Element Fresh 新元素
S8-31, The Village at Sanlitun, 19 South Sanlitun Road,
Sanlitun
三里屯19号, 三里屯Village南区8号楼8-3-3单元
6417-1318
www.elementfresh.com
quality@elementfresh.com
Open M-F 10am Sat & Sun 8am
Price Y100-Y199 per couple
Accepts International Credit Cards
This Venue has been nominated for a Reader's Choice Award 2010 in the category Beijing - Restaurant of the Year
- City Weekend
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Beijing's first outlet of the famous Shanghai chain serves up huge, fantastic portions of comfort food like smoothies, salads, pastas and desserts in an upbeat, bright, laptop-friendly environment. Try the shrimp and mango spring rolls, the laffa bread salad or the vegetarian California hippie sandwich.
Reviews Been there? Add a review!
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cityweekend
Most Recent Reviews
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The service quality seems to be spiraling slowly downwards, as is the quality of some of the food. This said, I like the atmosphere and have to admit that the service quality is still pretty high. The problem is that I've come to expect great and friendly service from the EF restaurants in Shanghai. Anyway, most of the people working there are still adorable and do their best to help you. I'm just worried the quality is going down further. The last few times brunch has not been good at all and coffee refills very difficult to acquire.
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I have just arrived in China, so I have the benefit of not having fallen under the sway of foreigneritis, the disease where foreigners get so used to not having some of their favorite dishes that they think sub-par offering is somehow "as good" as the stuff at home.
On to the review, I had high hopes for element fresh especially after hearing all the hype, however, in the end, that is all it really was, hype. I went to it looking for decent sandwiches and pasta, and came out thinking, I could make better stuff out of the can or at home.
Furthermore, the prices were far overblown for the food I received. 10 bucks for near tasteless Pasta Puttanesca and Scallops and Prosciutto Pasta. The ribs my friend ordered were to near insignificant chops with mashed potatoes that barely would feed a baby. Oh, and the drinks were completely watered down. The cosmopolitan my girlfriend ordered had next to no vodka.
Maybe this place was worth it ten months or year+ ago, but now, it seems like a waste of a trip. I won't be coming back again.
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I used to love this place but it is pretty pricey. The prices have gone up since it first opened and though the portions are plentiful it doesn't make up for the amount you pay.
I have enjoyed most of the food here except the quesadilla appetizer didn't have enough cheese! How could you have a quesadilla without cheese?! When I asked the waitress about it she took it to the back of the kitchen where the chef insisted that there was cheese put on it, though it was not visible nor could you taste it.
The hummus appetizer is great because the give you so many different things to dip into it.
The laffa bread salad is huge and the miso-yogurt salad dressing is delicious.
For sandwiches I'd try the middle eastern sandwich or the eggplant with diavolino cheese. Mmmhmm tasty!
Its packed all the time now and the service has gone down because the staff can't handle the volume. I tried to eat here yesterday for brunch and they told me I had 4 people in front of me. 5 minutes later I saw them sit 2 groups down and when I asked where I was on the list they said I had 3 groups in front of me. This was disappointing and I was in a bit of a time constraint so I had to leave.
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The Village at Sanlitun has become one of my favorite destinations, in large part because of the easy, free parking. But the many restaurants are excellent.
I dropped in late last Friday after a concert at Poly. It was 10 pm, and most everyone was closed. What is it with Beijing and the shortage of good late night dining? Hatsune turned away three groups as we arrived.
Element Fresh took us in (although they closed shortly thereafter). The manager was so friendly and helpful. He is from Shangdong. I like the food here. The portions are American sized. I had the chicken which was good - not the greatest but completely servicable. The salads are really good. They were out of several appetizers we wanted to try, but that happens at the end of the day.
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What I love about this place is the buzz. It's not only a place to eat, but also a place to just chill with friends. Nobody pushes you to order more or pay the bill and leave to make room for others waiting. Element Fresh says, "welcome home!"
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Ever since the opening last year, this place is constantly packed, with good reason. Although a little on the overpriced side, it's still worth it.
It's hard to pick one favorite dish, they're all so yummy, but if I had to, it would be the vietnamese mango and shrimp rolls. Oh, but that's an appetizer, right? So I'll go with the italian tofu sandwich. Or the gargantuan greek salad. I can't do this, it's like Sophie's choice.
However, no matter what I'm having, I always order the delicious "raspberry rage", one of the most delicious smoothies ev-ah.
Also, thumbs up for the staff, polite and corteous; quite a change from the usual sulky waiters around town.
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thought food and service was quite good, but so overpriced. i would rather go to alameda for western food (it costs around the same, btw). the only remotely cost-effective option i found on the menu was this prawn-paprika (???) salad for 40 something RMB. relatively big, but that's 2/3 of a lunch rapido at alameda.
also beorn thx for the info on it as a place to work. was thinking about it and now i've decided against it
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The decor ,the menu makes you sit up as its done quite well,the dampener is the service. Firstly it takes long time to get your food,because its crowded at peak times,especially lunch times.So please avoid this during lunch time.
They also have this attitude ,they are good so some waiters have recently turned arrogant,so also the manager.
The food could be good or average depending on the mood of the guy who makes it. We have had good as well as poor food too here. Neverthless I am positive that they will set things up soon. Though its overpriced ,the location and the for the ambience its fine as long it gives good food,which they should become consistent,then its fine.
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(4.5 stars, rounded up) I don't see how people are so negative about this place. I love the outdoor deck area. The service is very friendly and we got our food pretty fast on an evening when almost all the tables were filled. All of our food was great. I got the Vietnamese spring rolls with shrimp and mango, which were delicious. After, I had the laffa salad. I thought the prices seemed slightly high, but then once I realized how HUGE my salad was (I could only finish half of it and took the rest to go for lunch the next day) the price turned out to be really reasonable. Other than Hatsune, this is definitely my pick for eating at the Village.
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I have mixed feeling towards Element Fresh. While the food is not terrible, its also not that great. The main thing that prevents me from frequenting the place is the prices are much too high.
The high point is their smoothies. While these can get pretty expensive also, think around 50rmb for a large glass, they are at least very smooth and taste very fruity. My daughter loves their Mango smoothie, so we normally go for a snack and a smoothie.
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this place is truly overrated! the salads are good, ok, but that's it! the asian items on the menu are terrible, and the whole thing is just terribly overpriced, because packed with foreigners! service is good though, but seriously to me it's just not enough.
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We ordered the Asian set the hummus and the bread.
The bread was just not upto the mark.
The hummus were frozen chilled.
The smoothies were good though.
Service is fine.
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We enjoyed our meal here, but perhaps people had been talking it up a lot, which is why we weren't as impressed as we expected to be. Nonetheless, the food was good and the service was attentive and we will go again.
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I loved the Shanghai Element Fresh and wanted to like the new one in Sanlitun. Great service usually but it seems weekend brunches are messy. Scrambled eggs that are usually dry and healthy looking were watery and gooey. Prompt service has been turned into a guessing game when they're busy. And why do customers have to flag down waiters for coffee refills? Decent food could become bad if they don't adjust some of their quality control measures.
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If you like your staff lousy, food glutinous and room smoky then this place will disappoint. Smiley waiters serve healthy food in a choice of dining area (smoking, non-smoking or al fresco). Pricey. Yes. But worth it. The Asian sets represent the best value for money – the crispy and sharp Peppered Chicken my favourite while the Cowboy Breakfast, so named because of its steak and omelette, will keep you tanked up for the whole day.
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in one word: overpriced.
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Was expecting to be unimpressed, but the healthy food was a nice change from the norm. The juices were all amazingly refreshing- the colors rather shocking so not sure if they dye them, but tasted absolutely fresh squeeze and blended. Carrot juice sounded weird but was really good, as was blueberry and watermelon. Affordable eating, and sitting out on the patio's nice on a Sunday afternoon with friends!
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After seeing Element Fresh clean up at the Beijinger 2009 Restaurant Awards I decided to finally see for myself what all the hype was about.
And I was totally unimpressed.
Seriously, folks... are we so desperate for "American Style" dining that we get this lathered up over what would qualify as a medium-quality, mid-range cafe in most American cities?
Our experience follows:
After sitting down, we waited roughly 10 minutes for a waiter to even wander by. Finally we went with the standard lung-top shout of "FUYUAN" to get some attention.
Ordered cocktails, appetizers and dinner. After about 15 minutes our appetizers arrived.
My friend had the Manhattan Clam Chowder. EF goes with the "tomato" base versus cream base, and it was very good. We both thought it was quite tasty.
I had the hummus. I've read that its excellent and wanted to give it a shot. Unfortunately, I found it to be completely bland and devoid of flavor. It didn't taste like chick peas, it didn't taste like olive oil or lemon or anything. It simply tasted like nothing. To be fair, there was plenty of bread and veggies served with it. I'd have gnoshed on those happily except...
2 minutes after our appetizer arrived, the mains showed up.
Mind you, we still hadn't even received our cocktails.
I had the lamb kebab. It was fine though, like the hummus, decidedly lacking in flavor. Given that I now had apps and mains all at once, and both tasted like nothing, I unwrapped it and hit it with a layer of hummus and salt/pepper, which actually made it fairly tasty. It was accompanied by some kind of cauliflower slaw that wasn't bad, but was literally a serving of roughly one tablespoon.
My friend had the tuna, which was served in a sweet/spicy thai sauce, with a side of pad-thai-esque noodles. Unlike my flavorless dinner, this went too far in the other direction. The flavor of the tuna (not a delicate fish to begin with) was completely buried in the avalanche of sauce it was smothered with. And while I know Pad Thai has a peanut/coconut base, this tasted like spaghetti cooked in GIF. Most of it went uneaten.
The cocktails were decent, arriving roughly midway through dinner. I liked the addition of lemongrass to my friend's mojito... it worked surprisingly well.
Bottom line, I really don't get it. Service was lousy, the food was mediocre, and yet it was packed with laowai, just like us, plunking down RMB400 for a meal that'd cost $30 back in a comparable setting back in the US.
I left, scratching my head. There are so many solid western restaurants nearby that I don't get the current obsession with this place...
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Yay, they deliver now! So I ordered a delivery. real easy; make an account on their website, select what you want to order and you will get an email with the estimate time and bill.
The estimate time was a bit off; said 45 minutes, took 55 minutes..Nothing terrible..although I find 45 minutes a long time ( it was lunch hour so I kinda understand ).
They do not charge for the delivery, minimum 50 RMB. Only thing is the delivery area is pretty small. So most people will have to go there to get it.
The food was goood..like always!
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This place has a refreshingly simple atmosphere, and is great for bumping into acquaintances; it seems that the entire expat community brunches here on weekends. While that does mean the food and drinks are fresh and good (love the laffa salad and raspberry rave smoothie), the service I have to admit is levels below what it should be, perhaps because it is always so busy. This in itself is very disappointing, and I have stopped going frequently as a result. My most recent experience last Sunday, the waiter got two orders wrong, had to replace a smoothie, forgot to bring a dish, and then lost the leftovers that I wanted boxed. The food is good though, so I give it three stars.
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Awful. I have given it about 5 chances and each time it just got worse and worse. The food isn't all that fantastic- its dry, flavourless, the bacon scared me, The Village Cafe does better eggs and toast! Not something you would seem to be difficult!?! I waited on average an hour each time i went for my food. Once 1hour 40mins. I really avoid this place as much as possible. Its a good concept and well needed in Beijing, so sort it out!!!
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Very nice place!
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Is one of my favourite place in Salit. is FRESH! good salad very nice menu, For lunch is wonderfull especially on sunday afternoon if you find a place on the terrace. but I don't like too much for dinner
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The food has been good but I had a very bad Valentine's day experience here. We got there around early dinner hours, were seated, and then waited 20 minutes before I inquired about our order, to which the answer was "very soon." Ten minutes later, our drinks had still not arrived., much less the appetizer or the entre. My date and I left and found another restaurant with better service.
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Colleague booked for 11 people for 12.30pm. We arrived at 12.35pm and were advised that our table had been given to another group!! What poor quality service, couldn't even ring and enquire if we were on our way. Luckily there were so many other restaurants to choose from in The Village. Dont care how good I've heard the smoothies are, never going back.
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I love the Fresh more each time I go. Great salads, great entrees, great smoothies ... and everything is far healthier than other SLT restaurants offer.
The service is now excellent, plus as of the new year, they have fapiaos!
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The place is nice and bright and the food is ok, some dishes are tasteless like the "homemade maccaroni" which came along with a tasteless cheese sauce neither no other spices nor salt. By the way they were not homemade at all! The salads are always huge and consistent in quality and a good choice for lunch. The service is friendly but not very professional, they served a bottle of wine and a bottle of water with three people and than forgot to open the bottle. We ordered two starters and two main courses but they were served all together which was a shame, because half of the food got cold.
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this place is one of my favs..the atmosphere and lighting is perfect - warm, relaxed and social, prices are reasonable, the food is served in very generous sized portions, the smoothies are AMAZING and there is a wide selection of food across the board. they are also always packed out, so it pays to book if you want to take a large group there.
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went here today for lunch. surprised with how the place was filled with so many foreigners. felt like back to those days during olympics. the place looks really chic and fresh. i saw there are some tables at the terrace. must have been nice to sit outside when the weather is warmer.
opted for big american breakfast. my friend got the salad. i like the salad better than my american breakfast. the american breakfast is good but nothing so special about it. salad was so fresh. so good. i like it. and yes, it was huge.
service was good. except at the end i had to wait for around 15 minutes to get my change. i was kinda afraid they forgot to give us our change so went to the ask the fuwuyuan myself. got our change right after i asked. so...
well, will come back for the place, salad and some other menus. oh, and for the eye candies who visit this place. :p
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Mid-price, moderate service, very diners type of atmosphere. Place was pack on Saturday night I went. Everything we order turned up quite fast actually.
The food: Salad was great, came in very very large, so do be warned. The Scallops was nicely done, the rice was just not right for me somehow, but the veggie was done nicely. Dessert was nice - Chocolate cake and Apple pie is just heavenly.
The drinks, I would recommend the smoothies. All and all is a great chic place to catch up with friends or colleagues.
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Expats new favourite weekend brunch spot. Decent food, good coffee, nice smoothies. The service is friendly but can be a bit patchy when it's really busy. Great atmosphere. Bring a baby or young child, everyone else does.
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Absolutely packed at brunch this Sunday. Kids, moms, dads, everyone. The highlight was the Big American breakfast. RMB64 for a huge plate of goodness. French toast, crispy meaty bacon, seasoned potatoes washed down with delicious bottomless cup of Japanese green tea. Awesome and incredible.
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the food was very different and delicious. I had the greek wrap which was sooo good. there quesadilla was amazing as well. highly recommended. a little pricier than i originally thought though.
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heard this place was sweet, checked it out, it was ok, a bit overpriced. i prefer other places
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just don't try the asian menu/ or pad thai specifically.
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Beijing's newest addition of urban chic meets the hippie health nut restaurant. From healthy smoothies to garden salads and many other healthy choices, Element Fresh is hard to beat if you're watching your weight and want something absolutely delicious.
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The fapiao thing seems to be a business opening tradition here. A friend of mine described it as an initial "bonus" for the business at opening before things get busy.
Other places in the Village did have similar issues initially as me and my colleagues have a collection of receipts waiting to be changed into fapiao's :-)
Surprising though that a reasonably large group such as Element Fresh can't or won't sort out their fapiao machine.
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Well the Sunday brunch went very wrong.
I understand they were really, really crowded but do they have a 5m2 kitchen for such a huge customer sitting place?
We waited 1h45 to get our food, which still didn't come ... Had to cancel it... and leave...
Something's wrong here. 2 hours to cook scrambled eggs and a steak?
I had another try during week. Place was empty, food was good, not exceptional for the price you pay. Fresh juice are ok. The terrace very nice.
Need a lot of improvement there...
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It's taken us until 2008 to get one of these in Beijing ? Anyway, the perfect cafe / lunch / wifi / smoothie meeting place. Same menu as Shanghai. They can do no wrong
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Had the Lao Baba steak sandwich (RMB80) last night and was pretty impressed. Real steak, but they did not cut corners because it was in sandwich form. Tender, could bite through it, delicioso. Washed that down with three glasses of the Wash State wine (RMB40). For dessert? Of course the German apple cake with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream. I'm addicted!
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Just as good (and getting just as busy) as the Shanghai outlets. Been a big fan for a few years now and I wasn't disappointed by the Beijing outlet.
Love the smoothies, golden ginger is my fav. Great sandwiches, pastas and salads. Prompt efficient service in a very light and airy space.
Will definitely return.
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Beijing has been waiting for a place like this. Long time coming for the Shanghai chain. Solid, solid fresh food, huge salads, the gourmet macaroni & cheese is to die for... and what they're known for, their healthy shakes... Just a consistent scrumptious dining experience. I will be going back for brunch, lunch and dinners.
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You can browse the web and use web based emails, but I couldn't connect to other ports required for SMTP/ IMAP (e.g., 25, 456, 993). I think you'll have problems using Outlook, Mail.app, or Thunderbird, for example. I just think this kind of blocking of ports is really bad and comes from the oversimplification that "the web = the internet".
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can't send email? Wow. That being said, I did upload an event to the CW website while sitting in Element Fresh just yesterday.
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Very cool newcomer in Beijing. I love the fresh take on organic and "back-to-nature" fusion food and fruit drinks with ginseng, aloe vera, or spirulina "power-ups". Their sandwiches are twice the price of Panino Teca, but incredibly enough they're also better. As a restaurant it's great.
I do however have some issues with it as a place to bring your laptop (and sorry this gets a bit technical): * they block most ports so you cannot ssh or send email, only browse the web. * they network was slow - terrible latency (1000ms+) and big packet loss * they don't have many power sockets * and even at 10 am they had the music cranked up quite loud (but did turn it down when I asked about it)
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Robust Flavors
This popular Shanghai chain has finally arrived in Beijing, bringing with it an extensive menu of delectable and healthful treats. Planting ourselves in the corner, the high ceiling and tall windows offered lovely ambience and natural light. We were served by polite English-speaking wait staff who made sure our meal was well-paced. We dived straight into their list of healthy smoothies, indulging in the “flu fighter” (RMB28)—a mix of kiwi, orange and blueberries—and the “passionate peach” (RMB28). We ordered the homestyle macaroni with mozzarella and parmesan (RMB58), which we topped with a well grilled chicken breast (RMB28). The combination was successfully executed, without the usual lavish heaviness of cheeses. We would have liked the dressing on our greek salad (RMB68) a little sharper, but the wonderful large bowl of olives, feta cheese, tomatoes and lettuce was a fresh, crisp meal in itself. The “chocolate lover’s delight” (RMB38) was a light mousse with a graham-cracker crust, a good sweet pick for the more health-conscious diner but not quite enough to satisfy a true chocoholics’ cravings.
Juliana Loh