Diary Full? Pencil in a Trip to Sanlitun's Moleskine Café

Popular Italian notebook brand Moleskine has renovated their former stationery store in Taikooli South, just across from the now not-so-dirty Dirty Bar Street, reworking the space into the third Moleskine Café in the world.

Delivering the same smart and stylish feeling of their notebooks, Moleskine Café sports classic black and white shop signage and floor-to-ceiling windows featuring a quote from Saint Augustine: "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." Stepping in, the quaint atmosphere and warm lights are what you may imagine finding in a small café in Brooklyn or similar to Elite Bookstore in Taipei – artworks hang on the wall, notebooks line the shelves (RMB 208/288) and stationery, bags, and coffee beans occupy the rest.

The menu is quite approachable, with four types of breakfast from 8-11am (all RMB 58 with coffee), as well as a daily menu of specials (ravioli, pad thai, roasted salmon, beef tenderloin; RMB 78-208), soups, salads, main dishes, sandwiches, ice cream, desserts, and snacks, as well as nine options of coffee, a handful of teas, 16 types of wine, and cocktails.

With concern for our daily caffeine intake growing, we decided to order a (Papp's) chai masala tea (RMB 30), a mix black tea, rooibos, dried ginger, orange peel, cardamom, and cloves, a favorite of mine during winter.

As for food, the chicken and green mango salad (RMB 55) was a refreshing combination of red pepper, mint, coriander, and shredded carrot as well as fish sauce, rice vinegar, and Siracha vinaigrette. We also took notice of their superior, black and white cutlery, and Moleskine paper placemats, which you may have to fight the urge to write on or even pocket for later.

Let's not kid ourselves though, Moleskine is by no means the first lifestyle brand to open a café in the booming bourgeois world of Sanlitun. But taking, for example, American cosmetic brand Kiehl’s, who launched their own coffee shop branch a couple of months ago, which featured arrogant service and knock-off names for their so-so products, Moleskine has done well to avoid the usual pitfalls of tack-ons. The extra effort, kind service, airy and pleasant atmosphere, and affordable food and drinks (especially compared to their pricey notebooks) make Moleskine Café worth a look if you're usual Sanlitun spots are overcrowded. 

Moleskine Café
Daily 8am-10pm. S2-12 Sanlitun Taikooli South, 19 Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang District (6413 0815)
朝阳区三里屯路19号三里屯太古里南区S2-12

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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Tracy Wang