Pizzas on the Silk Road

You're in Beijing, but you can easily take a culinary tour of the Silk Road while dining at the legendary Raffles Beijing. Executive chef Christian Rose has come up with several pizzas named after famous stops along the ancient trading route, and each is supposed to reflect the unique characteristics of that particular metropolis. Some, like the Beijing Pizza, reflects more modern elements, and so the ingredients that go into that - spicy chicken, corn kernels, cashew nuts, tomatoes and Mozzarella cheese represent the "unlimited possibilities" Beijing offers, as well as the East-West meeting ground the Chinese capital has become. It's intriguing, and we cannot wait to see what the pizzas from Chang'an, Bombay, Persepolis, Athens, Constantinople and Rome are like.

East 33, Raffles Beijing Hotel, 33, East Chang'An Avenue, Beijing. 010-6526-3388 Ext 5171, Daily from 11 am to 10 pm. Take-away available.

- Pauline D. Loh

Catering to Gourmets

Qianqiu Restaurant is a Taiwan-style restaurant in the Gubei area of Changning district, known as a mixed community with residents from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. It is probably the most challenging location for restaurateurs aiming to cater to the common taste since Gubei residents are known to be pretty hard to please. However, Qianqiu is getting there, it seems. All dishes on the menu are worth a taste, but the beef rolls are particularly noteworthy, especially for a first-time diner here.

823 Golden Street, Changning district, Shanghai. 021-62701172.

- Li Xinzhu

A Rock Star Martini, anyone interested?

If you are in Shanghai for work or play, you cannot miss the hottest bar in town, with its unique cocktails of East-meet-West. Sakesan is touted as the "ultra-hip Robatayaki bar" and what it means is that you get a cocktail menu that uses sake and shochu as base spirits, and lots of Japanese ingredients like wasabi, yuzu, pickled ginger and plum added to make some potent mixes. The adventurous can try the Wasabitini made with sake, freshly grated wasabi, nori and sweet pineapple, The Rock Star Martini is served on a wooden tray, and you work through fresh passion fruit juice, a vanilla and passion fruit infused sake martini and a shot of homemade shiso sake. Enough to make you see bright stage lights.

1/F, Taikang Terrace, 171 Jianguo Lu, Shanghai, 021-6553-9333.

- Pauline D. Loh

Summer fiesta, sangria, tapas

Rico's Spanish restaurant has been serving tapas in Hong Kong for 19 years and to celebrate that longevity, patrons are being offered special Summer Fiesta drinks till Sept 20, Sunday to Thursday. Tables of two or three will receive half a jug of sangria fee. Of course, if you are four or more, it's either a full jug or a bottle of red wine, Protocolo Tempranillo 2008, or a bottle of white wine, Aires de Arosa Albarino 2008. Drinks go with food, so note that their signature tapas include meatballs in spicy tomato sauce, fresh asparagus with scallops, squid and crispy onion and garlic, and Rico's special lamb cutlets.

UG, 51 Elgin Street, Soho, Central, Hong Kong. 852-2840-0937

- Donna Mah

Michelin-star dim sum treat

Chef Leung Fai-hung of the one Michelin star Hoi King Heen in Hong Kong is a man who finds inspiration everywhere, including at home. His award-winning pan-fried glutinous rice dumpling is inspired by his wife's Hakka culture. After some professional innovations, the result is a family style dumpling lightly fried on the bottom, plump with savory pork and peanut filling inside. The chef's many other inventive twists on traditional Cantonese favorites make Hoi King Heen a yummy place for dim sum lunch, although its barbecue pork and seafood dishes are equally delicious at dinner.

B2, InterContinental Grand Stanford, 70 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. 852-2731-2883.

- Rebecca Lo