Trendy Café Chunli Chifan Opens a Street-Side Counter in Sanlitun
Beijing's most unusual food trends can often be downright inscrutable. If anyone could, for instance, de-code the popularity of cheesy toast, dirty buns, and “dirty tea” we wouldn't be here writing about them but instead in a kitchen perfecting the next bizarro best selling snack. Chunli Coffee Co.'s new Topwin Center-adjacent miniature café can be lumped in with the above options.
Unlike their original Chunli Chifan Co. Ltd Cantonese restaurant near the west gate of Gongti, this new café is, for all intents and purposes, a hole-in-the-wall. That'll be apparent from the minute you arrive and peep its fairly low key decor and mere handful of street-side metal chairs. And yet, it is far more expensive than its humble looks would lead you to believe. What's more: there are only five kinds of coffee and a sparkling water on offer (RMB 26-48), making Chunli a contender for the priciest and narrowest café menu in town.
Don’t get us wrong, this tiny store's style is simplistic but pretty neat. It is reminiscent of old, unassuming Hong Kong eateries, what with its neat while tiles, neon lights, a menu in English and traditional Chinese, and neatly preened plants in the window. Once you've placed your order, the coffee is poured into a glass flask and handed to you via a separate hole in the wall. Those elements are surely offbeat enough to lure wannabe influencers hunting down a unique new backdrop for their next selfie session.
The cha tra mue coffee (RMB 38) comes recommended for its use of Number One Brand tea from Thailand. The result is a beautiful brick-colored cold coffee mixed with milk that deftly balances both roasted coffee bean flavors and the sweet and strong tea, so much so that there may not be a better remedy for hot and humid days. Good as that was, the soybean milk coffee (RMB 38) proved to be our favorite. Its hot soybean milk is topped with cold coffee, making for a conspicuously thick texture that stood apart from our regular wake-me-up.
Even though we approve of the blends, and you can keep the recyclable glass container to re-use as a flask in the future, RMB 38 is pretty steep for 250ml of coffee. But no matter our opinion, the polished look of the venue and its wares means Chunli Coffee Co. is likely to be an instant hit among the aspiring social media stars it is clearly courting.
Chunli Coffee Co. Beijing
Wed-Sun 12.30-8pm, Mon-Tue 1.30-8pm. Nansanlitun Lu (next to Honghongrun Supermarket), Chaoyang District (132 6964 4976)
春麗咖啡公司：朝阳区南三里屯路鸿宏润超市左边
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Photos: Tracy Wang
