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元古本店 Yuan Gu
Add: No 34, Jianchang Hutong, Beijing
Tel: 010-5728 7950
Hours: 12:30-8:30pm
Price: desserts 35 RMB+, tea 30 RMB+
Visited: Sep 2016
A few steps away from the popular Wudaoying Hutong where Metal Hands is located, there is a quieter alley called Jianchang Hutong. Here, away from the hustle and bustle, you will find Yuan Gu (元古本店), a beautiful space dedicated to showcase a few simple good things in life – handcrafted glassware and ceramics, Chinese tea and tea desserts, to name a few.
離 Metal Hands 所在的五道營胡同不遠之處就是更隱蔽安靜的箭廠胡同。這裡有家漂亮的 “元古本店”， 是由幾個志同道合的好友們共同創造的生活美學概念空間，希望用最樸素的東西 － 自然植物、手作器皿、中式茶點 － 來分享生活中的美好。
The look is clean – white walls, wooden furniture, and a few plants dotting the space. The tables and chairs are all designed especially for Yuan Gu.
展示空間裡擺放著來自世界各地的手作器皿、用茶區的桌椅也都是特別設計定做的。
The first time I passed by Yuan Gu was a Sunday and the shop was completely packed, so I came back again on a Monday afternoon and found myself to be the only customer. I chose the seat next to the enclosed garden, and happily enjoyed a few quiet moments to myself.
周日路過時大大的客滿，而周一下午再訪時則空無一人（心裡默默的歡呼了好幾次）。說話溫柔的店員讓我隨意選擇自己喜歡的座位（那當然是在庭院旁邊的位置啦），然後一人獨享了悠閑的陽光午後。
I was thinking about trying the Autumn tea dessert set (6 pcs/180 RMB), but since I was my myself, the staff advised that I ordered a la carte instead. So I tried the roasted rice tea (30 RMB) and jasmine tea mousse (35 RMB), which were unfortunately both quite disappointing. The roasted rice tea is not the typical Japanese genmaicha I’m used to, and instead had additional beans and seeds being brewed, adding an oily flavor that I did not particularly enjoy. The mousse was also too singular in terms of texture, so I chased that with an order of goji berry cake (35 RMB) which turned out to be more interesting.
本想試試秋季茶點套餐（6件／180元），不過由于一個人，在店員的勸阻下還是單點了玄米茶（30元）和茉莉青茶酪（35元）。玄米茶不是一般的玄米茶，裡面加了一些種籽豆類，老實說個人不愛這種略帶油膩的感覺。茉莉青茶酪的慕斯口感也不是我喜歡的類型，後來加點的枸杞米酒糕（35元）就比較有趣了。
To my surprise, when I asked the staff to describe the desserts, neither of them were able to help, explaining that they themselves have not tasted the desserts. Shouldn’t the staff taste each thing on the menu so they can offer better service and advice to clients? Anyway, just a personal opnion. All in all, the space is lovely and I would visit once just for that – hopefully they will up their game on the tea and tea desserts in the near future.
另我訝異的是，請店員介紹甜品時，兩位都很腼腆的說自己沒嚐過所以無法清楚的說明。個人意見：店主可以讓店員先嘗嘗店裡出品的甜點，才能更好的給客人介紹或提建議吧？Anyway，還是非常喜歡店主們的理想 － 通過四季食材的自然味道，感受節氣的更叠與手作的美好 － 希望下次來能嚐到更美味的茶品和甜點。
元古本店
地址：北京箭廠胡同34號
電話：010-5728 7950
營業時間：12:30-8:30pm
價位：甜點35人民幣+，茶品30人民幣+
造訪日期：2016年9月
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