Beijing Restaurant Review: The Woods Café
Images by Holly Li
Venturing into The Woods Café, we’re greeted with a pleasant surprise. Who knew that an afternoon spent on the ground floor of a mall in Xicheng would be so satisfying? Who could foretell the brilliance of a simple croissant?
But such is the skill of the team at The Woods Café, the same group behind the restaurants of the same name. Similar to its Central Park and Seasons Place restaurant counterparts, the cafe (also in Seasons Place) offers European-style food – just repackaged for more casual dining purposes. (Think: pick up and go.)
The cafe is newly opened, and also quite literally open, with an inviting deli counter facing the public thoroughfare and tables set on an exposed island in the middle of the ground floor. The set-up is welcoming and is particularly great for busy shoppers and businesspeople.
Meanwhile, the menu is simple and well-executed (salads and sandwiches), with a twist. The ‘signature sandwiches’ are served on homemade ‘Dutch crunch’ bread.
We love The Californian (RMB45), filled with tender chicken and soft mango chunks, and complemented by homemade smoky Jack Daniels BBQ sauce.
Another highlight is The New Yorker (RMB55). Inspired by the classic NYC staple sandwich, its combo of roast beef, cheddar, tomato, arugula and horseradish crema is perfectly balanced. This is perhaps unsurprising, considering that The Woods’ General Manager Ahmed Labib hails from the Big Apple himself, and thus lends a certain authenticity to the food.
Thirsty? Try a mocktail (only RMB32 for what is surely one of the biggest glasses we’ve ever seen). The pineapple sage option is true to its name, while the blood-orange mojito is how we imagine a Blood Orange song would taste like (sweet, bitter and altogether rather delicious).
Lastly, we recommend sampling one of the cafe’s Viennese pastries or desserts. The former are made with 100-percent French butter, which is, funnily enough, also how we would rate them.
Winning flavors and high quality ingredients mean we’ll be sure to find ourselves in this neck of The Woods again.
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