Moka Bros' New Space 3 Shuangjing Branch is Their Biggest (and Best) Yet

As much as Moka Bros has set the bar for many a Sanlitun café, providing sustenance in a trendy space to laptop-dwellers and health freaks alike, I've always found their flagship venue on the ground floor of Nali Patio claustrophobic and cursed by the clogging that an at-the-counter ordering system generates, especially on weekends. Which is partly why Moka Bros' fourth Beijing venue, situated on the ground floor of Shuangjing's Space 3, may be their best and a welcome addition to the area's booming mall-based dining scene (one downside to that being that the toilets are in the belly of the shop-filled beast).

Close to triple in size, each seat has enough breathing room to ensure you're no longer rubbing buttocks with thy neighbor. That additional floor space also alleviates hangry, post-gym pile-ups – a change that in my mind is worth the extra 10-minute travel time down the Third Ring Road if you're going to be pitched up for a while. There's also a long, covered terrace out to one side with water fans to keep the air moving even in the most stifling weather.

The usual decoration and furniture remain: light wooden tables mingle with benches and booths, terrazzo partitions and flooring divide the venue, bold lettering and superhero imagery courtesy of Plastered 8 adorn the walls, and non-intrusive filament bulbs hang aloft. The biggest changes may have in fact occurred on paper, where the summer menu is bursting with meals that are both healthy and filling as well as an expanded range of cocktails.

Highlights include the seared yellowfin tuna salad (RMB 75), packed with white and green beans, celery, radish, shallots, slices of orange, lemon juice, and several chunks of beautifully seared fish that soak up the citrusy notes. Likewise, the chicken sambal power bowl (RMB 68) is a balanced and hearty mix of roasted carrots, green beans, succulent pieces of chicken, and topped with a tangy ginger sambal sauce, all on a bed of bouncy black rice.

For something with a little extra crunch, opt for the pesto, chicken, and kale sandwich (RMB 60). It boasts a slightly sweet combination of raisins, pickle, cucumber, cilantro, avocado, basil sauce, and a generous portion of chicken on toasted sourdough.

And while the healthy choices abound, fans of Moka Bros' desserts will be relieved to hear that the usual sweet suspects have also made the leap to Shuangjing (as always, the challenge is to not even look at the waffles page if you're not intending on eating them). More enticing still: a range of daily-made cakes to accompany your afternoon coffee.

Moving onto the new summer cocktails (all priced RMB 60), the Spicy Passion will snap you out of a sweaty funk thanks to a hit of chili and Sichuan peppercorn-infused vodka, passion fruit purée, pineapple juice, lemon, Angostura Bitters, and sugar syrup. The slow-burn aversed may instead want to try the Rosy Raspberry, a sparkling mix of rose-infused vodka, Chambord, pineapple and lemon juice, raspberry purée, and sugar syrup. Best yet, Moka Bros' regular everything-for-RMB 30 4-8pm happy hour has been extended here to include 4pm-close on Friday through Sundays until September.

Thanks to a bigger space, an ever-expanding menu that's not afraid to grow your waistline, and an a decent happy hour, Moka Bros is slowly solidifying itself as one of the best one-stop shops for balanced mains, coffee and a cake, or a place to get sloshed on the weekend (not that we'd ever condone such a thing).

Moka Bros Shuangjing
Daily 8am-10pm. 1-108, 1/F, Space 3, 22 East Third Ring Road, Chaoyang District (6775 1968)
朝阳区东三环22号1层1-108

Photos: Tom Arnstein