EAT: Winter Dishes at Tavola and Hatsune, Okra Sunday Nabe, and Panini at The Local

Last week we paid a visit to veteran Italian restaurant Tavola for the first time in a while and were happy to see their dining room still packed out with customers after eight years in the biz. Tavola have completely renewed their menu for winter, with more than 40 dishes, including a braised beef shank with vegetables and potato purée and a festive-looking red wine tagliatelle with red snapper and fish stock. I can also heartily recommend Tavola's pizzas, having tried an intensely savory version topped with truffle and parma ham.

Hatsune have just released four winter dishes, based on the very best seasonal ingredients. Order a portion of sanba sashimi (RMB 150), a type of mackerel, which is seen as a great test of a sushi chef's skills, or the rice-less foie gras and torched unagi roll (RMB 78), inspired by a Joel Robuchon dish. Alternatively, warm up for winter with the crab paper hot pot (RMB 180), which features Scottish brown crab with a savory miso broth.

Speaking of hot pot, over in 1949, Okra are bringing back their popular Sunday Nabe Nights, featuring their own version of this traditional Japanese winter hot pot. Choose from the signature nabe set (RMB 258), featuring five types of sashimi, Chilean wagyu beef, homemade tofu, organic vegetables from Little Willow farm, and udon noodles, or the Nagasaki blackfin tuna, toro, and wagyu set (RMB 458), which adds on – you guessed it – six different cuts of blackfin tuna and toro. If that isn't enough to get you glowing, they are also offering buy-one-get-one-free carafes of Kikubijin Tokubetsu Junmai sake (RMB 120) from Fukuoka all night.

It's not all fine dining this week, however. Beijinger favorite The Local have just started offering a new panini set lunch menu. Available Monday to Friday, whilst ever stocks last, the set includes a panino (choose from roast beef and swiss, chicken saltimbocca or tomato and mozzarella), a serving of soup or waffle fries, and a small dessert of the day. All that for RMB 68. Warm your cockles with a mulled wine for just RMB 20 extra. We've got our eye on that roast beef and swiss cheese, which is seasoned with caraway and horseradish cream.

As always, keep up to date with all of Beijing's best foodie happenings via our Food Events section here.

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Photos courtesy of Tavola, Okra