EAT: Arepa Social Club, Black and White Poke Bowls, Cocktail Dinner at Botany, Charity Dinner at 99 Yurts

Instagram's favorite dish, the poke bowl (although Instagram loves anything in a bowl, to be honest), is definitely catching on in Beijing, for which we are very grateful. In addition to their regular selection of poke bowls, Moka Bros has teamed up with Chinese food blogger Wei Xue Yi (aka 造洋饭书) to create two limited-edition color-themed poke bowls (pictured in lead blog image). The "black" bowl includes a base of quinoa-black rice mix topped with omega 3-rich smoked mackerel, braised shiitake mushrooms, roasted eggplant, and two types of seaweed, while the "white" bowl features white tuna, boiled egg, heart of palm, and crisp radish on a bed of sushi rice. Both bowls are priced at RMB 68. 

The steamier Beijing months have us heading to the livelier bars in town and none is perhaps more lively than La Social, tucked away on the third floor of Nali Patio, at the weekends. Now the crew behind this South American bar is trying to tempt you to start your weekends early with their new Arepa Social Club deal. For RMB 78, you can now get any cocktail and arepa pairing between Tuesday and Thursday until 10pm. If you’ve never seen La Social’s arepas then you should know that these are hulking buns of ground maize stuffed with the likes of shredded pork, chicken, avocado, cheese, and beans, and one will do the trick quite nicely before you find yourself flung onto the dance floor. Of the cocktails, we particularly enjoy the Resurrection Lemonade courtesy of its frothy and not-too-sweet mix of mint, fresh lemon juice, coconut, and Diplomatico Rum.

If you're in the mood for a rather more substantial meal, head to creative cocktail bar Botany on August 6 for a five-course, cocktail-paired dinner. The brains behind Botany, Frankie Zou, has teamed up with a talented chef to create a menu of dishes inspired by the Basque country, featuring plenty of seafood and other flavors of the region like fennel and tomato. Each dish is paired with one of Frankie's unique cocktails, such as pearl oyster with heirloom tomato, green apple, and seaweed paired with a cocktail of gin, lemongrass, cucumber, and lemon. The dinner is priced at RMB 888 per person if paid in advance (search for "Botany" on WeChat and follow their official account for more information) or RMB 1,000 at the door. A small price to pay for what promises to be a very interesting culinary experience. 

Finally, join the SOAS Alumni Association for a charity dinner at 99 Yurts (read our previous review of this awesome Mongolian-themed restaurant here) on August 5. Meet old and new friends while dining on spit-roasted lamb and other delicacies in a traditional Mongolian yurt setting – no need to be a SOAS Alumnus! All proceeds from this event will go to the SOAS Sanctuary Scholarships appeal, which gives refugees and displaced people the chance to get a higher education at SOAS, University of London for free. Tickets are RMB 300 per person, which includes a hearty dinner of roast lamb, beer and wine, entertainment during the meal, and transportation to and from the restaurant (the pickup point is the southwest corner of Andingmen Qiao at 5pm, sharp). Register via Yoopay here.

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Images courtesy of Moka Bros/Wayne Wei Xue Yi, Tom Arnstein, Botany, SOAS Alumni Association/99 Yurts