The first thing we noticed when we arrived at Fuji was that the environment was innovative and had a kind of night club-like vibe. We could easily imagine such a restaurant in some trendy neighborhood of Tokyo. The restaurant just opened in May, but it was quite full even though we arrived later on a Wednesday evening.
While brunch has become a mainstay of many of the coastal cities in China, Xi’an has long lacked anything approaching the leisurely gourmet experience that is a nice brunch. While there are many great breakfast foods, and plenty of 5-star hotel buffets for you to stuff your face at, the brunch experience, a.k.a. sweet or savory breakfast style foods and some sort of boozy accompaniment that will help ease out the aches of a night of overindulgence or as a way to kick start a fine weekend.
Coffee has been around for so long that it seems that there is little to no room for innovation. For the coffee purist, there would seem little to be no need to do so, but for shops looking to bring in more customers, the next big thing is a priority. FOOM Coffee, also known as BakeWorks, has settled on an interesting trend – charcoal lattes.
It’s safe to say that cocktails have taken Xi’an by storm. There are more cocktail bars than any one person would be able to visit, and there are new bars opening all the time, even as older bars close. But even with the vast variety, bars can sometimes start to feel…generic. It’s always the same drinks, mixed in very similar ways, without out much in the way of theme or originality. It’s often that I walk into a bar and recognize every single drink, and every single bottle on the wall. So, it takes something unique to impress me.
As the National Games are approaching soon, I thought it best to include a recipe for this month’s issue focusing on shared food.
Many of us think of a fondue being made and served in a pot, however, the vehicle of choice here is an entire loaf of bread that’s been disemboweled and stuffed with cheese. The inner bits removed are torn into chunks, anointed with olive oil and baked in a hot oven until crispy. These bronzed morsels are used to dip into the fondue. This is an ideal oozing, gooey pull-apart treat that’s great for sharing whilst watching the games and certainly a crowd pleaser.
Diets are one of those things that everyone loves, and hates, to talk about. Many of us are on one, or have some kind of dietary restrictions for tons of different reasons. A lot of people also love to have a nice drink; a cocktail here or there to take the edge off. And being knowledgeable about drinks, people often come to me with questions or request about drinks they can have while sticking to their diet. It’s tricky trying to balance both of those lives. I wanted to make an article to help people figure out how to drink responsibly (for their health, the rest is on you). It would be super easy to list a bunch of low-carb, sugar-free, healthy cocktails but you could easily look up list after list of these. I figured, as someone who knows craft cocktails, I could give you some techniques and tips on how to make your own drinks suitable to your diet. So, let’s dive right in.
I’ve often felt that the term ‘hidden gem’ is a bit overused. Often times it is used to describe places that is both convenient to get to and in plain sight, not the hard to find places that are actually good. However, occasionally you do find a legitimate hidden gem – place that you would not have actually found unless you were guided there. This is the case with Matsukawa Japanese Restaurant.
Agood burger can be hard to find in Xi’an, with most offerings being of the bland fast food variety. That was until the minds behind Westhouse opened up EGG BANG in the Saige Mall at the close of 2019. It was refreshing. It was delicious. It was good. But then COVID hit and Saige decided to renovate their 6th floor, eliminating many restaurants, including EGG BANG. It was a sad discovery. But not one to stay down, they got back at it soon after by opening a shop at Momopark, and their most recent outing, a shop at CityOn Mall in the North.
If you haven’t noticed, people around Xi’an really like bars. It’s seems like there is a new bar that pops up every day, and there are more always on the way. However, most of these bars fall into two distinct categories – beer and cocktails. And while there is absolutely nothing wrong with a nice cold craft brew or an expertly mixed concoction, there is something that has been missing from the landscape for quite some time – a wine bar. Enter CUB.
C anada’s favorite coffee shop hit Chinese shores in early 2019, with their first store opening in Shanghai. Since then they have expanded to other large cities in China, with their most recent opening right here in Xi’an on July 29th. The shop, located at MIXC not far from exit C of the HuiZhanZhongXin Metro stop is a bit of an odd choice, being far from the downtown area, but is likely just the beginning of their expansion in Xi’an.
