Discover Xicheng: 6 off-the-beaten-path cafés and restaurants

Head westside for off-the-beaten-path gems

The oft-neglected Wild West of Beijing's mean streets is a trove of quirky cafés, standout museums and commendable restaurants. Get reaquainted with the city's westside at these off-the-beaten-path-gems.   

Coffee Tags

Discreetly tucked onto a corner of the bustling Huguosi snack street, is a café lifted straight from the pages of one of the achingly cool magazines (Time Out Beijing notwithstanding) that are available for perusal within. The vibe here is minimalism to the max: there are four low tables, a sparse menu and a couple of weak cake options that it needn't have bothered with. Because sad cakes aside, Coffee Tags pulls off the pretentious attitude of its interior with truly excellent coffee. The South African filter we try is wonderful – smooth, thick, chocolatey and bitter with a strength and complexity of flavour we've yet to find anywhere else in Beijing (and we’ve tried a lot). It’s also flippin' expensive, small, and prepared by one waiter and approximately six bits of equipment.

Bear Brew

is the café of hutong dreams, the likes of which are now rarely found in the expat heartland of Gulou. Tucked into a ribbon of alleyways just underneath the White Cloud Pagoda, Bear Brew is – gulp – chic yet cosy. The small space fits the bill of a bright and airy, hip spot, but is made a touch homelier by the impressive display of succulents and the not-so-cool plastic patio doors. There's also a small garden and a dreamy rooftop, with one of the city’s best views, onto the aforementioned pagoda. 

Coffee Craft

Xizhimen: The Final Frontier? The transport hub hasn't traditionally been a cradle for F&B outlets, but as the city looks continually outwards, there's now nothing stopping good Xizhimen and Xizhiwomen from glugging a third-wave cup o' joe. Nestled just west of the station, does what it says on the tin, with a firm focus on crafting brews, including very good espresso drinks and V60 drips, with beans-to-go and assorted coffee paraphernalia also on sale.

Deyuan Roast Duck 

Unpretentious, cheap and delicious Beijing cuisine. is always guaranteed to be full of local characters, making it a good spot for people-watching while you enjoy your kaoya. Serves up some of Beijing's best cheap eats.

The Southern Fish

Hunan cuisine is one of the heavier hitters in the world of Chinese cooking, delivering both a spicy punch and often an oily drop-kick for good measure. Perhaps it's the minimalist monochrome of 's interior design or the cool, brushed crockery, but a meal here certainly doesn't feel like a greasy affair, despite the fact that the food is hardly light. Far from it, if we're being completely honest. What the food is, however, is an authentic Hunanese offering that's spicy enough to get those revolutionary endorphins circulating. 

Suzuki Kitchen

With decent curries, hefty rice dishes, and much more besides, is a reliable place to fill up on some affordable Japanese nosh. The cool interior is quintessentially Japanese, apart from the frankly disturbing obsession with rabbits – we have no idea where that came from. From the logo to the ornaments, bunnies are all over the shop – it's almost hallucinatory.

You might have missed