EAT: Brunch at Migas and Rive Gauche, Superfly Lunch Sets, Side Street Shut Again
EAT: Your bite-sized guide to the best eats to be had in Beijing this week.
New Migas Mercado menus
The sun is out and we're only mildly sweaty, which means the short window for pleasant brunches on Beijing's numerous and varied terraces is very much here. Never ones to waste their superlative views of CBD, Migas Mercado has revamped several of their menus, including a new tapas menu featuring dishes like fried cuttlefish with ink aioli (or fried baby squid and aioli in burger form) and duck and pork-stuffed Catalan-style cannelloni. Additionally, their brunch is back on Saturday and Sunday, 11.30am-2.30pm, brimming with classics like eggs benedict and their signature Migas club sandwich, as well as more traditional dishes like Spanish pork with rice, mushrooms, and green asparagus (pictured above). Top it off with two hours of free-flow for RMB 168 and you've got yourself some fun in the sun.
Rive Gauche brunch
The Puxuan's Rive Gauche has also upped their brunch game, opening up their NAMOC and Jingshan-facing terrace for a four-course set menu of salad (quinoa, green, or niçoise), an egg course (eggs benedict, poached on wheat, or an omelet), a main of veal shank or smoked salmon with potato carrot soup, and dessert of lava cake, banana bread sundae, or sorbet with seasonal fruit. Following a recent tasting, we can attest to these portions being massive (the shank alone could feed a small family). So big in fact that there is a two-diner minimum, which they suggest further divvying up between four. Brunch costs RMB 388 and is available every weekend, 11am-2.30pm. Champagne or wine pairings are also available for 50 percent off the former and 20 percent off the latter. Finally, keep a lookout for their à la carte menu available from Jun 3, Wednesday to Sunday.
New lunch sets at Superfly
To round out The Opposite House's gustatory overhaul, their latest and last venue, Superfly, has officially opened, joining cocktail bar Union and Italian restaurant Frasca. Superfly allows the hotel's in-house Chinese chef, Li Dong, to play around with a more casual menu, creating modern takes on Sichuanese cuisine in a stylish setting (as opposed to his work downstairs making refined Chinese classics in Jing Yaa Tang). As part of their soft opening, they're offering a limited and daily, midday-2pm, Sichuan-style beef noodle lunch set for RMB 88. Watch this space for a full review of Superfly soon, and in the meantime, get a taste of what they're wanting to achieve here.
Hulu releases new vegan dishes, team up with Hatsune
It has only been a few weeks since Hulu opened their second venue, Hulu Next to WAB, in Shunyi but that hasn't stopped the team from building on their already substantive menu. Their newest additions are a range of vegan power lunches, available at all venues Monday to Friday between 11.30am-2pm (or by delivery 11.30am-5pm daily, with RMB 38 off your first order), including their latest three-course meal of quinoa and carrot salad, asparagus green soybean fettucine, and blueberry cake for RMB 98. Additionally, Japanese favorite Hatsune will head to Hulu's Shunyi venue for a one-off collaboration this Friday and Saturday only. Click here for more details.
Quiche sets for two at The Bake Shop
Over in the hutongs, The Bake Shop has just launched a new quiche set for two. Depending on how much food you're looking to gorge, the sets come in two sizes, small for RMB 168 or RMB 258 for large, and include a slice of French ham quiche, a signature salmon bagel, basil cheese bagel, one "fancy" coffee, one cold coffee, and a cookie. Read more about the sets here.
Side Street shut again
No strangers to an impromptu closure, Side Street has been silenced once again, this time most likely because of the ongoing Two Sessions. Speaking via the bar and restaurant's WeChat group on Monday, a representative of Side Street posted, "Authorities have informed us to close until further notice. Unfortunately, we don’t know the reason for this but we will be closed until further notice," adding, "Will update you guys once we know we can open again."
READ: How to Eat for Half-Price (or More) Every Day of the Week
Images courtesy of the venues, Trip Advisor
