The decor of this soulful little restaurant a block north of the Bell Tower is equal parts rustic teahouse and friend’s living room. The old-style wooden menu (in Chinese only) offers a hodgepodge of regional comfort foods. Try the whole braised fish (RMB 39), the potato vermicelli with homemade sauerkraut, beef and chilli (RMB 26), and the divine lao Beijing-style frozen hawthorn jellies.

New to the Village at Sanlitun, this large, split-level restaurant delivers crowd-pleasing Chinese and South-Asian food in a classy environment. The contemporary interior fuses traditional elements like pillars hand-painted in attractive Chinese style with sleek, jet-black tables and chairs.

Sanlitun stalwart Aperitivo has closed its doors to undergo what looks like a major renovation. Presumably the intention is to freshen things up and keep pace within Sanlitun's ever-competitive bar scene. Or maybe they've decided to rip out their popular patio on the basis that in a city where winter now lasts for six months and snow has fallen for the last three Sundays in February/March, having an outdoor terrace as your top attraction just doesn't make sense. Probably the former. Anyway, look out for more on Aperitivo's renovation - posters on the windows say the bar's new look will be unveiled by the end of March.

Complete with waitresses in milkmaid dresses and a stage set for live music, this is a cheery westside appropriation of Drei Kronen 1308.

Part of a successful Hong Kong chain, Hei Hei Club has found a Beijing home amid Gongti’s neon ghetto. Hei Hei fits right in, the glittering disco balls and ornate chandeliers looking achingly familiar.