Dining Scene Notes

From a weekend of roaming around, there are two interesting dining issues to note. First, a branch of S'Silk Road (茶马古道) will soon be coming to the re-branded version of XinDongAn. It seems like a strange fit for this upscale restaurant, especially with the recent opening of a very large Yunnan restaurant in that mall. It will be interesting how they try to shoehorn their artsy, stylish restaurant into this far from upmarket mall (even with all the changes).

Major changes at the recently reopened Courtyard as well. The art gallery downstairs is no more and will probably be used for more tables or private dining. Also, no more art on the wall, replaced instead by a large mirror running the length of the back wall. The Cigar Divan upstairs may also be a thing of the past. Yet the food, as always, is still excellent and worthy of a splurge from time to time.

Lots of good things are being said about the new Cuban restaurant, Guantanamera, near the Kuntai Hotel, plan on stopping by sometime in the near future for a mojito and to see the nightly live music sessions.