CW Reader’s Choice Awards vs. LumDimSum

Unlike theBeijinger and Time Out magazines, CityWeekend lumps both the Dining & Nightlife Award Categories into one evening rather than split it up into two events. And for the first time this year, CityWeekend changed it up and actually kept the vote count visible to the public and made sure that every voter had a validated CW User Name Account.

If you are interested in comparing results, check out theBeijinger Restaurant Awards Breakdown posted here.  Time Out’s Restaurant Awards Breakdown is posted here.

I unfortunately was not in Beijing to attend the CityWeekend’s awards ceremony at Brasserie Flo, but word on the street was that it was packed and the turn-out was impressive.

If you haven’t seen the results already, here is a LumDimSummary Breakdown of all the winners in both the Restaurant & Bar Awards Categories:

CityWeekend’s Awards for Best Dining Categories:

• Best New Restaurant of the Year:

  • CW Winner: Tamarind

  • LumDimSum Vote: Capital M

• Restaurant of the Year:

  • CW Winner: SALT

  • LumDimSum Vote: Hatsune

• Chinese Restaurant of the Year:

  • CW Winner: Zen5es

  • LumDimSum Vote: Karaiya Spice House

• Most Romantic:

  • CW Winner: Jaan

  • LumDimSum Vote: Capital M

• Best Value:

  • CW Winner: Kiosk

  • LumDimSum Vote: Biteapitta

• Chef of the Year:

  • CW Winner: Mario Cittadini

  • LumDimSum Vote: Max Levy – Bei/Apothecary

• Best Service:
  

  • CW Winner: Maison Boulud

  • LumDimSum Vote: Maison Boulud

• Best Mexican/Tex-Mex:

  • CW Winner: Casa Latina

  • LumDimSum Vote: Casa Latina

• Best Italian:
  

  • CW Winner: Prego

  • LumDimSum Vote: Metro

• Best Japanese:

  • CW Winner: Nishimura

  • LumDimSum Vote: Hatsune

• Best French:

  • CW Winner: Maison Boulud

  • LumDimSum Vote: Maison Boulud

• Best Thai:

  • CW Winner: Purple Haze

  • LumDimSum Vote: Aroy-D (by Fulicheng)

• Best American:

  • CW Winner: Chef Too

  • LumDimSum Vote: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

• Best Indian:

  • CW Winner: Mughal’s

  • LumDimSum Vote: Punjabi

• Best Middle-Eastern:

  • CW Winner: 1001 Nights

  • LumDimSum Vote: Biteapitta

• Best Beijing Duck:

  • CW Winner: Fat Duck

  • LumDimSum Vote: Made in China (Grand Hyatt)

• Best Hot Pot:

  • CW Winner: Ding Ding Xiang

  • LumDimSum Vote: Hai Di Lao

• Best Burger:

  • CW Winner: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

  • LumDimSum Vote: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

• Best Pizza:

  • CW Winner: The Tree

  • LumDimSum Vote: The Tree

• Best Dessert:

  • CW Winner: Din Tai Fung

  • LumDimSum Vote: Comptoirs de France

• Best Steakhouse:

  • CW Winner: Grange (Westin Chaoyang)

  • LumDimSum Vote: Meat & Wine Co. (but it’s closed now)    I will need to find a new favorite steakhouse…
    

• Best Wine Selection:

  • CW Winner: Enoteca

  • LumDimSum Vote: Palette Vino

• Best Buffet:

  • CW Winner: Seasonal Tastes

  • LumDimSum Vote: Westin Chaoyang

• Best Sunday Brunch:

  • CW Winner: Bubbalicious (Westin Chaoyang)

  • LumDimSum Vote: Orchard

• Best for Families:

  • CW Winner: Din Tai Fung, Seasonal Tastes (Tie)

  • LumDimSum Vote: Orchard

CityWeekend’s Awards for Best Bar/Club Categories:

• Club of the Year:

  • CW Winner: Mix

  • LumDimSum Vote: Bling

• Bar of the Year:
  

  • CW Winner: Apothecary

  • LumDimSum Vote: Apothecary

• Nightlife Newcomer of the Year:

  • CW Winner: White Rabbit

  • LumDimSum Vote: Fubar

• Best Local Band of the Year:

  • CW Winner: The Redbucks

  • LumDimSum Vote:  The Redbucks

• Beijing-Based DJ of the Year:

  • CW Winner: DJ Blackie

  • LumDimSum Vote:  DJ KEZA

• Best Alfresco Drinking:

  • CW Winner: XIU

  • LumDimSum Vote: Q Bar

• Best Live Music:

  • CW Winner: Mao Live House

  • LumDimSum Vote: Yugong Yishan

• Best Cocktails:

  • CW Winner: Mix-The Westin Beijing Chaoyang

  • LumDimSum Vote: Glen

• Best Place for Singles:

  • CW Winner: Mix

  • LumDimSum Vote: Bling

• Best for Dancing:

  • CW Winner: GT Banana

  • LumDimSum Vote: BLING

• Best Sports Bar:
  

  • CW Winner: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

  • LumDimSum Vote: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

• Hardest Bar to Find:

  • CW Winner: Fubar Peking

  • LumDimSum Vote: Club Obiwan

• Best Pub Grub:
  

  • CW Winner: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

  • LumDimSum Vote: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

• Best Fruit Plate:

  • CW Winner: Destination

  • LumDimSum Vote: Bling

• Best Promoter:

  • CW Winner: Street Hustle Promotions

  • LumDimSum Vote: Acupuncture

Beijinger Restaurant Awards: Hatsune Wins Best Japanese 6 Years in a Row!

At theBeijinger’s Restaurant Awards on Tuesday, March 16, Hatsune took home Best Japanese for the 6th year in a row, along with Outstanding for Best Decor.

Congratulations to Alan Wong, owner of the Hatsune Empire, for holding it strong and staying at the top of the game 6 years running.

That’s gotta be a record!!

Owner of the Hatsune Empire, Alan Wong goes up on stage with baby Mason Wong to pick up his award for Best Japanese! 6 years in a row baby!

Other big winners from the awards ceremony include:

• SALT – Winner for Best Chef & Runner up for Best Business Lunch, Best Steak, Best Service, Restaurant of the Year
• Mosto – Runner Up for Best Chef, Best Business Lunch, Best Wine List, Best for a Romantic Meal, Restaurant of the Year
• Haidilao – Winner for Best HotPot, and Runner up for Best Service, Chinese Restaurant of the Year
• Da Dong – Winner for Best Contemporary Chinese, Best Duck, Best for Impressing Visitors, Best Chinese Restaurant of the Year
• Maison Boulud - Winner for Best French, Best for a Romantic Meal, Best Wine List, Best Service,  Best Western Restaurant of the Year

Complete list of all Beijinger Dining Awards Categories and Winners, click here.

Collecting Hatsune's Award for Best Japanese

LumDimSummary of Beijinger Restaurant Awards:

Best Part:

• iF Juice was a sponsor!  The most thirst-quenching, delicious fresh juice available in Beijing! I’m kind of obsessed.
• Alan Wong brought up baby Mason to collect his award for Best Japanese (6 years in a row!)
• Cheese by Yellow Valley Cheese is delicious
• Cherry flavored Beer
• Foodie Crowd Galore…or just PR people representing restaurants

Comments:

• Hosts were painfully bad.  Dominic Johnson-Hill of Plastered 8 T-shirts could not pronounce any names if his life depended on it and Ai Wan actually said, and I quote, “Wow! This is extraordinary a woman won Best Chef! Normally chefs are men.  Now, tell me Ana, how old are you?” Someone should censor that woman.
• Joy Luck provided no food for the event and it was just a very random location for a restaurant awards ceremony.

While many of the winners are very deserving of their awards, I was a disappointed to see Annie’s won Best Italian (come on people, it’s not best delivery service), Ganges for Best Indian (they just happen to have the best locations and marketing), and Element Fresh for Best American, Best Sandwiches, and Best Non-Hotel Brunch? I only approve of their smoothies and boycott the rest.

Beijinger’s Restaurant Award Winners vs. LumDimSum’s Votes:

• Best Contemporary Chinese – Beijinger Winner: Da Dong, LumDimSum Vote: Bei (Opposite House)
• Best Duck -Beijinger Winner: Da Dong, LumDimSum Vote: Made in China
• Best Sichuan – Beijinger Winner: South Beauty, LumDimSum Vote: Chuan Ban
• Best Dim Sum – Beijinger Winner: Jin Ding Xuan, LumDimSum Vote: Jin Ding Xuan (Tuanjiehu)
  
• Best Hot Pot – Beijinger Winner: Haidilao, LumDimSum Vote: Haidilao
• Best Kung Pao Chicken – Beijinger Winner: South Beauty, LumDimSum Vote: Black Sesame Kitchen
• Best Xinjiang – Beijinger Winner: Red Rose, LumDimSum Vote: Crescent Moon
• Best Yunan – Beijinger Winner: Middle 8th Restaurant, LumDimSum Vote: Middle 8th Restaurant
• Best French- Beijinger Winner: Maison Boulud, LumDimSum Vote: Maison Boulud
• Best Indian / Pakistani – Beijinger Winner: Ganges, LumDimSum Vote: Punjabi
• Best Italian -Beijinger Winner: Annie’s, LumDimSum Vote: Sadler Ristorante & Metro
  
• Best Japanese – Beijinger Winner: Hatsune, LumDimSum Vote: Hatsune & Kagen Teppanyaki
• Best Mediterranean – Beijinger Winner: Sureno, LumDimSum Vote: Sureno
• Best Mexican – Beijinger Winner: Saddle Cantina, LumDimSum Vote: Pete’s Tex Mex
• Best Middle Eastern – Beijinger Winner: 1001 Nights, LumDimSum Vote: Biteapitta
• Best Thai – Beijinger Winner: Purple Haze, LumDimSum Vote: Aroy-D (by Fulicheng)
• Best Vietnamese – Beijinger Winner: Muse, LumDimSum Vote: Luga’s Pho-Pho
• Best American – Beijinger Winner: Element Fresh, LumDimSum Vote: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill
• Best Business Lunch – Beijinger Winner: Alameda, LumDimSum Vote: Hatsune
• Family-Friendly Restaurant – Beijinger Winner: Annie’s, LumDimSum Vote: Orchard
• Impressing Visitors – Beijinger Winner: Da Dong, LumDimSum Vote: Duck de Chine
• Best Brunch (Non-Hotel) – Beijinger Winner: Element Fresh, LumDimSum Vote: Orchard
• Best Hotel Brunch – Beijinger Winner: Westin Financial Street & Westin Chaoyang, LumDimSum Vote: Westin Chaoyang
• Best Pizza – Beijinger Winner: The Tree, LumDimSum Vote: The Tree
• Best Sandwiches – Beijinger Winner: Element Fresh, LumDimSum Vote: Sequoia Cafe
  
• Best Steak – Beijinger Winner: Meat & Wine Co., LumDimSum Vote: Meat & Wine Co.
• Best Tapas – Beijinger Winner: Olas Tapas Cafe, LumDimSum Vote: Mosaico
• Wine List – Beijinger Winner: Maison Boulud, LumDimSum Vote: Enoteca
• Best Burger – Beijinger Winner: Let’s Burger, LumDimSum Vote: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill
• Best For a Romantic Meal – Beijinger Winner: Maison Boulud, LumDimSum Vote: Capital M
• Best Chef – Beijinger Winner: Ana Esteves – SALT, LumDimSum Vote: Max Levy – Bei/Apothecary
• Best Décor – Beijinger Winner: LAN, LumDimSum Vote: Hatsune & Capital M
• Best Service – Beijinger Winner: Maison Boulud, LumDimSum Vote: Maison Boulud
• Restaurant of the Year (Chinese) – Beijinger Winner: Da Dong, LumDimSum Vote: Made in China
• Restaurant of the Year (Non-Chinese) – Beijinger Winner: Maison Boulud, LumDimSum Vote: Hatsune

Now This is Worth Trying

Considering “Eat for Haiti” only lasts 10 days, I’ve been making the most of it by dining and supporting as many “HAITI RISE” restaurants as possible.

Before these 10 days fly by, I want to encourage every foodie in Beijing to go out and literally EAT FOR HAITI. Each voucher is RMB 200, which can be used in any participating “HAITI RISE” restaurant, so that’s RMB 200 off your total bill, and each restaurant will donate 100RMB directly to the HAITI RISE Fund. THIS EVENT ENDS ON WED. (FEB. 3)  SO PLEASE BUY NOW! (contact me directly to purchase vouchers).

It’s a great excuse to rally your friends and organize dinner parties and have a great night knowing you are supporting a worthy cause.

Now here’s a story to hopefully motivate you and get you into gear to make a difference and have fun while you’re at it:

Tonight, Tami Zhao organized a dinner party for a dozen of our close friends at The Meat & Wine Co., in addition to the fact that she holds the record so far for selling 150 vouchers alone.  She’s a mad woman. To call her a superstar would be an understatement.  She’s beyond phenomenal and I can not express my gratitude and

Meat & Wine Co.'s Flame Grilled Skewers

amazement in all her efforts to support the HAITI RISE relief campaign.

Back to dinner at my favorite steakhouse…

Interestingly enough, half the table ordered the various Flame-Grilled Skewers, whether it was Angus beef, chicken or seafood, each skewer was impressively presented to the table on a tall, serious skewer display and I would have been jealous of not having my meat served on a sword if I was not madly in love with what I ordered.

The cooler side of the table (my side of course), all ordered the highly recommended ‘Surf and Turf’: 180g Rump steak served on a bed of crushed baby potatoes, mushrooms, prawns, cherry tomatoes, asparagus and red wine jus with truffle oil (RMB 198).  The presentation may not have been as original as the big sword skewer, but the combination of rump steak with the potatoes, mushrooms, shrimp, sauce, everything melted in my mouth and I became so absorbed in my dish, I think I stopped speaking for the rest of the meal.  That’s how good it was. Upon finishing my meal, I immediately texted Meat & Wine Co.’s marketing manager, Darah Roslyn to tell her that the “Surf and Turf is quite possibly the most amazing thing I’ve tried in a long time. It really blew me away.” I really don’t think I could think of a better way to enjoy and use up one of my RMB 200 “Eat for Haiti” vouchers as it was worth every last fen.

But let’s not forget my favorite part of each meal – dessert.  I ordered the Warm Chocolate & Pistachio

Meat & Wine Co.'s Chocolate Fondante

Fondante - warm dark chocolate fondante with a white chocolate and pistachio heart served with vanilla ice cream (RMB 88).  Warm, gooey rich chocolate that oozes all over the plate combined with sweet ice cream is a killer combination.  And not to mention, the portion is massive.  One order is good to share between 3 people…unless you have a sweet tooth and weakness for chocolate like me, in which case, I would recommend to just share between two.

For anyone who has yet to dine in The Meat & Wine Co., I would advise for you to order their prime cuts of steak, imported wines, Surf and Turf, desserts, and I hear their Portuguese Chicken also comes highly recommended.

Rating of Meat & Wine Co.: (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best)

• Food: 9
• Atmosphere: 8
• Service: 8
• Overall Experience: 9

Tips:  Swap the french fries for mashed potatoes and Every Tuesday, Ribs are two-for-one!

Best for First

I’ve always been the type of person who likes to save the best for last.

Maybe it’s just me, but I always like knowing that the best is yet to come and when that moment arrives, I like to savor it and make it last as long as possible.

Back in April, I managed to gorge myself with about 20 gourmet month meals in 30 days.  And out of those 20 meals, the general consensus agreed the best value and our overall favorite meal was at Kagen.

Some of the other restaurants may have been newer, trendier, fancier, better customer service, etc., but when it came down to the food quality, quantity and overall dining experience, Kagen blew our expectations.

With the start of November, I was pumped for Gourmet Month all over again.

Initially, I wanted to try out a new restaurant: perhaps Olas Tapas Cafe as it is conveniently located in Sanlitun (my home away from home) but my foodies crew was all about Kagen again.  Normally I would want to save Kagen for last, but with 30 days and about 15 restaurants I’m set to dine at this time around, I’ve got room for Kagen at least twice this month (one BBQ set & one hot pot set).

For only 150RMB, the deal is ridiculous! (I honestly recommend that two girls can share one meal, it’s that much food!)  But if you are someone like me, with a healthy appetite, then you will leave stuffed…and your stomach expanded to its brink.

Here’s the breakdown:

Assorted Appetizer Platter – Seared Beef Carpaccio, Roasted Bacon and Asparagus Roll, Stir-fry gobo, Tobiko Salad, Calamari

Assorted BBQ Combo Course – Short Ribs, Rib Eye, Yakitori, Jumbo Butter Prawns

Or

Assorted Hot Pot Combo Course – Sliced Rib-eye, Fish & Shrimp Balls, Sliced Salmon, Sea Conch, and Assorted Mushrooms

Stone Rice Bowl with Vegetables

Miso Soup

Mousse and Ice Cream Dessert

**I recommend the BBQ combo if you had to choose one, but both are bomb. And most likely you will go with more than one person, so have someone else get the hot pot and share. 

And Oh my goodness, the ice cream dessert is heaven.  I would advise to go for the chocolate as it’s creamy and rich (the strawberry was more like a sorbet than ice cream).

With all of us foodies just sticking to the BBQ this time, we’ll be back at least once more for the Hot Pot and then again to keep our taste buds happy.

Next Stop:

Tuesday, Nov. 3rd: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill (to introduce a few foodies to the best burger in town)

Wednesday, Nov. 4th:  Gourmet Month Break – Black Sesame Kitchen’s Wine ‘n Dine Special (10 course meal & all-you-can-drink wine for only RMB 150)

Thursday, Nov. 5th: Olas Tapas Cafe - new restaurant I have yet to try.

For the rest of the month, here are my top 10 picks:

• Bei – Most amazing looking menu
• Mare’s - I want to check out the new location
• Hatsune – The Q Roll alone is worth going for
• SALT – I want to try both their lunch & dinner menu
• Oden – Perfect remedy to the bitter cold winter weather
• Enoteca – Great meal WITH a glass of wine
• Meat & Wine Co. – One of my favorites from last April’s Gourmet Month
• Za’atar – Very unique menu in comparison to the rest (but in Shunyi)
• Morel’s - One of Beijing’s oldest restaurants that I have yet to try
• Haiku – Menu is totally different from Hatsune and it’s just next door to my home

Comments:

• From my experiences last April, I try to avoid most hotel restaurants, which have all been very, very empty.  It’s creepy to be the only people dining in a restaurant.  Exception may be to try Tamarind, who’s menu is pretty impressive (not to mention extensive) and reviews have been well received.  Plus, I love good Indian food.
• Brasserie Flo offers a generous menu (I tried last April), but the decor was pretty tacky and the food wasn’t enough to bring me back a second time around.
• I automatically boycott any restaurant that charges RMB 250 for chicken as the main entree.  *Ahem* Astor Grill.  Weak Sauce.
• I’m disappointed Mosto upped their price from 150 to 250 and the selection is quite minimal compared to last time around. Isn’t the point of Gourmet Month to provide good value and impress first-timers to return? Bummer.

*Originally I had planned to create a calendar with designated Gourmet Month Menu days, but I can’t seem to plan more than 4 days ahead.  From reading this entry, you know my top targets, so just shoot me an e-mail if you want me to include you/notify you when I decide to go to the restaurant you want to try too.  As always, the more the merrier.   kristen@lumdimsum.com