Capital Bites: Cantina Agave, Sausage Rolls in Sanlitun and Tavalin Bagel Shop?

Since my apartment is colder than it is outside, I've been finding a lot of excuses to eat hearty, meaty meals, starting with the braised pork belly at My Soup in Central Park, pictured above. But there's other good news to keep you warm, including another exciting Mexican restaurant, Cantina Agave, coming to town. There's also pizza by the slice, bagels, sausage rolls, and meat pies at Mao Mao Chong.

Just when we thought the Mexican revolution was slowing down, it looks like Shanghai import (yes, another one) called Cantina Agave is coming to town. They've found a spot right near Alameda in Sanlitun. Agave is a favorite in that city to the south, so it should be quite the contender here, maybe more in the gourmet Mexican + tequila cocktails arena (read: they're taking on Q Mex). They were originally planning to open this month, but that's been pushed to January.

We've been hearing about Pizza Plus, the new pizza place opened by the folks who run Italian goods import outfit La Sicilia, for awhile now. Their chef, like many who peddle the pie in this town, has won pizza championships in Italy. Unlike other pizza spots in town, their main selling point is pizza by the slice. We'll weigh in with a blog later this week.

More good news: The new bagel guys in town, Tavalin Bagels, are about to open an honest-to-goodness shop, so you can enjoy your hole-y breads whenever you like! The space will be near the southeast corner of Gongti and we'll have more info for you soon, including what extra goodies they're considering for their menu.

Moving on to Commonwealth comfort foods ... Mao Mao Chong is hosting a pie night this Sunday, Nov 4. They'll have a country beef pie (RMB 55) and a veg pie (RMB 50) served with mash and peas and a chunky tomato relish. As usual for their special meal nights, no pizzas will be available, but you can wash your pie down with some Slow Boat on draft for RMB 30.

Speaking of pies, the Two Guys outfit in Sanlitun are now serving up sausage rolls, as sniffed out by our friend Boyce. We haven't tried 'em yet, but when we do we'll let you know how it goes.

For more British food traditions, drop by Stumble Inn for their Sunday roasts, back from hiatus. RMB 98 gets you roast beef, yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings. You'll find yourself stumbling out, but for different reasons than the usual ...

Barbara Demick's hosting a dinner at Capital M this Thursday, organized by 85 Broads. You can learn more about it and get tickets here. Capital M's also launching a tasting menu. RMB 488 buys you starter, soup, appetizer, main and dessert, including a chance to try their famous suckling pig and pavlova.

We also checked out Burger Counter over the weekend. See our take on the much-lauded little shop here.

Photo: Marilyn Mai