Posts Tagged: beijing

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27
Aug 10

Phat in Beijing: Fisheye Café

fisheye cafe beijing china sanlitun lomo
fisheye cafe beijing china sanlitun lomo
Images courtesy of Jellymon

One thing I love about China is that it is still addicted to shooting film. Cheap developing, lots of vintage gear – film has a stronghold amongst Chinese afficionados. Hence why Lomo is doing so well – they recently opened up the Fisheye Cafe in Beijing’s Sanlitun district with slick interior design and branding by Jellymon. Can’t wait to visit and try a cup of SF’s Ritual Coffee.. in Beijing!

Fisheye Café – 鱼眼儿咖啡
First floor, S1, The Sanlitun Village
19 Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang District
北京市朝阳区三里屯北路19号
Beijing, China

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28
Apr 10

Phat in Beijing: Apothecary

apothecary bj courtesy of cityweekend
Image via CityWeekend

Oh Apothecary. I am so happy that my friend Lin Lin introduced me to Chef Max Levy’s new bar and restaurant Apothecary in SanLiTun. Situated in Nali patio just upstairs from Let’s, Apothecary is a true whiskey bar serving up quality drinks on hand-chipped ice. Their drink menu is extensive, offering classic cocktails that are beautifully crafted from old school recipes. Dark ‘n Stormy, y’all! Everything is reasonably priced and actually quite inexpensive when you compare with Shanghai cocktail bars like El Coctel.

We happened to pop in late on a Saturday night, and luckily, Apothecary’s kitchen is open til 1am! Even though we had eaten before, Lin Lin ordered up a table full of authentic Creole eats for us. I was too overcome with unbridled joy to take photos, so you’ll have to visualize each dish in your head with me. Max, the gracious chef, is a New Orleans native, so you can bet the grub is good. Everything at Apothecary is housemade – from the cocktail mixers to the pickles to the salt! Emphasis on quality, for sure.

The charcuterie platter at Apothecary is one thing you can’t miss. It comes with headcheese, pickled potatoes, ham, Andouille sausage, and thick cuts of maple-smoked bacon – all house-made and to die for. The red beans and rice is another must-try, it features a hearty portion of beans laced with pulled pork over a mound of rice. Perfectly satisfying.

On Sundays, Apothecary does fried chicken dinners – whole or half chickens with biscuits! You be we returned the next night for it. The chicken was super moist and juicy, and I had a hard time deciding whether I should continue to cram myself with fried chicken or focus on the deliciously buttery homemade biscuits….

Anyways, if you are in Beijing, you MUST go to Apothecary. The atmosphere, service, food and drinks are a dream… I’ve already begged Max to relocate to Shanghai, but alas… no luck! Who wants to go to Beijing?

Enjoy!

Apothecary
Nali Patio 3/F #D302, 81 Sanlitun Beilu,
Chaoyang District, Beijing
北京市朝阳区三里屯北路81号
那里花园三层D302室
+86 10 5208 6040


www.apothecarybj.com

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19
Apr 10

Phat in Beijing: Burger-rama!

Continuing my week of unhealthy, artery-hardening eating, I decided that a weekend burger binge was in order. We were in Beijing and scorned hand-pulled noodles and hearty northern food in order to stuff ourselves silly with meat patties.

Let's Burger Beijing China
First place we went to was Let’s Burger in Sanlitun. Seemed really promising, the interiors were fun and well done in the manner of an American Grill. They have two restaurants, one featuring burgers, the second concept devoted to fresh seafood imported from places like Canada and Sri Lanka. Their burger menu is extensive and exotic, with options like the tuna steak burger, or patties topped with king prawn or brie and cranberry ($48-168RMB)

Being a classicist, (<- yes, I believe this term can be applied to foodies, right?) I stuck with the cheeseburger. Being a fatty, I also added bacon and a fried egg.

Let's Burger Beijing China
But sadly, upon the first bite, this happened. What the hell. Worst burger ever. The patty was mealy and dry, topped over a bed of slippery lettuce. Each bite forced more of the burger out of the bun. In the end, I resorted to knife and fork, but the bun was so chewy that I gave up. On my way out, I scoped out other diners and found that they were all struggling with the same burger dilemma.

Let's Fish n Chips, beijing china
The redeeming dish of the meal was the fish & chips. The fish was a whole fillet of cod coated in an extra crispy batter. Served with a tangy tartar and vinegar. We also had a grilled squid & avocado salad. It was unremarkable.

fatburger double cheeseburger with fried egg, beijing china
The next day, we had to cancel out our bad burger memories with new, fresh, delicious, smashed-patty ones. We headed to the Fatburger, yes.. the same one of LA/LV fame! Here is what a double cheeseburger looked like. Amazing right? At Fatburger, they smash their patties so more of the burger makes contact with the griddle, resulting in a super crispy outside, juicy inside.

fatburger beijing china
Burger in mouth, please! The burgers start at $40RMB, $60RMB for a set meal with fries and a drink. A bit expensive, but totally worth it. The skinny fries are ultra light and crispy, and the onion rings – gah! To die for! I guess I’ll be making monthly trips to Beijing now..

Read more about smashed burgers + other styles of burger cooking on Serious Eats. Empty stomachs be warned!

Let’s Burger
North Sanlitun Street
D101a, Nali Patio 81
Sanlitun, Beijing
三里屯北街81号那里花园D101A
5208-6036

Fatburger
Grand Summit Plaza
19 Dongfang Dong Lu
Sanyuanqiao, Beijing
东方东路19号, 外交公寓
8532-1878

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19
Sep 09

Phat in Beijing

bj-source
So a couple of weekends ago, we took an overnight train from Shanghai to Beijing to attend the opening of the Source flagship store. It was awesome. See more pix courtesy of Jenn Wong for Source here.

Having gotten off the 12 hour, food-less train at 7am, we were in desperate need of some nourishment. We wandered over to Gu Lou Lu, a bohemian street lined with traditional hutongs, and ended up at a small restaurant run by a mother-daughter team.

bj-gulou
They cooked us up some delicious grilled oysters served with ginger, garlic & green onions. We also enjoyed their specialty – a whole roasted fish garnished with lots of cilantro, chopped celery, peanuts, chilies, bean sprouts, and onions – all served in a metal pan over an open flame. I have no idea where this dish is from (Sichuan, maybe?), or whats its called, but it was DELICIOUS. Slightly spicy, served bubbling hot – exactly what we were looking for after a looong trip.

And of course – you can’t go to Beijing and not have Peking duck! The next day, armed with a recommendation from Adrian’s pops, we set off in search of some legit Peking duck. We found it at Quan Ju De, BJ’s second oldest Peking duck restaurant. Apparently the story goes that the founder of Quan Ju De paid off a cook from the imperial kitchen of the Tongzhi emperor to obtain the secret recipe. Mmmm, tastes… imperial.

bj-peking
Crispy, juicy, flavorful roasted duck sliced tableside!

bj-peking-02
Served with lots of steamed Chinese-style tortillas, green onions, and hoisin sauce. A Phat masterpiece by Allister Lee.

Quan Ju De serves up some real tasty & meaty duck.. but honestly I prefer the Cantonese version!

Another awesome thing about being up north in China is the abundance of hand-pulled noodles, or la mian. Lin Lin took us to this amazing noodle spot near Sanlitun on our last day. A real BJ treat.

bj-noodle-02
Noodle Ninja doing his thang.

bj-noodle
The menu was really simple, consisting of thick or thin noodles (chewy, dense, filling) served in a hearty & flavorful broth with your choice of meat. Fancy it up with tableside garnishes of scallions, dried onion, and dried cilantro. Everyone had the beef rib special, and I went for beef tendon (left). Boy, I love tendon. And trust me – there is no good tendon in nyc!! The portions at Noodle Bar were huge and the atmosphere was nice and cozy.

Thank you so much to Chris & Jellymon for an amazing time in BJ! Can’t wait to come back!

Quan Ju De Peking Duck
13 Shuaifuyuan Lu, Wangfujing Dongcheng District, Beijing
Tel: +86-10 6525-3310

Noodle Bar
At 1949- The Hidden City.
Courtyard 4, Gong Ti Bei Lu, Sanlitun, Beijing
Tel: +86-10 6501-1949