To Try List: New Friends Themed Cafe, Gourmet Bus & More

Our To Try List covers new restaurants, dining deals, drinks discounts, guest shifts, pop-ups, and more foodie happenings in Beijing.

Friends themed cafe Smelly Cat opens up in Haidian, Beijing's first Gourmet Sightseeing Bus officially opens, Pebbles 15th Anniversary and more on our To Try List this week.

If you're still mourning the loss of Central Perk, the Friends themed cafe that used to be situated in Chaowai SOHO, then we have good news for you! There's a new Friends themed cafe in town. Going by the name Smelly Cat – a nod to Phoebe's quirky and unforgettable song – it recently opened its doors in Weixing Zhizaochang Science Park, located just round the corner from The Roots. It's already becoming a must-visit for fans, with people queuing to get a table when we visited last week. 

The café itself has two rooms both offering a cozy, nostalgic atmosphere, with the left side room decorated with Central Perk themed furniture including the iconic orange couch. The right side includes Instagramable replicas of Monica and Rachel's kitchen, the famous purple door and a foosball table. Both rooms, of course, also have episodes of Friends playing on loop and there is plenty of memorabilia dotted around like Joey's dog statue, Phoebe's bike and other tidbits. 

Drinks wise they've got a range of Friends themed craft beers like a Belgium wheat beer called Ursula (RMB 47.77) and We Were on a Break IPA (RMB 67.77) as well as themed specialty coffees such as the Phalange (RMB 42) and Runaway Bride (RMB 48), plus normal coffees and soft drinks. On the food front, they've got your standard Western fare like burgers, pizza, salads, pasta and snacks.  

Smelly Cat

Following a trial operation period the Beijing Chaoyang Gourmet Sightseeing Bus is now open for business! The double decker bus is Beijing's first "mobile restaurant" with the second floor being transformed into a fine dining area with large windows on both sides and a glass roof offering panoramic views of the city. The menu has been carefully designed by Wolfgang's Steakhouse and features dishes like NY Sirloin Steak and Slow Cooked Angus Chuck Roll. 

The bus route itself takes around two hours and travels 40km, starting at Wolfgang's Steakhouse Huamao branch. It then travels west to the CBD, then north up to the Liangma River and then northwest to the Olympic Center so that guests can enjoy views of famous landmarks like the Birds Nest Stadium and the Water Cube, before returning south to Guomao.  You can check out the full route map below.

The Beijing Chaoyang Gourmet Sightseeing Bus starts at 6.45pm each day, with the bus setting off at 7pm and returning at 9pm. Tickets are RMB 680/person and can you can book tables for either two or four people. To read more and book tickets you can follow this link.

Wolfgang's Steakhouse (Huamao branch)

Pebbles will be celebrating their 15th anniversary this month and to mark the occasion they've got a range of deals and special dishes running from Dec 24-29. Dishes include the Pollo al Carbon (RMB 88/half chicken; RMB 140/whole chicken) which sees char-grilled/roasted chicken served with your choice of either corn tortillas, rice & beans or roast veg with salsa negra, garlic mash and adobo gravy; and Black Cod Fish Tacos (RMB 68) as well as a range of others. 

Throughout the celebration, their Taco Tuesday Deal (RMB 108 for ten tacos) will be running all week long and Mona Bar will provide a random buy one free cocktail each day. You can see more details in the picture above and via this post.

Pebbles Courtyard

WTF?? will be finishing the year with a bang with an end of year party on Dec 28 at Fork by TRB. The event coincides with its 40th edition and they're also going festive with an ugly Christmas jumper competition where you can win the "Sexy Christmas Monster Trophy" and a bottle of wine. Speaking of wine, the party will of course have plenty of that, with this edition showcasing 12 premium Italian wines with everything from Lambrusco to Prosecco, Montepulciano and more. There will also be a "sexy blind tasting game", nibbles and mystery bottle auction. 

WTF?? Wine Tasting with Friends Year End Italian Wine Party will be taking place at Fork by TRB on Dec 28 from 2.30pm until 5.30pm. Tickets are RMB 299 and can be booked by scanning the QR code in the poster above. You can read more about the event here.

Fork by TRB

Q MEX recently launched their winter specials menu and it features three of Q MEX Taqueria's most popular dishes – great news for anyone who's been missing their food since its closure in September. They're bringing back Wet Burritos and you can choose between Pulled Beef (RMB 85), Sirloin Steak (RMB 98) or Chicken (RMB 78) topped with either red ahogada sauce, green tomatillo sauce or both.

The other two dishes are their Birria Tacos (RMB 88) filled with pulled birria beef and served with chili beef soup for dipping and their spicy Chili Shrimp Tacos (RMB 78). They've also got two warming winter drinks: Mulled Wine (RMB 55) and Hot Strawberry Milk Tea (RMB 38) which can both be enjoyed as a set with a slice of their Basque Cheesecake all for RMB 29.9 with a voucher on Dianping. 

Christmas is almost here and if you're looking for a spot to indulge in some holiday cheer then there are plenty of offerings across Beijing. You can take a look at our previous posts below and read on for a couple of extra places with special Christmas menus as well.

If you're looking to try lots of different pizzas, then be sure to take part in our 2024 Cheesy Pizza Month which only has ten days left. 19 of Beijing's best pizza purveyors will be taking part and the premise is simple: eat pizza, earn stamps, win prizes! You can read more details about it here or by scanning the QR code in the poster above.