Vedas
Maoming revelation

207-7 Maoming Nan Lu,
near Yongjia Lu
Tel: 021 5467 2177

While we weren't looking, Maoming Lu ceased to be the seedy dive alley it once was and began a sort of mini-renaissance. All the hostess bars along the western sidewalk of the street have either upped sticks to Tongren Lu or been condemned outright, and a public music amphitheatre is planned to take their place. Across the street is a row of more promising food options than ever before: Japanese, Spanish, American and, with the relatively recent addition of Pane e Vino, some delicious and very reasonable Italian. (And that's not counting the restaurants in the Ruijin Hotel complex just behind.)

True to its name, Pane e Vino serves up plenty of freshly baked bread (with a welcome oil dish for each place), and the wine list isn't shabby either. On the food menu, the main strengths are the antipasti and the pasta, which were fresh and flavourful. The pizza is tasty enough, though floury and on the thin side. Prices can range pretty widely - essentially, the more meat, the more money - but a normal meal for two with drinks should cost well under RMB400.
-James Roy

Beijing

Mare
A winning combination

A Spanish rose in a Beijing barrio
14 Xindong Lu, Chaoyang
Tel: 010 6417-1459/5431

With the makeover the Xingfucun area is getting, it's easy to mistake the humble shale-gray building hidden behind two potted palms as another alleyway home ready for the wrecking ball. Fortunately for us, the city's well-established tapas restaurant, Mare, isn't moving anytime soon. Patrons who venture through the glass doors of Mare should prepare for Mediterranean warmth - white plaster walls and archways, crisp table linens in hues ranging from soft pastels to sun-bright orange, and the buzz of a modish clientele.

The restaurant's collection of 30 different tapas items are inspired by the Iberian Peninsula's signature cuisine. Look for button mushrooms saut¨Ĥed in butter and garlic, delicate slices of Parmaham, and succulent rings of calamari. Flavourful meat and seafood entrees are also on hand to satisfy heartier appetites at lunch or dinner. I'd been warned the pan-fried cod would be salty, but the pairing with white beans and fried potato strips offered a nice balance. Finish the meal with the decadent chocolate lava cake - warm chocolate cake enclosing a molten chocolate centre - if you have enough room left in your stomach. Dinner for two, excluding drinks, should be about RMB300.
-Tzyy Wang