Sunshine. Beaches. Exotic food. Ice-cold cocktails. Historical ruins. If your inconsiderate friends are clogging your social media feed with such vacation photos, even while you’re stranded in your Beijing office, life can be tough. However, you can at least try and find some solace with these local restaurants’ summery new dishes.

The Rug
Be it their eggs benedict, bagel brunch, lobster rolls, butterfly-pea flower drink (pictured above), or their kimchi Bloody Mary, the menu at The Rug has no shortage of decadent treats which are still light enough to suit a summer day. They’ve now also launched a handful of new hot weather delights like handmade pastas (a highlight being the bone marrow crab roe pasta, RMB 98) and oysters from Marlborough, New Zealand served with champagne. There are also over a dozen new cocktails to counteract the at times unbearable heat and humidity of Beijing, as well as a stylish range of “boutique drinks” by the bag at their new Wangfujing location, which make for a fun alternative for customers on the go.

Combal
Combal, the Mediterranean fine dining destination at Cofco Plaza, recently launched its weekend brunch (11.30am-3pm), including a three-course brunch set for RMB 308/458, or a four-course set for RMB 568. The complimentary parmesan cheese ball topped with salmon roe (pictured above) is a savory delight.

Lox with passion fruit salad

The lox with passion fruit salad, meanwhile, is a zesty and refreshing mix of leafy greens and radish, among other flavorful and summery ingredients. But if you’re hankering for something more indulgent, say, steak for brunch (and since you’re pretending to be on holiday, why not?) then upgrade your brunch to grain-fed 300-day Angus rib eye, sirloin, tenderloin, or Wagyu beef steak for an extra RMB 100-300. If you really want to push the boat out, add RMB 200 for free-flow Italian sparkling wine.

Simply Fresh
Staying at China Overseas Plaza, Simply Fresh has released their new Spanish menu overseen by their new head chef Frida Pan. Highlights include the tapas platter for RMB 98 (pictured above, featuring pan-fried quail egg with mixed veggies, marinated salmon with truffle sauce, potato and salami, and mushroom) and the paella, which boasts a delightfully crunchy base as well as fresh morsels of seafood to whisk your taste buds away to the Spanish coast.

Seafood paella (RMB 208)

There are also plenty of great value dishes to get you salivating, like the Mexican chili oil marinated salmon with cayenne pepper (RMB 108), and their juicy sous-vide chicken leg (RMB 88), which is paired with orange marmalade for a nice citrusy balance. And if you want something fancy, try the pigeon trio (RMB 158) with sous-vide marinated pigeon breast, fried pigeon leg covered with crispy oats, and a melt-on-your-tongue pigeon liver pate. Couple with Simply Fresh’s new range of beautifully designed cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages for maximum effect.
More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @flyingfigure
Instagram: @flyingfigure

Photos courtesy of venues, Tracy Wang

Voting in the Final Four is open through midnight Thursday, November 20 … so get voting!

Action in the Elite 8 concluded last night, with the four division champions – Gung Ho!, Eatalia, The Tree, and The Rug – moving on to meet in the Final Four.

Gung Ho! booked their ticket into the Final Four with a victory over La Pizza in the tough Pizza Specialists division. With perhaps the most challenging route to the finals, the Gungsters had previously made mincemeat of Domino’s and dispatched Hutong Pizza before edging past Pizza+ and finally La Pizza to reach the top of the heap.

In the Mid-Range Restaurants division, second-seeded Eatalia moves on with a victory over Alio Olio. Eatalia started their Cup with a victory over Abella Italian Restaurant, followed by victories over Scott’s Family Restaurant, Vineyard Cafe and finally Alio Olio to reach the peak of their division.

The Tree‘s path to the top of the Bars/Clubs division sent them past Sugar Shack in the most recent round. Previously The Tree had felled Laker’s, The Local and Bang! Bang! Pizza.

On its way through the unpredictable Upscale Restaurants category, The Rug slipped past Kitchen Igosso in the Elite 8. Their previous victories included edging past the Kempinski’s Via Roma in the first round, The Opposite House’s Sureño in Round 2, then over The Four Season’s Mio before its latest triumph over Kitchen Igosso.

Gung Ho, representing the Pizza Specialists category, now meets Upscale Dining champ The Rug to determine a slot in the penultimate match. Meanwhile on the bottom half of the bracket, Mid-Range champ Eatalia faces off against Bar/Cafe champ The Tree.

Voting in the Final Four is open through midnight Thursday, November 20 … so get voting!

Final Results from last round’s Elite 8 Voting:
The Tree (#1) uprooted Sugar Shack (#3)
Eatalia (#2) greased Alio Olio (#4)
The Rug (#8) floored Kitchen Igosso (#7)
Gung Ho! (#5) rolled La Pizza (#3)

In our runner-up matches:
Pizza Plus (#1) bested Tube Station (#7)
Mao Mao Chong (#2) shot down Bang! Bang! (#13)
Vineyard Cafe (#3) squeezed by Annie’s (#1)
La Dolce Vita (#6) surpassed Mio, Four Seasons Hotel (#4)

Based on the margin of victory and total number of ballots received, we’ve derived the rankings of those that have been eliminated from the original field of 64, which gives us our initial seedings for 2015:

5. La Pizza
6. Alio Olio
7. Sugar Shack
8. Kitchen Igosso
9. Pizza Plus
10. Mao Mao Chong
11. Vineyard Café
12. La Dolce Vita
13. Annie’s
14. Tube Station
15. Bang! Bang! Pizza
16. Mio, Four Seasons Hotel

Rankings 17-75, as determined in previous rounds:

17. The Kro’s Nest
18. Pizza Express
19. Hutong Pizza
20. Sureño, The Opposite House

21. Tavola
22. Pie Squared
23. The Irish Volunteer
24. Stuff’d
25. Scott’s Family Ristorante Italiano
26. Isola
27. Peter Pan
28. 1st Floor
29. Lily’s American Diner
30. LMPlus

31. Luga’s Little Italy
32. The Local
33. Papa John’s Pizza
34. New York Pizza
35. Xian Bar
36. Domino’s
37. The Den
38. Frost
39. Pizza Buona
40. Pizza Hut

41. The Veggie Table
42. Ramo
43. Twilight
44. Mrs. Shanen’s
45. Yummy Box
46. Lakers
47. Charlie’s
48. Grandma’s Kitchen
49. Nanjie
50. Loft Eatalicious

51. Matta
52. Peter’s Tex-Mex
53. FA Cafe
54. Time Cafe
55. Fratelli Fresh
56. Agrilandia
57. Flypizza & Hoodadak Chicken
58. Via Roma
59. Elisa’s
60. Passby Bar

61. Abella
62. Bene
63. Prego
64. WhaleWell Pizzeria
65. Red House
66. Hercules
66. M+ Café
66. Nasca Cafe
67. Paddy O’Shea’s
68. PBD Pizza Bar
69. Pizza Maru
70. Bella Vista

71. Alba
71. Parkside Bar & Grill
71. Windy City
71. The Yard
72. Amigo Pizza
73. Paro
74. Sarpino’s Pizzeria
75. Fuel

This post first appeared on thebeijinger.com on November 17, 2014.

Photos: The Beijinger

Top seeds Annie’s and Pizza+ were knocked off last night as the Beijinger‘s 2014 Pizza Cup marched towards its inevitable conclusion.

In this round you’ll pick the champions in each of the four brackets: Pizza Specialists, Mid-Range Restaurants, Bars/Cafés, and Upscale Restaurants. The champions will then go on to meet in the final rounds to determine our overall champion for 2014.

In the Pizza Specialists category, Gung Ho! Pizza toppled the bracket’s top seed Pizza+, while third-ranked La Pizza pushed aside Tube Station, setting up a final that La Pizza vs Gung Ho.

Meanwhile in the Mid-Range category, Alio Olio, capitalizing on our new vote tabulation methodology that factors in the number of locations of each competitor, toppled the top-seeded Annie’s, seen by many as a favorite to win the whole shebang. Meanwhile, Eatalia outdistanced Vineyard Cafe, and moves on to take on Alio Olio in final that pits two Italian-owned eateries against one another.

Over in the Bars/Cafés category, 13-seed Bang! Bang! Pizza‘s Cinderella story came to an abrupt end as the bracket’s top seed The Tree bulldozed them. In the bracket’s other match, Wudaokou’s Sugar Shack narrowly outdistanced hipster fave Mao Mao Chong.

Meanwhile the Upscale bracket once again proved  to be hard to predict as there were upsets in both matches, with the lower of the two seeds moving on to victory. Our Upscale final now pits Kitchen Igosso vs The Rug to see who moves on.

Voting in the Elite 8 is only open until midnight Sunday (Nov 16), so get voting!

Here are detailed results of the Sweet 16 matches:

Mid-Range Restaurants
Alio Olio (4) over Annie’s (1)
Eatalia (2) over Vineyard Café (3)

Pizza Specialists
Gung Ho (5) over Pizza+ (1)
La Pizza (3) over Tube Station (7)

Bars/Cafés
Sugar Shack (3) over Mao Mao Chong (2)
The Tree (1) over Bang! Bang! Pizza (13)

Mid-Range Restaurants
Kitchen Igosso (7) over La Dolce Vita (6)
The Rug (8) over Mio, Four Seasons Hotel (4)

Meanwhile, we asked you to rank the 16 venues knocked out in the last round, which will serve as our final seeding for these venues in the 2014 cup and the basis for next year’s cup:

17. The Kro’s Nest
18. Pizza Express
19. Hutong Pizza
20. Sureño, The Opposite House
21. Tavola
22. Pie Squared
23. The Irish Volunteer
24. Stuff’d
25. Scott’s Family Ristorante Italiano
26. Isola
27. Peter Pan
28. 1st Floor
29. Lily’s American Diner
30. LMPlus
31. Luga’s Little Italy
32. The Local

Rankings 33-75 determined in previous rounds:

33. Papa John’s Pizza
34. New York Pizza
35. Xian Bar
36. Domino’s
37. The Den
38. Frost
39. Pizza Buona
40. Pizza Hut
41. The Veggie Table
42. Ramo
43. Twilight
44. Mrs. Shanen’s
45. Yummy Box
46. Lakers
47. Charlie’s
48. Grandma’s Kitchen
49. Nanjie
50. Loft Eatalicious
51. Matta
52. Peter’s Tex-Mex
53. FA Cafe
54. Time Cafe
55. Fratelli Fresh
56. Agrilandia
57. Flypizza & Hoodadak Chicken
58. Via Roma
59. Elisa’s
60. Passby Bar
61. Abella
62. Bene
63. Prego
64. WhaleWell Pizzeria
65. Red House
66. Hercules
66. M+ Café
66. Nasca Cafe
67. Paddy O’Shea’s
68. PBD Pizza Bar
69. Pizza Maru
70. Bella Vista
71. Alba
71. Parkside Bar & Grill
71. Windy City
71. The Yard
72. Amigo Pizza
73. Paro
74. Sarpino’s Pizzeria
75. Fuel

This post first appeared on thebeijinger.com on November 12, 2014.

Photos: the Beijinger