Tea and Biscuits With a Chinese Twist: Guanpin

When Yi Xiao and partner Peng Xiao began to imagine their tiny cafe near Lama Temple, they pledged to abandon the formula that was so common to most of Wudaoying Hutong’s coffee shops. Gone were the velvet, maroon sofas, the overpriced, sub-par Western food and mangy cats. In their place came a neutral color palate dotted with cacti and candles, a handful of round, wooden tables, and a handwritten menu that doesn’t wander beyond aromatic teas, coffee, and dainty desserts.

Every morning, behind the privacy of floor-length ivory shades, tofu mousse and shortbreads are baked fresh before Yi opens the doors to Guanpin at 11am. The black sesame tofu mousse is airy, round puffs of granite colored whipped cream sandwiching a rich, nutty sliver of heizhima and honey. Its round form makes up the point at the end of the thinnest exclamation of chocolate sauce, a decorative drizzle that’s a cruel tease to the sweet tooth. It’s a product of carefully studied outlines for Western teatime fare, but with the addition of experimental Chinese flavors. The key word here is experimental, so expect a hit as readily as a miss – don’t bring your esteemed lady friend on a first date here just yet.

Yi plays with shapes in her gnome-sized biscuits, with cocoa taking the lead among her flavors as the most respectful accompaniment to coffee. Peng, a film grad in animation, does custom illustrations in chocolate icing for RMB 10 per cookie, or RMB 100 for a face-sized serving. His framed, whimsical light pencil sketches of hot air balloons and stairways line the walls, and his painted half-snake, half-dragon (a his-and-hers zodiac) crowns the kitchen.

The must-try? Yi’s garlic cookie, a surprising blend of the biting bulb and just enough sweetness to let it pass as a cookie and not a cracker. Just be sure to bring along a few mints.

Guanpin
Daily 11am-10pm. 15 Wudaoying Hutong, Dongcheng District (159 0137 0753)
观品:东城区五道营胡同15号
200m west of Yonghegong station (Lines 2 and 5)

Try also: Barista Coffee, the Hardware Shop

Photos: Ken