
Price: RMB70
Who’s going: photo-addicted couples, well-dressed poodles
Good for: a leisurely afternoon
Nearest metro: Dashi (Exit C) 20-25 minutes
Read our full review here. See listing for Lost in LA.
Skewerz
It should be pretty easy to guess what Skewerz sells: meat on a stick, roasted over a heat source. You may think that this is nothing new in China. After all, who hasn’t had a cumin-encrusted yangrou chuan'r by a roadside stall on a winter’s day, inhaling vehicle fumes while gnawing away?
Skewerz, though, does a bit more than that. Here, you can find Lebanese-inspired wraps, salads and familiar Western comforts like fries. Its location in Zhujiang New Town (next to the Brew Bar and Bistro) makes it a convenient place for nearby office workers looking to grab a slightly more indulgent bite over lunch.
The grilled beef wrap (RMB58) lacked a distinctively Mediterranean flavor, with more vegetables than meat, while the falafel plate (RMB68) came out somewhat dry. The steakhouse fries (RMB46) were perfectly done; fried to a golden color, crispy on the outside and fluffy inside.
Price: RMB70
Who’s going: hungry Zhujiang New Towners
Good for: meat-covered sticks, grab n' go dining
Nearest metro(s): Wuyangcun (Exit B), 10 minutes; Zhujiang New Town (Exit B1), 10 minutes
Read our full review here. See listing for Skewerz.
New Club
Cat Lounge
Say hello to Cat Lounge, clawing its way into the hearts of late-night partygoers who, on the night we visit, appear to be running amok in a playground that can only be safely described as somewhat sweaty, crowded and just plain old entertaining. When the weather is cold and the vibes are hot, Cat Lounge is here to promise some warm encounters and funky moves.
The bar is its centerpiece, and those milling around it appear to have one of two things in mind: getting sloshed, or getting sloshed. Really, it’s not hard to achieve given that Cat Lounge opens late and closes early – in the morning that is. The décor falls into the more traditional category, with plush leather sofas, mahogany tables and a wall of bottles lined up for ogling at.
What makes the drinks at Cat Lounge stand out? Quite frankly, very little. The menu is run of the mill, and prices are the norm. You’ll pay RMB68 for a shot of Black Label with Coke or a gin and tonic. Bottles like Jagermeister start at RMB680, while premium tipples like Grey Goose will set you back RMB980.
Price: RMB200
Who’s going: night owls, dance-a-thon competitors
Good for: post-party mayhem
Nearest Metro: Linhe Xi (Exit D) 6 minutes
Read our full review here. See listing for Cat Lounge.
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