Green Tea Restaurant: Lines Forming in Shimao

Lines two hours long are common at this popular Zhejiang cafe-restaurant, with queues that skew towards younger diners. The appeal lies in a crucial combination of qualities: sweet decor, reasonable prices, decent eats and seats aplenty.

With dishes perfect for sharing, you’ll want to try the crispy-skinned chubby prawns in fermented soybean sauce (RMB 45). Skip the overhyped barbecued pork (RMB 38) and opt for fragrant stone-pot rice, doctored up with plenty of vegetables (RMB 38).

Finish with their star dish, a deconstructed dessert sandwich known as the “Bread Allure” (RMB 28), made from white bread, butter and vanilla ice cream. Deceptively simple, it’s the sort of thing you’d deny loving in polite company, yet scarf down privately. It’s not worth a two-hour wait, so be tactical – arrive as soon as they open for lunch or dinner.

Also try: Bellagio

Green Tea Restaurant 绿茶餐厅 Daily 11am-3pm, 4.30-10pm. 4/F, Shimao Department Store, 13 Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District (8895 8388) 朝阳区工体北路13号世茂百货4层

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Photo: Nature Zhang