De Refter

Among the other Belgian bars and restaurants in Beijing, De Refter is the youngest, see also:
Exploring new food in De Refter (Sanlitun)
https://www.beijing1980.com/2016/04/29/exploring-new-food-in-de-refter-sanlitun/

The place is small, cozy and food choices are limited. I find their beer prices a bit on the high side. Music can be pretty nice. In summer sitting outside, also for lunch, is a plus.
What the place lacks is a good manager who takes care of the customers. When our friend Steve is around, perfect, but he spends a lot of time in the other De Refter in Shanghai.
Nice place to organize a small party.

The Tree

The Tree has been around since 2005, after the original The Hidden Tree was leveled in what is now SOHO Sanlitun. It is now the only one left as the two other locations such as Nearby The Tree closed.
Famous for its pizza but some regret the quality is not as before, and competition is fierce: La Pizza around the corner is very popular and so is Luga’s.
I tried once their “Belgian Beef Stew” but wa disappointed: the meat was tough, that means they chose the wrong type of meat and/or did not cook it properly (it requires many hours).
Still a good place to hang out with a wide choice of beers and I can still recommend the pizza.
See also:
https://www.beijing1980.com/2016/05/19/rotaract-east-elections-and-party-at-the-tree/

Launch of “Dining Table of the World”

I had earlier posted about the December 2016 shooting of the food program “Dining Table of the World” (世界上的餐桌).
See:
CCTV shooting with 6renyou at Morel Restaurant
https://www.beijing1980.com/2016/12/20/cctv-shooting-with-6renyou-at-morel-restaurant/
It was done by Beijing 6renyou International Travel Service Co., Ltd.

Launch event 16 March 2017

The program was planned to be broadcast on Tencent Video (v.qq.com) on 16 March 2017 (and also on other platforms like iQiyi, Youku, Sohu and le.com).
The launching event of the program was held in 3W Coffice in Wangjing, together with the launching of the concept of the “Tailor-Made Travel Day”.
It was also attended by Ms. Isabelle Thomas (France Tourism Development Agency), Ms. Li Xin (Visit Flanders), Mr. Avi Shabtai (Biteapitta) and Ms. Meirav (Ischam), among others.
I somehow represented Morel’s Restaurant, see some quick screenshots of the segment of our Belgian restaurant.

3W Coffice

See also the location of the event in Wangjing: 3W Coffice, pretty nice. I loved the glass cubicle for people using their mobile to call…
The business started as start-up-themed cafe and became a meeting place for entrepreneurs and angel investors. It has expanded its services to start-ups, and serves as an incubator and “makerspace” for nascent firms.
Read the story here:
“Pure and simple: 3W Coffee founder’s secret to start-up success in China”, 10 August 2015.
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/1848269/pure-and-simple-3w-coffee-founders-secret-start-success

Biteapitta

One of the restaurants featured is Biteapitta, located in the small Sanlitun bar street. Excellent Middle East cuisine (Israeli), I love it also because it reminds me of my time in Brazil: the cuisine is very popular there, a “healthy fast food”. Over there it is called “Syrio-Libanes”.

See the videos

As for now, the following videos are out:
Right now 4 episodes (France, Germany, India, Japan) are already online, while the other 3 (Israel, Belgium, Thailand) will be broadcast in the next following 3 weeks.

France: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/8hfe7v52c4wn583/e0384tg2eze.html

Germany: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/np1selvh1ktq8pq/u03860rr8l2.html

India: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/7w6i01scw5qhss2/s03883f3g14.html

Japan: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/sh4d3thzgakdu6g/w0390drd067.html

Gilbert, the photographer

Being a regular, I am asked to document the Legend Beer food and girls, something I do with pleasure.
As said, the food and the beer are good. And some of the girls are just stunning. I don’t comment on the male models as this is not my area of expertise!

See Legend Beer food and girls

See some of the dishes and the customers. I am always introduced as the “famous photographer”, funny.
Dishes: roast chicken, roast lamb, hamburger, sausages, Korean chicken. My favorite beer is the Gongti IPA (Workers Stadium IPA), 5.5%, pretty bitter.

Hidden but well-known

Beijing XL Bar and Restaurant is hidden behind the German restaurant Hacker-Pschorr on Xindong Lu. But since Jane took over as manager, the place is well known and often packed. Previously Jane was the manager at Nearby The Tree, since she left there the place did not manage to survive and it is now taken over by Schillers, as their original place was razed – one of the many victims of the “clean-up” (the building belonged to the army…).

Schillers seems to do pretty well, see how it changed little of the original interior of Nearby The Tree.

Busy place

Beijing XL Bar and Restaurant took over many of the old clients of The Den (also forced to close – the army…) and also took over the monthly NVP drinks (Nederlandse Vereniging Peking) from Nearby The Tree.
XL also hosts gaming and dart evenings.
Food and drinks are OK and reasonably priced.