Annie’s Cafe

As you can see, I’m busy reviewing the various restaurants I ate at while in Beijing last summer. I’m basing my reviews off of e-mails that I wrote home, which I just dug up out of my Gmail archive.

My first attempt to go to Annie’s found me in front of a different (and better) Italian restaurant, which was right down the street from the nightclub “Latinos” and by the west gate of Chaoyang Gongyuan. Unfortunately, I can’t remember its name. However, on two separate occaisions my taxi has tried to drop me off right in front of this mystery restaurant, thinking it was Annie’s. Hopefully, I’ll dig up the name of this place from someone, but for now I’ll review Annie’s, which is almost as good, and a bit less expensive.

For those of you studying abroad in Beijing, Annie’s is a great place to go with a big group of friends, and order pizza and beer to comfort any aches of homesickness.

Location: Near the west gate of Chaoyang Gongyuan (朝阳公园西门.

Recommended food:

Annie’s gives you free, fresh bread, pesto, and garlic butter. In China, western-style bread is something that I get serious cravings for. Chinese bread is either steamed, fried, or has some weird smell that I can’t quite place. After a week of being in the Bei Shi Da campus and without real bread, my being among Annie’s free bread-baskets was like placing heaps of grilled steak in front of a hungry Labrador retriever.

Prosciutto pizza. Get this with mozzarella cheese, and maybe some mushrooms. You know what? I’m just going to recommend all of the wood-fired pizzas. Our party of seven ate five of them. They were all delicious, with crisp crust and wonderful cheese.

Gnocchi in tomato-based sauce (gnocchi gratinate). I wasn’t expecting great gnocchi in Beijing. Maybe it was the weeks of nothing but Chinese food prior to consumption, but this dish tasted fantastic.

Spinach ravioli:

Note the empty pot of pesto to the left.

Decor and Service: Styled like an Italian bistro with Mediterranean-looking furnishings. Very clean bathrooms. Friendly service. English is spoken.

Price: Between 40-100 yuan a person. Credit cards taken.

Hours and phone number: 11am-11pm Mon-Sun. #010 6591-1931