Set in a quiet residential compound on the south side of Chaoyang Park, The Rug’s Lishui Jiayuan location has earned its reputation as one of the city’s hottest spots for brunch over the years.

It has the air of a modern bistro – tables of both business lunchers and casual dates chatting over shared plates and coffees, large windows letting the Beijing sun stream in. This is a place people linger, where customers take time with their meals to enjoy each other’s company.

Very cheery and modern cafe that is pet friendly. Lots of dogs when we were there.

Food

Cold brew coffee

Cold brew coffee presented in a small whisky bottle. Cheeky.

Boba and homemade Greek yoghurt with milk tea and brown sugar

Just like bubble tea but healthier.

Mango and muesli Greek yoghurt

Mango and muesli Greek yoghurt – very healthy.

Granola bowl with wild honey and yoghurt

Deep fried lamb brain

Deep fried lamb brain – switching from really healthy to really unhealthy in a heartbeat.

Cauliflower rice with lamb meatball

This is the first time I ate cauliflower rice, didn’t know what to expect, but it was a surreal experience.

Grilled vegetable

A medley of grilled vegetables for the winter – pumpkin, carrots, potatoes.

Banana pancake with boba

Icing sugar on banana with fluffy pancakes served with maple syrup and boba.

I was enjoying the caramelised sugar on the banana like a creme brûlée – a quick tap on the sugar coat, hear the crack and then enjoyed with the fluffy pancake.

Open face bagel sandwiches

Open face bagel sandwiches – baby crawfish, beef and eggs. My favourite was the scrambled eggs. The crawfish was a bit too fishy. The beef is cooked in the bulgogi style, but it was a bit too sweet.

When it comes to Beijing brunchstitutions, The Rug is up there. A beautiful terrace rounds out all the splendor, but it is, of course, unusable at the moment. But hey – good fodder for daydreaming of Springtime.

The Rug (Lishui)
Bldg 4, Lishui Jiayuan, Chaoyang Gongyuan Nanlu (opposite South Gate of Chaoyang Park) Chaoyang District
朝阳区朝阳公园南路丽水嘉园4号楼(朝阳公园南门对面)
Tel : 131 6174 2511

Date Visited : Dec 2019