China Travel, News and Lifestyle
Food
Honey, It’s Been A Long Time
Aug 10th
There’s no complete Beijing IKEA visit without staying and eating their Swedish meatballs after the shopping. As I sat down and chunked the meatballs in, I had a nostalgic feeling creeping through my spine. The meatballs were OK, a little on the raw side. I don’t get why we got fries. It should have just come with boiled or mashed potatoes.
The IKEA restaurant in Beijing isn’t just a place for tired shoppers to eat, but acts like a dedicated restaurant. People come from all over town just to eat the food there. Apart from meatballs, they’ve also got several salmon dishes as well as Chinese dishes.
If in Beijing, it’s definitely a worthwhile visit.
Origus is a Nice Place to Eat When Hungry
Aug 8th
So what do you do when you drink too much one night and feel like shit the entire next day, and then comes evening and you’re starving. Easy – go to Origus.Origus is a Chinese buffet chain serving pizza, chicken, pasta, snacks, salad, fruit, ice cream, cake, soft drinks, beer, tea and coffee. For 43 CNY ($6 USD) you can eat and drink as much as you want. The food is pretty good, but a little fatty. I would recommend you to eat there if you’re really hungry and/or work out.
What! A Chocolate Pizza?
The last time I went to Origus I was really surprised to find a chocolate pizza. It was basically pizza bread with chocolate sauce and cheese on top. Although I don’t think it was very nutritious, I’d have to say it was quite good.
Drinking Beijing Style
Aug 4th
When you’re tired of all the Western-style bars and clubs over at Sanlitun, Houhai and Workers Stadium – you should definitely try this out. This is what many Beijingers do and is a cool experience for the casual traveler.
- Make sure you’re with good company.
- Scourge the streets until you find the closest Muslim (Xinjiang) joint, and get a table outdoors.
- Start ordering Yanjing (Beijing) brand beers and some shish kebab (yang rou chuan / lamb on a stick), some pickled peanuts and green beans to go along with it.
- If you don’t know how to order, point at the plate of your neighbors and order what they’ve ordered.
- Let the games begin. Usually 6 bottles is enough for a person.
- Be merry.
The beers go for around 4 CNY ($0.6 USD) per 600 ml bottle and the kebabs 0.5 CNY ($0.1 USD) each. All together it shouldn’t cost more than 35 CNY ($5 USD) per person. Not only is this a very good deal, but also something unique to remember. I liked the food and the beers, and would do this again anytime.
These guys know how to earn money and close when all their customers leave, so don’t worry about the time.
Papa John’s Beijing
Aug 3rd
Sometimes you are allowed to cheat. 
When you get tired and run out of ideas of what to order at Chinese restaurants, there are always western chains to satiate your hunger.
This time I decided to pick up a pizza at Papa John’s just downstairs. The pizza was pretty good (a little greasy), but the waiting time was a long 30 minutes. I ordered the 12-inch Pizza Alfredo, which I only managed to finish half of. Along with it I had a can of Coke, which brought the final price to just below 100 CNY ($15 USD). This is a pretty expensive meal by Beijing standards but something pretty nice to have once in a while.
