Capital Caff: Three New Openings With Wildly Different Spaces, Ralph's Coffee Truck Comes to Wangfujing

Vincent R. Vinci, Contributing Editor | Jan 28, 2022 5:31 pm | Add a comment | 451 reads

Don't talk to me until I've read Capital Caff: Your guide to the latest in coffee happenings around Beijing.

New Openings Offer Different Strokes for Different Folks

Beijingers must have a caffeine addiction, because every week there’s a new café popping up on Dianping or Meituan just begging to be tried. This isn’t a bad thing, of course, as it gives us all the more reason to avoid going to big brand coffee shops and instead opt for quality cups of joe on the regular – often in wildly different environs to boot.

Take the following recent openings as examples.

We start with M Stand. Less of a stand than it is an upscale mall coffee shop, this establishment, which has three locations (two in Chaoyang and one in Xicheng) is gunning to cement itself as the next wanghong hot spot.

Case in point: along with a sleek Instagrammable interior, it’s got a few menu items that are more for photos than for their taste alone, including things like a "cookie latte" (a latte served in a cup-shaped cookie), gray-tinged cheese cake, and “fresh coconut iced coffee” – which pretty much looks like coffee served up in a coconut shell.

Next up there’s self coffee, located a few meters south of Beixinqiao subway station’s Exit D. Unlike the sleek and sterile interiors of M Stand, self is keeping things decidedly minimalist. Think white walls with light wood paneling and tables, and a simple counter from which all things originate.

They also have the option of pour overs to share, which makes for a fun trip with a group of fellow caffeine addicts.

Finally, there’s Old World. The name “old world” immediately conjures up images of a massive study or library covered with dark wood paneling and filled with all sorts of celestial instruments, devices, and globes from bygone eras – but if you’re looking for that in this café, find it you will not.

Instead, from the look of things "old world" here seems to be dolls, toys, and trinkets from the 1950s onwards, all stuffed into a homely abode hidden behind the doors of an old courtyard house that’s not all that far away from self coffee.

What brings these two together besides proximity of location? They both offer up pies from Hutong’er – so you can imbibe your caffeinated beverage of choice and enjoy some quality Beijing-made pie while you’re at it.

A Coffee Truck Sits in Wangfujing

If the gimmick of Ralph Lauren opening a coffee shop wasn’t enough, now the fashion brand has a coffee truck as well.

The dark green Citroën delivery truck is the latest attempt by Ralph’s – how long did it take to come up with that name, I wonder? – to court the capital’s wanghong masses. Basically, this truck has everything you’ll find at their normal locations (plus soft serve ice cream) except in a stationary truck to make those Instagram and WeChat Moments photos really stand out.