The Orange Tree

Brought to you by Leng Jie of Fish Nation, The Orange Tree offers a broadly Western menu of pizza, salads and sandwiches, as well as eight varieties of sausage, including curried, Creole and Toulouse.

The space, a courtyard hutong formerly occupied by three families, is one of the restaurant’s draws. The high ceilings are latticed with thick, blonde exposed wood beams which form a sort of indoor cupola over the airy, friendly bar. A small rooftop terrace offers limited views, but the clay tiles of neighbouring buildings still make for cosy, mosquito-free surroundings, thanks in part to the attentive staff who light mosquito coils and can even provide a vial of potent repellant.

From the menu, the Italian appetiser sampler (32RMB) features generous portions of salami, smoked ham, parmesan and mozzarella. The salami has a pleasant hint of apple, as if it had been cured in cider, while the smoked ham is flavourful and begs to be stacked on bread with the thinly sliced but sharp parmesan.

The Cheese Lover’s pizza (45RMB small, 65RMB large) is loaded with vegetables, but does make good on its cheesy promise, with strands of mozzarella mingled with heaps of mushrooms, sweet onions and crispy red and green peppers. It’s topped with a patchwork of fresh arugula that provides a nice hint of bitterness.

The Charm Pizza (45RMB small, 65RMB large) is covered with asparagus, Parma ham, egg and mozzarella, and is equally tasty, with the saltiness of the Parma ham and the crunchy asparagus melding nicely.

After eating, you can retire to the large, overstuffed chocolate and pewter-coloured sofas in the courtyard, but don’t rush into dessert. The cheesecake (20RMB) is chalky, and the banana crêpes (20RMB), doused in maple syrup, are too cloying to finish. Come here for the pizzas and the atmosphere. Roseann Lake