As impressive as everyone makes it out to be, Maison Boulud certainly left an impression. The fact that they haven't taken up paid advertising yet and continues to seat a full house on weekdays, is a testament to their top quality of food, excellent service and perfect ambience.

Unlike ... Read more »

If you're wondering how celebrity owned restaurants compare to their owner's stellar personalities, look out for our next dining feature on Ai Wei Wei's Qu Nar, Jackie Chan's Cafe and Zhang Ziyi's Shan Zhai. Read more »

Located east of Tiananmen, this upmarket restaurant is decked out in designer furniture by Domus, the Italian furniture company that lends its name. A luxury hutong featuring a lounge and bistro upstairs, and an open kitchen in its fine dining restaurant downstairs, the ambience and decor is class.

Despite it ... Read more »

It appears that drinking can get you places in life. Four Points by Sheraton has appointed its new and first ever, Chief Beer Officer, Scott Kerkmans. He has devoted his professional and personal life to beer from learning with a home brewing kit, to production and pairings as well as ... Read more »

For those who love to cook, it's the season to buy some eggplants (aubergines) and experiment with some new recipes. Whether, it's fried, baked, cooked in curries or casseroles, this vegetable stars in different cuisines across cultures. We've got our favourite Chinese stir-fry eggplant dish and I ... Read more »

Could you tell us a little more about how you started in the F&B business? I started my first restaurant in 1984, but before that I was helping to run the family business, a Chinese restaurant in Singapore called “Charming Garden”. At that time, I had a day job ... Read more »

Known for their excellent red wines from the Valpolicella Classico region, EMW Fine Wines introduces a collection of Tommasi's finest, including the award winning Valpolicella Classico Superior Ripasso DOC 2004, Soave Classico DOC, Le Prunee Merlot IGT 2005 and the best of Valpolicella - The Amarone Della Valpolicella, a complex ... Read more »

Following the launch party last night at Ristorante Sadler at the Legation Quarters, Champagne Ayala, the 'haute couture' of the Champagne is now available from ASC Fine Wines.

Founded in 1890 by Edmond Ayala, it has been part of the Bollinger “family” since 2005. Ayala’s style is characterized by ... Read more »

Literally translated as "Honey Sour Milk", these traditional ceramic jars of goodness are the best yogurt I've had. Forget your RMB15 Danone from Jenny Lou's, pick up a jar of this fresh yogurt made and delivered every morning to your local xiaomaibu (provision shop) and finish it on ... Read more »

I've been following this discussion thread on the South German Bakery and have still been wondering if it's better to slice bread after it's been freshly baked. You can't buy bread till after 12 noon at this bakery and I love it that people are serious ... Read more »

We've all had hard days and encountered less than satisfactory service from waitstaff. Now that the hype of the games have blown over, how will that alter the standards of service? how responsive will our dear fu wu yuans be post-Olympics?

There are a few discussions on the CW ... Read more »

It's the time of the year where we stuff our faces with assorted mooncakes presented in the prettiest, most delicate boxes. So, with the overwhelming selection and people thrusting multicoloured mooncake flyers in our faces, where and who does the best mooncakes? Whether it's for your devouring pleasure ... Read more »

For those who have dreamt about sinking their teeth into the gargantuan pizzas from Kro, you can now head on down to the Gongti Kro's Nest as they've just reopened! Read more »

As the Olympics draw to a close, life will soon return to normal for most of us living here. To narrow down the overwhelming lists of great restaurants in town with more stellar new ones set to open, we’ve narrowed down our top 5 picks. This weekend, enjoy the ... Read more »

Even though they're just humans, something about stars makes what is casual and ordinary for us seem extra-ordinary. Several great Beijing venues have jumped up a few notches in the "star" quotient of late, and will forever retain that special touch which we always knew was there--but which these ... Read more »

After two years in Beijing and one year writing, interning and then editing for City Weekend, the time has come to say goodbye, at least for a year. My parting gift to everyone is my top ten dining picks list, below. There are many great restaurants that aren't included ... Read more »

Over the weekend, we went foraging for good cheese and found some at the House of Switzerland. Even better, we found potatoes and raclette! What was really impressive was the effort put into presentation - chinese style, 4 plates are served on a tray and you get a pair of chopsticks ... Read more »

Beijing has been inundated with famous people--and it turns out they also like to eat and drink. Imagine that!

So far, I've heard that the Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert, dined with his delegation at Med at Block 8 on Thursday, after which Block 8 GM Sebastien Noat brought ... Read more »

To help you make sense of Beijing’s overwhelming list of dining choices, we’ve narrowed down our Top 5 for the best places to eat during the first weekend of sporting action! Head over to 1949 for set lunch and dinner menus at Duck de Chine and 1/5 ... Read more »

And here is the other half of my dining deliverances, to keep us sane and sated.

The Opposite House

In addition to about-to-open bars Mesh (August 11) and Punk (August 20), the Opposite House (the first Beiing-based development from Hong Kong's Swire Hotels) will soon launch several restaurants. These ... Read more »

In just one day, the Olympics madness is about to fully unleash itself on our town. What keeps me sane and reassures me everything will be ok is that some of my favorite restaurants have made special arrangements so they can continue to serve new treats in additional to their ... Read more »

Breakfast is the perfect time to experience Beijing’s xiaochi. You can often find xiaochi street vendors in little shops carved out of the side of a building. My friends reminisce about summers past when they could walk a couple minutes from their apartment to get a just-fried youtiao (油条 ... Read more »

I'm obsessed with baobing (刨冰), mountains of shaved ice heaped with my favorite ingredients, red bean and green bean, and drizzled with condensed milk. I've made it my mission to taste as many kinds as possible in Beijing. (In June, I ate baobing everyday for a whole week ... Read more »