July's Nibbles and Sips: The Rug, The Meatball Company, Flamme, and More!

Robynne Tindall, Contributing Editor | Jun 26, 2015 5:00 pm | Add a comment | 1696 reads

Openings and closings
Last month saw a couple of high profile closings, including Chaoyang Park stalwart Chef Too, fine dining restaurant Brian Mckenna @ The Courtyard, and grilled cheese emporium The Corner Melt. Never fear though, both Chef Brian Mckenna and The Corner Melt’s Jimi Sides will be moving on to new projects – a gastropub set to open in August and a new venue, Punk Rock Noodles, respectively.

Nali Patio welcomes a new arrival at the end of June in the form of Tafelspitz, the city’s only Austrian restaurant.

Across the road, on Sanlitun Bar Street, Spanish restaurant Puerta 20 has launched an offshoot called Tapas 22, serving, unsurprisingly, tapas and pintxos. Initial reports on the food have been mixed, but it’s nice to see a place focusing exclusively on classic tapas.

Happenings
The Rug has launched their new summer menu, featuring a range of dishes with their signature fusion comfort food aesthetic. The surf and turf brunch plate with pork chops and Alaskan king crab legs will satisfy diners looking for a bit of luxury, but we preferred the South African-inspired Bunny Chow dishes, served in The Rug’s own homemade brioche. The Durban curry beef pairs particularly well with the slightly sweet bread.

Speaking of brunch, The Meatball Company has started offering “Baller Brunch” every Sunday, 11.30am-3pm, at their Dashibei Hutong restaurant. Priced at RMB 100 per person, the brunch set includes three courses of open-faced avocado toast, pork meatballs with home-style potatoes and a fried egg, and baked French toast with cinnamon crumble and pineapple.

Flamme have also updated their summer menu, trimming down the a la carte menu and adding lots of lighter summer options, refocusing away from steak and onto fish, seafood, and fresh summer salads. They are offering a range of set menus at their Sanlitun (RMB 98/198/398) and Indigo (RMB 198/298) locations.

For a taste of Italian summer, head to XIAN for their new daily aperitivo, 5-8pm. Take your pick from a selection of bruschetta, charcuterie, and dips, while you sip on classic aperitivo libations such as Pimms or Campari.