That little stretch of affable whiteness just off Sanlitun, Xinfucun Lu is pretty much a sentient Sherpa's delivery menu book these days. Scrolling down the street, you've got a Mexican taco place side-by-side with a French steak bistro, a Vietnamese pho place, and now contemporary American in the form of Patois, a new cocktails and bistro restaurant opened by the concerns behind Hercules. Patois is right next to Hercules -- they share the same waiters, a cash register, and a menu if you don't specifically ask for this new Patois one. It's two floors -- a simple and totally nondescript cocktail bar on the first and sit-down dining for about 40 on the second. This is the second floor -- just a simple room converted into a plain beige dining space, really not out of place style-wise on this street. Plain beige is really popular in the area. Patois is a more ambitious and involved game than Hercules. The concept is a 2-month rotating menu of "contemporary American Regional Cuisine" which is designed to "reflect the current state of American dining" (uh... like this? -- really click this link, it's Arnold Schwarzenegger cooking an egg on a tank). They're offering "California, New York, Chicago, Texas" with admitted "French, Japanese, and Latin" influences. Their soft opening menu is split into three sections: starters (32rmb-38rmb), mains (92rmb-158rmb), and sides (26rmb-28rmb), and they're also offering a truncated menu of Southern U.S.-style cocktails (55rmb-70rmb). There's about 5-6 options in each section. Thus, here's a healthy wack of their opening menu. We stopped by a couple of times. Summer Corn Chowder (40rmb) - An earthy, moody corn chowder that alternates between sweet and hot Not bad. Pretty tasty. I don't know how "earthy, moody" or "hot" it was but it was definitely a nice compliment to a larger meal. Nice and light. Louisiana Caesar (38rmb) - Lightly battered fish adds a twist to the classic Caesar Also pretty decent. It's just a Caesar salad with some fish instead of the chicken but the fish was indeed nicely battered. And the salad wasn't overly complex. Grange Grilled Lamb Chops (115rmb) - 3 grilled lamb chops served with chimichurri sauce and creamy polenta Polenta, which is not really an American thing (?) was nice but the lamb chops were a bit of a disappointment. Overcooked and under-seasoned. Yacht Club Sugar Steak with Bourbon (128rmb) Got this because it was the bougiest thing on the menu. Ate it on patio out front to show off, while pretending to read the stock report in the Wall Street Journal. Yacht Club Sugar Steak. Yeah, it was a bit bizarre. Tasted like a real melange of clashing flavors. Sugar, bourbon, meat, and blood. Oven Baked Parmesan Crusted Chicken (68rmb) Also a bit of a let down. Would have preferred boneless chicken breast, and overall, it was just kind of tired and bland. Greens didn't have any snap either. Wonder Fries (28rmb) Hey, it's some lightly spiced potato wedges slathered in a suffocating layer of mayonnaise, just like they do in the good ol' US of A. Pink Cadillac (60rmb) - Tanguray No. 10, Contreau, lemon, grapefruit, peach juice Ehhh. Pretty thin. *** Take away: Overall on both trips Patois was a bit of a disappointment. The service, while very nice, was kind spotty and both times I had to walk around and look for people to get shit done. That's not a huge deal, and no one wants to be a dick, but if you're blowing 400rmb on a meal, you shouldn't really have to do that. The environment, as well, feels underdeveloped. It's just the same old beige space without a real personality or story behind it. It's only been open for a few weeks so hopefully it gets tested and fleshed out a bit more soon. A rotating menu of contemporary American regional is an interesting concept, but right now, you can find a similar and more developed version of that right around the corner. * Patois is at 55-3 Just Make Building, Xingfucun Zhonglu. They're only open for dinner right now. 6pm to 10:30pm.