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Home / The Urban Edit

The Urban Edit

A Ninja’s Guide To Beijing’s Best Japanese Restaurants

December 10, 2015 Beijing

Beijing has an abundance of great Japanese joints, in part because the Japanese are the biggest foreign community in the capital, but also because the ingredients can be flown in fresh and it’s damn good food. The only thing is that the best are usually the hardest to find, as they tend to be spread over the city, in locations that you’d never expect to find food, let alone the restuarants that you wished you knew existed. You will need the skills of a shinobi to track down the finest fare but luckily, we are here to help you. Here are five of our faves:

Brick & Wood

Brick and Wood Beijing
Photo: LumDimSum.com

This restaurant, located down a hutong that seems deliberately dimly lit, is perhaps Beijing’s finest kaiseki, which determines that you put your dining fate completely in the hands of the chef. The food will be fabulous but it’s always a better experience if you turn up in a smaller group (three tops) and shell out for the most expensive menu.

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Reason to Celebrate: These Newly Opened Sections of the Forbidden City Are Ace!

December 10, 2015 Beijing

New Forbidden City Section Open to Public

When we heard that the Palace Museum had opened up a whole new section of the Forbidden City, we weren’t expecting much. After all, previously reopened sections tended to reveal yet more rooms filled with, well, not a lot.

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Bespoke’s Big Fat Beijing Gift List

December 8, 2015 Beijing

Are you already feeling a little bit panicky about everything you’re supposed to do before the holidays? Is the stress of sourcing unique Beijing gifts for expectant friends and family weighing on you like the third sofa on an overloaded flatbed rickshaw? Well we’ve just the list for you! Read on for a few ideas…

For a stocking that needs filling (Part I):
Hip coasters

TCA Martin Barnes Beijing CoastersWhether your friend suffers from a Monica Geller-esque fear of water rings on their coffee table or just wants to look especially cool when they have friends over, we think these colorful coasters are ace. This City Art’s designs draw inspiration from all of Beijing’s quirkiest features – then make them pop.
30RMB/coaster (choose from over 38 designs to make a pack). Available from Plastered (see below for address) or TCA’s WeiDian store.

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The Sichuan Restaurant With A Side of Drama

December 8, 2015 Beijing

From 0-100 in 5 seconds.

Beijing best sichuan restaurants

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Candor

December 3, 2015 Shanghai

Candor
Your cocktail is served! Delicious but potent.

As you can imagine, the need to keep up with the latest and greatest Shanghai cocktail bar openings is one of Team Bespoke’s favorite things about being a bona fide City Expert, and the fervor with which we relentlessly pursue our mission has been remarked upon by many a cocktail companion. It does help us though, when bars cluster themselves together for our tipsy convenience. We were delighted then, to find Candor nestled literally next door to another 2015 Bespoke favorite, The Flask. One big difference, though, and the clues is perhaps in the name – whilst The Flask has opted for the increasingly ubiquitous speakeasy route (hiding their entrance behind a Coca Cola fridge), Candor is loud and proud with a giant shop front and a bright circus-cum-boudoir theme.

Candor
Geft comfortable in the plush velvet booths.

If you like your cocktail to come with a boozy history lesson, co-owner Aaron Feder, previously of El Ocho and Heyday, is your man, and his encyclopedic knowledge of the topic is something to behold. Aaron ran us through the menu with vigor, before suggesting a Genever Old Fashioned. Result! We’d never tried this base spirit, an early precursor to gin, before, but it was perfectly made and proved delicious.

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Handmade in Shanghai

December 3, 2015 Shanghai

With gift giving season bearing down upon us once more, we’ve turned to some of the city’s traditions for inspiration. In an online retail obsessed world, finding gifts that are genuinely and unmistakably ‘Shanghai’ is harder than ever. Bespoke opens its little black book to share a few of our favorite traders who are keeping it distinctively and wonderfully local.

Wok
A handmade wok, hammer marks and all.

The Old School Wok

It doesn’t get more handmade than this. The wok-making Cen brothers and their tiny workshop in Zhabei District are well-known in foodie circles and, despite Shanghai’s constant development, they’ve barely changed. The brothers still spend most of the day sitting outside, bashing away – you’ll need to interrupt them to make a purchase. They’re said to be the only people plying this craft in the entire city and whilst we can’t verify that, we do know that the finished product, hammer marks and all, is a thing of great beauty. Prices start at 120 RMB per wok.

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