Capital Bites: First Meals & Last Bites

First broken resolution of 2012: "get up earlier". First food regret of 2012: overcooked beef tenderloin. First nutty food discovery of 2012: BEIJING DUCK FLAVORED PRETZ. I found these in a jumbo pack at Qingdao duty-free, of all places, for RMB 200-ish. Other interesting "Chinese" flavors include Shanghai Hairy Crab, Guangdong Shark Fin Soup, Sichuan Mala, Oolong Tea, Lychee and Chestnut. Please, please, please keep an eye out at your convenience store, your supermarket, your xiaomaibu - and let me know if you find these little gems. Or if you happen to pass through Qingdao Duty-Free and have a spare RMB 200. There is a reward: I will buy you a sandwich.*

Now, onto eating news of a bit more import.

Chef Zach Lewinson of Kro's Nest has departed (but for where?) Perhaps we can expect a celebrity-chef-rebirth-type deal a la Jun Trinh?

Speaking of Jun Trinh, he's opening a new fusion-type restaurant between Houhai and Gulou called 4corners. Their "kitchen-breaking" was last Wednesday (Jan 4) - apparently sledgehammers are the new spades?

Gung Ho! have new pizzas and a couple of new combos out. Having tried both the new satay chicken and the beef nacho pizzas, I'd say that the execution leaves a little to be desired (too much satay and too many jalapenos respectively, in my humble opinion) but both are interesting options.

Shuangjing Korean joint Iki has raised their prices just a smidge, and added a few new fusion Korean-American items to the menu. They're to be applauded for having excellent ideas - s'mores at Korean BBQ? A-plus! - but they fall down occasionally on execution. The Korean-inspired nachos (pictured above) were astonishingly bad. That said, the rest of the BBQ menu is great. Make sure to book, or expect a longish wait.

Hatsune & Kagen are still running their 10 percent off Dianping.com deal. Print out the voucher and present it at their Guanghua Lu locations for a discount until Jan 15. Also browse around for other great deals - i.e. FatBurger are now offering free onion rings with every burger or sandwich purchase until the end of the month.

Luga's Banh Mi and Luga's opposite Tongli Studios have undergone something of a facelift. I wouldn't call it 'swish' now, but the place(s) is(are) definitely lighter and pleasanter.

Temple Restaurant Beijing are now doing an RMB 135 lunch menu, with 15 percent service. It's certainly a good price - fingers crossed we'll be able to duck out of the office for a try next week.

Switch! restaurant in 798 is moving out and into new premises right next to the Swissotel. They'll be keeping a lot of their existing appetizers, but changing their name to Switch Grill and adding (obviously) a full nighttime grill menu. Last day of operations will be January 14. The 798 location will house the new UCCA store instead (lots of dinos!)

And finally, a picture of my first course of the first meal I had out in the 'Beej this year. Modo, lunch, pumpkin soup and feta. They've also done some price rejiggering, with my favorite Nutella creme brulee now RMB 7 cheaper at RMB 58. Don't laugh, that's almost two whole jianbings! Anyway, tell me what your first meal out of 2012 was, and whether it was good. It was good, right?

*A really excellent sandwich. Promise.

Photos: Susan Sheng