Beijing

BBQ and seafood for summer dining

Seasonal Tastes buffet restaurant offers a wide range of BBQ and seafood delicacies until July 31. During the World Cup, the restaurant's seafood station provides Alaskan snow crab and Australian tiger crab. The BBQ station prepares spicy baked oyster, abalone, grilled lobster and succulent lamb chops. Another highlight at the buffet is the dessert station. Manhattan cheese cake, lime sorbet and tropical pudding are some of the most popular choices. For drinks there are iced lemon tea and various local and imported beers. Lunch costs 268 yuan ($43) plus a 15 percent surcharge, and dinner costs 368 yuan plus a 15 percent surcharge.

Seasonal Tastes at The Westin Beijing Chaoyang, 2/F, 7 Dongsanhuan Beilu (North Road), Chaoyang district, 010-5922-8880, 010-5922 8888 Ext 8178.

- Ye Jun

Not your grandpa's Fourth of July

Trust the foodies of the offbeat caterers Fatface to have their own spin on the US' Independence Day. Sesame wasabi caramelized onions potato salad? Eli's chocolate chicken enchiladas? Mango Earl Grey pudding? (Earl Grey? Who let a Brit into this party? Just kidding: Fatface front man Hsu Li says you won't need a US passport to get in - all nationalities welcome.) All that chow and much more will be served on the roof at The Hutong on July 4. The tab is 200 yuan per person with online registration (150 yuan online for Hutong members), and 300 yuan at the door. RSVP at service@fatfacedining.com.

5-9:30 pm July 4, The Hutong, 1 Jiudaowan Zhongxiang Hutong (Near Beixinqiao subway Exit C on Line 5); 159-0104-6127.

- Mike Peters

Hong Kong

Italian coffee with strong local flavor

Zai Fe means "strong black coffee" in colloquial Cantonese and is the name of a new Italian espresso bar coffee prepared with Hong Kong style. Zai Fe sources and roasts its own coffee beans in Kwun Tong and serves coffee with milk from a local dairy. The beans are served to customers within 72 hours of delivery to ensure they are at the peak of flavor.

Zai Fe, 24 Finnie Street, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong; 852-2169-3003.

'Street food chef' opens Mama San

Up on the first floor of a commercial building on Wyndham Street, Mama San, originally from Bali, opened in April in Hong Kong. Mama San is surprisingly spacious with decor that is reminiscent of 1920s Shanghai. Celebrity chef Will Meyrick (aka the "street food chef") brings to the kitchen his recipes for Southeast Asian street food that he has collected during his countless travels.

Mama San, 1/F, 46 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong. 852-2881-8901.

- Donna Mah

(China Daily 06/22/2014 page8)