the Beijinger

Fatburger has opened up a new front in Beijing's burger wars with their first Mainland China branch in The Grand Summit complex just north of the Kempinski Hotel. We dropped in for lunch today (hat tip to Beijing Boyce for his timely twitter post) and found the place hopping on this, its first official day of business after a slight delay due to some issues with sourcing their beef.  Business was so brisk, in fact, it was hard not to feel a bit sorry for the forlorn O'Brien's counter (owned by the same management) in the corner.

Settled in wood and wicker booths overlooking a warren of hutongs, diners straddle the border between Beijing and Bangkok at this refined Thai restaurant. With decorations, key ingredients (like galanga and lemongrass) and a chef imported from Thailand, Patara is rigorously authentic.

This folksy restaurant near Houhai joins a tiny number of places in the capital serving barbecued meat the old Beijing way.

It’s been an age coming, but the CBD’s luxury Fairmont hotel is up and running. Lunar 8 is one of its food outlets – a large, pan-Asian a la carte restaurant in the vein of IFW and Made in China.

Curious carnivores seeking to sample Turkish food would do well to seek out this cozy tavern a short stroll south of Hooters.

If I had a kuai every time a new restaurant opens at The Village at Sanlitun and its surrounding streets, I could probably afford some fish nuggets at Let's Seafood (two doors down from Let's Burger). To keep you apace with the gastronomic goings-on, here's a round-up of the new and coming soon.

Spanferkel in Germany, lechon in Spain and ruzhu over here … nothing says Winterval like a hearty hog roast. Here are five spots to feast on roast suckling pig.

Starting from today you’ll be able to buy a nice crispy youtiao at KFCs throughout Beijing and around the country as the fast food giant has decided to add the traditional Chinese morning snack to their breakfast menu. The colonel is making a big deal of the fact that his KFC youtiao are safe, clean and free of the 明矾 (ming fan) or alum that a lot of the street vendors add to give their deep fried dough sticks that extra bit of puff.

Beijing’s been pretty quiet over Spring Festival, which perhaps explains why so few met out last Food Fight challenge. Before the break we said the first five users to post reviews of Sanlitun venues THAT HAVE NOT BEEN REVIEWED BEFORE would each win themselves a copy of Eileen Wen Mooney’s Beijing Eats, the essential guide to dining in the capital. Two users have scored themselves books – which means there are still three prizes up for grabs.