Swiss Bliss

We’ve always wondered what exactly “Swiss cuisine” entailed, and though Grams Swiss Gourmet Bakery & Café’s extensive menu doesn’t give many answers, it is tasty. The bakery offers the most distinctly Swiss fare, with imports like Hiestand pastries and Mövenpick ice cream (one scoop ￥25; two ... Read more »

Sixth Arrondissement

Straying just a few hundred meters west of Nanluo Guxiang, 6th District Café is an endearing attempt to inject something fresh into the area's café culture. The intended charm of the small bohemian venture, named for the owner’s favorite neighborhood in Paris, however, is beset by ... Read more »

Grand Charm

This cozy eatery combines the cuisine, feel and history of France and Vietnam, establishing a theme of romantic couplings. The first floor of the restaurant, located across from the Bell Tower, is dedicated to a Parisian style brasserie/café. We ate out on the rooftop dining area, which ... Read more »

Ship Shape

Seafood and wine connoisseurs should be ecstatic that La Marée, whose name means “the tide,” has washed up on the banks of the CBD. The restaurant is decorated in nautical colors, and the maritime theme is completed with seashells and fish tanks. Encouraged by both the décor and ... Read more »

One World, One Maki

We were told that Asakuma’s social teppanyaki chefs speak both English and Japanese, tending towards the sort of chit-chat with diners that follows from their southern California origins. So, all things considered, we instead opted for sushi, thinking it more suitable lunchtime fare and assuming ... Read more »

The Elephant Pack

Don't be confused by the checkered tablecloths, green-upholstered booths or photographs of Western celebrities lining the walls. This might be Siberia’s version of TGI Friday's, but as Beijing's fourth Elephant, expect reliable Russian meat n' potatoes. We began with a bowl of Borscht ... Read more »

Barbecool

Liu Miao, much beloved owner of the 2 Kolegas rock joint, must be kicking himself for not beating these guys to the punch and opening BBQ House (yeah, that’s the name of the place) himself. After all, this Turkish/Arabian roast meat shack is bound to benefit from ... Read more »

Get Up, 'Stan Up

We have to admit, we weren’t sure what to expect from Uzbek food, but we had decided to head to Shash simply to enjoy the restaurant's aesthetics. Customers walk through an imposing wooden door and darkened entrance, only to step into the breathtaking and ... Read more »

Hot Pot with Class

Stepping into La Ting Ting, we were immediately struck by the elegant and simple French design and the courteous staff. Taking a spot by the window, it wasn't long before we were joined by five other parties-a good sign for any restaurant. As hot pot ... Read more »

Arriba Arrives in the Wu

Sharing space and management in a murky arrangement with Propaganda, La Bamba has transposed that infamous club's grind-and-sleaze feel to the faux-rustic environs of Wudaokou's only Mexican eatery, with lines for the club snaking through the dining area, reducing the distance between dinner ... Read more »

South African in the 'Burbs

Beijing’s first South African restaurant offers diners a spacious outdoor terrace perfect for summer evenings, a menu of meats and curries, quite good service and an exceptional and affordable South African wine collection. We started with the Air Dried Beef and Feta Salad (￥40 ... Read more »

More Mare

Newly opened on Guanghualu, the new branch of Mare features a modest decor and an incredible selection of tapas. We opted for their tapas platter (￥70 per person, minimum two people), featuring six different tapas, chosen daily by the chef. Our selection offered tasty bites of croquettes, grilled ... Read more »

Less Than Meets the Eye

Lotus Thai features comfortable booths, beautiful paintings of lotuses and pink napkins folded to resemble lotus flowers. However, the restaurant was far more pleasing to the eye than to the taste bud. The Sour and Spicy Papaya Salad (￥58) proved too spicy to eat more ... Read more »

Nice to Meat You

This tiny restaurant features a cozy upstairs dining area and a downstairs butcher, stocked with a selection of well-marbled Shandong steaks that can be purchased to cook up at home. We first ordered one of Pullman’s specialty items, the 500g Steak of Pride (￥218) but ... Read more »

Warming Your Heart

The dining room glitters white and brass; Kamat’s made us feel like foreign dignitaries visiting a Tandoori prince. The waitstaff is alive, readily explaining and recommending dishes. The deep-fried bits, vegetable samosas (￥28) and assorted pakoras (￥28), were what Chinese deep-frying strives for, crunchy and spicy ... Read more »

Shunyi's New Flavor

After a particularly frustrating taxi journey, we arrived at Za’atar tired, hungry and anxious. By the time the friendly staff ushered us inside, though, our moods had improved. The simple but beautiful d-¦cor, complete with elegant wooden carvings and probably China's nicest restaurant ... Read more »

All-You-Can-Grill

Tairyo, a popular Teppanyaki chain with around 50 branches throughout China, has just opened its fifth Beijing location across from Gongti East Gate. Diners are encouraged to bring very empty stomachs or large appetites and go straight for the all-you-can-eat-and-drink ￥150 deal, which comes with unlimited fresh fruit juices ... Read more »

Beer-o-nesian

The entrance of Under the Bridge has a large clipboard challenging customers to chug their 1.3 liter flower vase of beer (the "Cliff Hanger", ￥25) in under 93.5 seconds. At the time of visiting, still during UTB's soft opening, the first room was replete with only ... Read more »

Courtyard Delish

Last month, budding filmmaker Ren Nan fulfilled her long held dream of opening Nan Ye Tang, an elegant Southeast Asian restaurant with the cinematic beauty of a Hou Hsiao-Hsien film. Designed by Ye You, the artist behind Face Bar, Nan Ye Tang’s warmly-lit courtyard is decorated with ... Read more »

A Fraction of a Restaurant

1/5 Taverna is simply too modest in its title-I'd give it at least a quarter. Focaccia (￥8), last I checked, should be flat, crispy and sprinkled with flavoring-not just a white loaf. But at least it was warm, so they win points for ... Read more »

Shrimp and Spice

Having never been to Thailand, having visited few Thai restaurants, and being happily ignorant, we assumed all things Thai must be either purple or elephant-shaped or both. Red Lotus-located a few stair flights up from the Puhuangyu subway station in Fangzhuang-did not dispel our expectations. Amid the ... Read more »

Paging Gordon Gecko

For the non-plutocrats among us, any discussion of The Boardroom, an ultra-swank enclave sequestered in an unassuming corner of the Block 8 compound, must begin and end with the price of entry; set menus start at ￥1,000 per person and proceed skyward. For nearly everyone, that ... Read more »

Injera Injection

In addition to being Beijing's only Ethiopian restaurant, Ras strikingly sets itself apart from the city's mid-range and upscale restaurants with its decor. Colorful, Ethiopian umbrellas hang upside down from the ceiling, photographs of Ethiopia cover the walls, and above the bar is a large painting ... Read more »