CJ Foodworld: Bringing Some Gangnam Style to Lido

By now I'm sure you've all seen Psy's viral music video, learned the horse dance, and have begun plotting your own spoof so as to ride his powder-blue coattails to Youtube stardom. But in the midst of all this, I suggest you take a break and relax a bit at the new CJ Foodworld.

I've heard earnest, if misguided, compliments paid to Seoul that it "feels like you're in America," and the same could be said of this new Korean-owned food market. The red brick exterior houses soft lighting, ash wood panelling and an array of mostly westernized food options, with a classy Korean touch.

It starts with Tous les Jours, a brand we're probably all pretty familiar with, but it gets a slight upgrade in its cake platter displays and more curated pastries, having edited out the corn-studded breads at its other locations. Teamed up with the bakery is Twosome Coffee, another Korean chain that's a bit more polished in this iteration.

Twosome serves sandwiches and other snacks among its coffee. Our tomato mozzarella sandwich (RMB 32) was more like a glorified ham sandwich paired with the eponymous ingredients, but it was satisfyingly melty and crispy, so no big complaints. The latte (RMB 30, but half off with purchase of sandwich) hinted at decent quality coffee, but masked by an overly generous cream-to-coffee ratio.

We also tried their Micho citronade (RMB 31), which was effectively an iced pomelo tea drink with a couple glugs of Micho – a tart blueberry fruit vinegar. It was actually quite refreshing – like an Italian soda heavy on the syrup and with a bit of a puckery finish.

For the coworking crowd,Twosome's also got three iMac stations where you can catch up on all your Internet trolling.

Upstairs, CJ's running a steakhouse called VIPS, but pronounced Vips (as in, rhymes with "whips). The manager told me it stands for "Very Important Person Society." Sounds pretty Gangnam style to me. Prices run from RMB 258 for the 100-day grain-fed "VIPS No. 1 Steak" to RMB 888 for a two-person porterhouse. They've also got an expansive salad bar. Someday, when I've finished a course on high-class Korean etiquette, I'll come back and let you know how the food is.

To keep it real, they're also opening a Bibigo downstairs, so it won't be all Western food, but that's still under construction. It should be similar to their other locations, so if you're curious about their bibimbap you can read all about it in our review of the new Indigo location.

CJ Foodworld
Daily 11am-11pm. 9-8 Jiangtai Lu (near Ai Jiang Shan) (8457 1997)
朝阳区将台西路9-8号(近爱江山)

Photos: Marilyn Mai