Alameer sets itself apart from Beijing's cherished handful of homey Middle Eastern cafes by also being a bakery that specializes in Arabic sweets. You'd never guess it was a bakery, though, from the mosaic walls and metal garden furniture – intended, perhaps, to evoke more verdant surrounds than the dusty office buildings of Xinyuanli?

Incongruous moments are a dime a dozen in Beijing, but bringing our kids to this restaurant catering to Gongti clubbers proved unusually weird.

This unassuming restaurant is hidden behind a sliding wooden door. Winding past dimly lit hallways, you soon find yourself in a minute seating area with a low sushi counter. (If you prefer privacy, beautifully appointed tatami rooms are also available.)

There are no shortages of steakhouses in Beijing, but Flamme offers service and style for a relative bargain. The name suggests a grilled meat fiesta, but in actuality, it offers a range of dishes – even my vegetarian companion managed to leave happily stuffed.

Now pay attention: I’m going to tell you about an egg you’ve never ever seen before. It’s called zaodan (糟蛋).  As an adventurous eater, I’m on a mission to uncover all the special eggs in town. So far, I’ve tried everything from snowflake-patterned century eggs (aka “thousand-year-old eggs”) to double-yolk salted eggs, marinated runny eggs and the most awful: feathered eggs. So I thought my taste buds had sampled nearly every weird flavor of egg out there. Recently, though, when I entered my beloved Daoxiangcun (a laozihao bakery chain) to see if they had launched any new products recently, something strange and ovoid caught my eye.

This warm and gracious restaurant is named after its owner, a young Sichuanese woman whose goal is to share her favorite cuisines with you. Her menu features homestyle Sichuan dishes with unique Thai and Tibetan touches. (Yi has lived in Thailand and her mother runs a restaurant in Tibet.)

You’re going out for sushi? That scene is old, man. Haven’t you heard? Ceviche is where it’s at. Like sushi, it’s protein-rich and low in carbs, but curing raw fish in citrus juices imparts a fruity zing, and the addition of chilli adds fire. As ever, SALT restaurateur Gaby Alves is doing her utmost to keep Beijingers à la mode with Terra, a new bar and restaurant specializing in Peruvian ceviche and tiraditos (its carpaccio-like cousin).

Previously the executive pastry chef at Hyatt and with Intercontinental Group, French native Philippe Ancelet has teamed up with business partner Benjamin Devos to manage and create recipes for Comptoirs de France bakery. Sporting a Harley-Davidson jacket and an ear-to-ear grin, the unpretentious pastry chef sat down with Agenda to discuss his passion for creating pastries tailored to sweet tooths both European and Chinese.

“Back for More” is a regular magazine column in the Beijinger where we revisit old favorites.

I like green-and-white checked tablecloths. I rather like accordion music too, and doilies, and placemats that depict scenes of rural gaiety. It takes me back to road holidays in Europe, stopping off at family-owned bistros in towns whose names end in “sur mer.” Morel’s has all of these things. It even has fish knives, a utensil I’d thought long consigned to the great cutlery drawer in the sky.

A slew of new places have opened or are opening soon, so prepare to stuff your faces. In Sanlitun, the recent flurry of activity has come to fruition. Meat-lovers will be thrilled as Flamme, an aptly-named sleek bar and grill and Leaf, a Korean barbecue, are now welcoming diners on the top floor of Sanlitun Village. On the first floor serving premium caffeine is Fisheye Cafe. Not another Starbucks, this joint ships its coffee in weekly from San Francisco coffee experts Ritual Coffee Roaster.