I’m always on the lookout for an outdoor pool in Beijing – I attribute it to growing up in Singapore where outdoor pools are the norm thanks to our tropical climate. So, when I spotted this joint set up with deck chairs around a small blue outdoor pool, I just had to check it out.

Alas, the pool at Blue Ark isn’t a swimming pool, or even a wading pool. It really isn’t a pool at all, according to the owner of gelato shop Beiping Gelato. Lacking in any filtration systems whatsoever, the “pool” is just meant to be a backdrop for summer-esque photographs. Well, it certainly worked – those photographs I saw on social media really lured me in.

Thankfully, Blue Ark’s open-air poolside has more to offer – with a smattering of cafes (like D.A.O Coffee), Baddie Sandwiches, a Yunnan cuisine place, Mosto restaurant (described as “Authentic Western Cuisine”), a bakery and even an izakaya place round the back, there’s plenty to snack on while you work on your suntan on their deck chairs. There are outdoor beanbags for kids to lounge on, too. What’s more, the place is dog-friendly – we even saw fur babies sitting with their owners inside D.A.O Coffee, which also offers a pet menu!

Pro Tip: While you’re there, try out the hyperlocal “hot pot” ice cream flavors at Beiping Gelato! For our full review of their ice-cream, follow jingkids International’s Dianping account.

The whole area is part of Dongfeng International Sports Park, which is just down the road from the south entrance of Chaoyang Park. There are soccer fields, a golf putting green, and basketball and badminton courts available for rent too. While they strongly discourage getting in the water since they can’t vouch for its cleanliness, kids are allowed to bring water guns to play with around the pool.

It’s worth checking out next time you’re in the area after exploring Chaoyang Park and want to try somewhere new for a little R & R! As with most places in Beijing, do note that it’ll be pretty crowded on the weekends!

Images: Vivienne Tseng-Rush

Newly opened in early 2023, Dragon Planet is a must visit for young dino-fans and reptile lovers. The restaurant is located in the kids section of Solana on level 1, right next to Harry’s Kitchen and across a VR arcade (that we will review soon!).

You’ll be greeted by a cool Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil at the restaurant as you walk in. The restaurant itself is clean and spacious, and themed with dinosaur fossils, paintings and posters. Best of all though, each table offers a dinosaur toy that kids are welcome to play with while they are in the restaurant – just don’t bring them home with you.

But one of the fun features of dining at Dragon Planet is that there’s a reptile-centric pet store next to the restaurant which hosts several bearded lizards, geckos and other scaly friends. But you don’t just get to peer at these creatures through the glass, kids can actually get to choose one to accompany them to the dining table in the restaurant! We don’t advise letting them share your food though…

The menu at Dragon Planet is pretty much what you’d expect at a sit-down restaurant in a big mall like Solana – we’re talking RMB 38 for a plate of skillet potatoes (which were well-seasoned and cooked to crispy perfection), RMB 88 for salmon pesto pasta (tasty and creamy) all the way up to RMB 268 for a Angus beef steak and RMB 898 for a Tomahawk. They also offer holistic kids meals that have a healthy side serving of steamed vegetables served on a dinosaur-shaped plate.

What we highly recommend is their famous Chicken Balls wrapped in Cuttlefish Ink (RMB 48 for about 8 pieces) – I know it doesn’t sound very appetizing, and it certainly doesn’t look it either. But after the first bite, the kids asked for plate after plate of them! We ended up eating 3 plates in one sitting.

Next time you’re in Solana and looking for a kid-friendly restaurant that isn’t Space Lab, try out Dragon Planet!

Find it:
Dragon Planet 龙族星球餐厅
Solana Mall Kids Building Lvl D1-21

For more reviews like this one, follow the Jingkids International account on Dianping by scanning the QR code below. Or, join our FamFriendlyEats WeChat group by adding TBJButler on WeChat.

KEEP READING: Play All Day at Happy Thursday Sports Park Outdoor Playground for RMB 39!

Images: Vivienne Tseng-Rush, DianPing 

The Jingkids brand continues to extend our brand beyond the capital city even after the launch of our English edition of Jingkids Shanghai last month – with Dianping reviews of a burrito counter, izakaya restaurant and Bottega in Shanghai!

What’s Dianping, you ask? Well, DaZhongDianPing is an indispensable app for getting the best recommendations for restaurants, sights and cool places around China. Think of it as the local version of Yelp + TripAdvisor, and then some! Because most of the reviews on the local app are in Chinese, Jingkids International‘s launched our very own Dianping account to provide reviews in English, so it’s accessible to expat families!

In our Beijing Dianping news this week, we reviewed a cool science-themed indoor discovery center and playground for kids in the Haidian district. We also wrote an entire post with a video about it here! We also share our discovery of what might be the best crepes in Beijing – at Sanlitun’s Panorama cafe. Read the full reviews on our DianPing account now!

When it comes to our reviews, we’ll always try to remain objective and include all relevant kid-focused information – whether there are kids’ amenities, kids’  menus, playrooms, options for kid-friendly service and more. To simplify things, we use a 5 star rating system where possible to rate cleanliness, price and quality of food.

We’re also looking for contributors who would like to send us their reviews of places in the city! Just drop us an email at viviennerush@beijing-kids.com or message on WeChat (ID: VivienneTseng-Rush) if you’d like to share your cool discoveries with our readers. Or if you have a place you’d like us to check out and review, just write it in the comments below.

We’ll be bringing you more reviews of places around Beijing so be sure to follow us on Dianping by clicking the large orange button under our account name. Just search Jingkids International on the app to find us, or simply scan the QR code below!

KEEP READING: Jingkids Launches Dazhongdianping Account With English Reviews!

Images: Pexels, Courtesy of vendors

If you haven’t yet downloaded the Dazhong Dianping app on your smartphone, do so now! The app is indispensable for getting around Beijing (and beyond) and finding all the best restaurants, playgrounds, and sights to visit. Jingkids International‘s very own Dianping account provides reviews of such places in English, so it’s accessible to expat families!

This week, I reviewed a restaurant that has a rather personal connection for myself – Lion. This modern restaurant, tucked away in Hopson One Mall, styles itself in the image of Singapore and offers what they call hometown delicacies for those seeking to taste some of the island country’s famous cuisine. Being a Singaporean, I just had to try it.

To find out if this Singapore-themed restaurant is worth a visit, head on over to the DaZhongDianPing app and read the full review in our account!

When it comes to our reviews, we’ll always try to remain objective and include all relevant kid-focused information – whether there are kids’ amenities, kids’  menus, playrooms, options for kid-friendly service and more. To simplify things, we use a 5 star rating system where possible to rate cleanliness, price and quality of food.

We’re also looking for contributors who would like to send us their reviews of places in the city! Just drop us an email at viviennerush@beijing-kids.com or message on WeChat (ID: VivienneTseng-Rush) if you’d like to share your cool discoveries with our readers. Or if you have a place you’d like us to check out and review, just write it in the comments below.

We’ll be bringing you more reviews of places around Beijing so be sure to follow us on Dianping by clicking the large orange button under our account name. Just search Jingkids International on the app to find us, or simply scan the QR code above!

KEEP READING: Jingkids Launches Dazhongdianping Account With English Reviews!

Images: Pexels, Courtesy of vendors

If you haven’t yet downloaded the Dazhong Dianping app on your smartphone, do so now! The app is indispensable for getting around Beijing (and beyond) and finding all the best restaurants, playgrounds, and sights to visit. Jingkids International recently launched its own Dianping account, providing reviews of such places in English, so it’s accessible to expat families!

Our recent reviews include popular expat brunch hangout, The Rug – specifically the outlet across Chaoyang Park – which is best known for its kids playroom great for smaller kids up to 6 years old. We also discovered Magnet – a relatively new burger and bar joint in Hopson One mall that has mouthwatering burgers and a fun magnetic-levitating dessert that will thrill the kids.

Then we also reviewed Commune Reserve, where the cozy elegance, professional service and fresh authentic flavors just transport you away from the hustle and bustle of Beijing. They recently launched their spring menu with a few seasonal items that are best enjoyed out on their spacious terrace. The Avocado Toast (RMB 78) has a twist on it with a delicious pesto spread on crunchy black squaw bread. They’ve also added not one, not two, but three eggs Benedict dishes to their offerings, and the best part is you don’t have to choose which one to order – just get the Eggs Benedict Platter (RMB 128) and you’ll get to sample all of them from the classic smoked salmon, peppery bacon and spinach version, to the tasty crab cake benedict. And in other news, the restaurant manager has notified us that they’ll be putting in a diaper changing station soon to increase their kid-friendliness!

When it comes to our reviews, we’ll always try to remain objective and include all relevant kid-focused information – whether there are kids’ amenities, kids’  menus, playrooms, options for kid-friendly service and more. To simplify things, we use a 5 star rating system where possible to rate cleanliness, price and quality of food.

We’re also looking for contributors who would like to send us their reviews of places in the city! Just drop us an email at viviennerush@beijing-kids.com or message on WeChat (ID: VivienneTseng-Rush) if you’d like to share your cool discoveries with our readers. Or if you have a place you’d like us to check out and review, just write it in the comments below.

We’ll be bringing you more reviews of places around Beijing so be sure to follow us on Dianping by clicking the large orange button under our account name. Just search Jingkids International on the app to find us, or simply scan the QR code below!

KEEP READING: Jingkids Launches Dazhongdianping Account With English Reviews!

Images: Pexels, Courtesy of vendors

Universal CityWalk Beijing offers more than 10 dining choices, each targeted to different appetites and wallet sizes. But aside from taste and price, we ask the all-important question: Just how family-friendly are these restaurants? To find out, we took a stroll down CityWalk and explored all the options, ranking them in terms of kid-friendliness along the way.

But what exactly makes a restaurant kid-friendly? Well, when fellow editor Julie Wolf interviewed foodie emperor Preston Thomas, he said, “The first thing is the friendly and helpful staff. It’s so nice when you have a clean baby chair ready and waiting for you when you arrive. Or someone to offer an extra hand when you are taking off a coat or putting down a bag. The second thing would be an approachable menu. Kids can be picky eaters, so you need to make sure they have something for everyone.” We totally agree.

So we headed into the restaurants at CityWalk armed with three criteria:

1. Baby chairs
2. Kids’ menu options
3. Kid-friendly service and atmosphere

The results?

General remarks: Firstly, after some exploration, we discovered that all of the sit-down restaurants such as Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar, Toothsome Chocolate Emporium, and even Wubei Craft Food & Beer offer a changing table in their restrooms. Do note that these changing tables are only located in the women’s bathrooms, though there is a family restroom outside of the restaurants just behind the Universal Studios Store.

Secondly, all the restaurants within CityWalk have high chairs available, even the Neon Street Hawkers. The quality of high chairs do differ though, from wooden ones with an attached table available at the aforementioned sit-down restaurants to plastic ones at places like Neon Street Hawkers.

And with that out of the way, let’s get down to it! In this editor’s opinion, here are the top family-friendly restaurants at Universal CityWalk Beijing.

3) Bubba Gump Shrimp Co and/or Jumbo Seafood Restaurant 

These two restaurants are like the East and West versions of the same restaurant – basically offering seafood US-style (specifically Southern), and Asian-style (Southeast Asian/Chinese). Both are kid-friendly in that they offer a kids’ menu in a similar price range, provide coloring pages to keep little hands busy, and staff are very welcoming of little ones.

Bubba Gump has a more lively atmosphere and is located right behind the Universal Globe so it’s more likely that older kids may want to run outside and play. Jumbo Seafood is on the quieter side of CityWalk, closer to the subway entrance and housed in a two-story building. All of which is to say, the choice will likely come down to how you like your seafood!

2) Toothsome Chocolate Emporium 

Probably the most attractive-looking to kids, Toothsome Chocolate Emporium is quite a sight to behold. The facade brings to mind Willy Wonka’s iconic chocolate factory, but don’t expect a chocolate waterfall within its walls. Instead, you’ll find plenty of seating across two floors, and also a candy store! The cherry on the top is their hourly show, which features two performers, dressed as a steampunk-era robot and an inventor, who walk around and interact with customers.

Pro Tip: While it may be tempting to try several flavors of their specialty milkshakes, it is highly unlikely that an individual can finish an entire one by themselves, much less a kid. The Toothsome kids’ menu is also rather lackluster, with next to no vegetables in sight, save for some lettuce on the mini burgers.

1) Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar 

First of all, as its name implies, this is sushi plus burgers. Their menu offering of a “burgushi” (a burger dressed up as a sushi roll) perfectly encapsulates this heavenly union, which I highly recommend you try at least once in your life. Secondly, the restaurant offers a great way to keep your kids occupied while you enjoy your meal – an interactive video game where kids create their own unique fish and watch their creations come to life on the many screens around the restaurant.

Between the mouthwatering food and the fun little game, the kids gave us no trouble for almost two hours. What’s more, according to them, the LEGO gummies in the kids’ meal puts Cowfish on the top of the list.

Pro Tip: Don’t forget to stop by Cutie Cones afterward for an ice-cream-within-an-ice-cream cone. Yes, I mean it.

Check out the video below to see why Cowfish is my pick for the most family-friendly restaurant in Universal CityWalk Beijing!

KEEP READING: Universal Studios’ Hotels: Which Is the More Family-Friendly Choice?

Images: Vivienne Tseng-Rush

We stumbled upon Tie Fen (literal meaning: iron) restaurant while on our way to our regular late-night dining location in the heart of Dongsi.  A real hole-in-the-wall, we might have missed the whole place if it weren’t for the fact that we were hungry and searching for immediate gratification.  Turns out the porch, with statues of elephants and bodhisattvas, is home to a newly opened Vietnamese restaurant serving our beloved pho, spring rolls, and beef stews.

Since it’s a small restaurant with a relatively simple menu, we’ve managed to go often enough to have tried almost everything in just a few weeks.  Tie Fen’s short and sweet menu is divided into appetizers, side dishes, pho, rice dishes, a la carte, and desserts.

The appetizers include three salads: a shrimp salad, a beef salad (pictured above), and a mango beef salad (pictured below).  I’m not a fan of seafood, and our son’s too young for it, so we’ve only tried the beef salads so far.

The Mango beef salad is the tastiest, though after our first time ordering it we were smart enough to order it without spice (it normally comes with fresh red peppers to balance the sweetness of the mango).

They also have rice rolls with fish cake (pictured above) and fried spring rolls (pictured below), (non-fried).

Our son really likes the fried spring rolls, and I eat both types of spring rolls without the sweet and sour sauce (comes with the dish) and opt for hot sauce instead—yum!

We enjoy pho all year long, and our son enjoys soup, so we’ve ordered the beef pho (pictured), the raw beef pho, the chicken pho, and the spicy seafood pho (for the record, we didn’t feed our 2-year-old the last one).  Personally, I prefer the chicken strip pho because it has a milder taste (and is not raw), but our child likes beef.

We have tried two rice dishes, including the beef stew and the chicken curry.  The beef stew (pictured above) was well-made, but a little on the salty side for kids. The chicken curry was very spicy.  It’s a good thing they serve ice cold water.

We honestly have not been ordering much of the a la carte because we simply don’t need that much food with the three of us, but we did order the fried fish. Our friends ordered the fish this one time we dined there with others and I hear it was good. It was during this dinner that we had also ordered the chicken skewers (they have beef as well), which had a refreshing tangy taste (pictured above).

For dessert, we’ve ordered the mango tapioca (pictured above) and the fruit cup (pictured below).  The fruit assortment was perfect, and didn’t taste like canned fruit at all. However, the mango tapioca tasted more like passion fruit (perhaps they got the name wrong?), and was far too sweet.  The tapioca was also too hard, lacking the chewy consistency that makes tapioca great.

We have also ordered their home-made drinks: Vietnamese coffee (both iced and hot) and Thai tea.  The coffee was excellent, strong as should be, but the Thai tea wasn’t sweet enough.

Currently, for their grand opening, Tie Fen reimburses 20% in the form of a voucher (RMB 10 for RMB 50 spent, RMB 20 for every RMB 100 spent, etc.).  In the future, Tie Fen also has a WeChat point system that allows subscribers to collect points for discounts.

Finally, Tie Fen has daily set combo deals where one can opt for a slightly smaller portion of pho or other main dish with an appetizer and dessert for a discount of over 25%.  They will claim that the combo deal portions are not smaller, but they are.

Tie Fen, 北京市东城区东四北大街373号
Photos: courtesy of Jessica Suotmaa

Dining at a Chinese-only restaurant, or any restaurant with Chinese fuwuyuan and their limited English, you must have noticed that some basic Mandarin can be necessary.  This is especially true if you’re dining with children, since  it’s unlikely you’ll go to just any restaurant your friends invite you to (those were the good old days).  

Now, when you’re invited to dinner, you’ll probably want the Dianping link (Chinese Yelp) so you can check not only the location (is it close by?), the reviews (what’s the quality of the food like?), but also call the listed phone number and ask key questions before you even commit to dining at the restaurant (hence: Before the Restaurant). 

Our family, for example, wants to know if the restaurant allows indoor smoking (yes, we know it’s been banned in Beijing, but that doesn’t really mean anything in Chinese restaurants), if they have high chairs, and whether they have loud music or live performances (we avoid noise).  If you have older children, you might want to know about children’s menus, kid cutlery, and whether they have something to keep kids entertained (e.g. a playground, coloring materials). The following list of Mandarin phrases are what we consider the bare minimum necessities for dining out in Beijing! Let us know in the comments if there are more phrases you use or need!

Before the Restaurant:

Do you have high chairs?
你们有宝宝椅吗？Nǐmen yǒu bǎobǎo yǐ ma?

Do you have a children’s menu?
你们有小孩的菜单吗？Nǐmen yǒu xiǎohái de càidān ma?

Do you allow smoking indoors?
你们室内可以抽烟吗？Nǐmen shìnèi kěyǐ chōuyān ma?

Do you have outdoor seating?
你们室外有座位吗？Nǐmen shìwài yǒu zuòwèi ma?

At the Restaurant:

Is there a quiet area to sit?
这里有安静的座位吗 Zhè li yǒu ānjìng de zuòwèi ma?

We need a larger table.
我们需要大点的桌子 Wǒmen xūyào dà diǎn de zhuōzi.

Please bring a high chair. 
请拿个宝宝椅过来 Qǐng ná gè bǎobǎo yǐ guòlái.

Ordering from the menu:

Is this spicy?
这个辣吗？Zhège là ma?

What is in this dish?
这个菜里有什么？Zhège cài li yǒu shé me?

Please make it with less oil/salt.
请少放油/盐 Qǐng shǎo fàng yóu/yán

Please make it without MSG.
请不要放味精 Qǐng bùyào fàng wèijīng.

Do you have bottled water?
你们有矿泉水吗 Nǐmen yǒu kuàngquán shuǐ ma?

Asking for more:

Could we have an extra bowl/plate?
麻烦拿个空碗/盘子 Máfan ná gè kōng wǎn/pánzi.

Could we have a fork/knife/spoon?
麻烦拿个刀/叉/勺子 Máfan ná gè dāo/chā/sháozi.

Photo: Flickr

For weekday lunches, the Renaissance Food Studio is packed with business professionals and conference attendees, but that didn’t prevent us from taking our son to their lunch buffet on a rare shared holiday as the location is walking distance from our home. For the Beijing jaunt, it is a great start or end to a day exploring Wangfujing pedestrian-shopping street, Tiananmen Square, or the nearby hutongs.

We purposely timed our visit for a later hour to avoid the rush, and found a table near the coffee bar–far away from the bustling self serve counters. The server went hunting for a high chair, and we parked our stroller in a corner by our table.

Our little Jax, freshly woken up and hungry, but wary of this new environment with quietly conversing business men and women in black and blue suits, watched everyone carefully and was incredibly well-behaved. He made few sounds, dropped very little food, and smiled at the server every time she passed by. What a wonderful lunch!

But what about the food? Food Studio serves Asian and western fusion cuisine. We started our meal with fresh seafood (sashimi, oysters and prawns) and maki rolls, cold appetizers (pasta salad, seaweed), breads, and soup (tomato and broth).  Next, Jax had steamed sweet potato and pumpkin, baozi, and zhongzi from the Cantonese dim sum table, while we served ourselves roast beef, grilled vegetables, and baby herb potatoes.  We also pigged out on curry, chow mein, and “Swedish” meatballs.

We had plenty of fruit, tasty ice cream (green tea, mango, strawberry, taro), macaroons, cheesecakes, tarts, and chocolate cake.  By the end of the meal, we were all in such a food coma, that when the server came to give us the child package, a cute bear coloring set. We didn’t even know how to react.  We were already the last customers there, so rather than opening it, we thanked the staff and took it home. I must note that the place was squeaky clean by 2:30pm

Overall, a good dining experience.  We were asked for last calls before the cleaning process, not rushed at all, and the staff was as pleasant and professional as if we hadn’t used an incredibly affordable Nuomi groupon.  We will definitely be going back!

Lunch buffet RMB 218. Dinner buffet RMB 355.  Free for children under the age of 5.  For reservations, call 6520 8888.

Photo: Renaissance Wangfujing, Jessica Suotmaa