An interior look at Craft, a newly opened café at the Crowne Plaza Lido. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Newly opened in the Crowne Plaza Beijing Lido, Craft is a casual Northern European café offering changing menus throughout the day to suit all needs from 7am to midnight.

Craft features a great selection of bakery and pastry products and a wide array of gourmet sandwiches, quiches, seasonal salads, fresh juices, coffee and alcoholic drinks.

The most impressive part is its self service, which is unconventional for hotel dining. You order and pay at the counter, and pick up the food and drink yourself when they are ready. Even the wines and craft beers are sold the same way.

The menu changes throughout the day. In the morning, it is an ideal stop to pick up a take away breakfast before heading to work. During lunch time, it serves gourmet sandwiches, warm quiches and seasonal salads. In the afternoon, "Crumble Time" offers free-flow crumble to go with different varieties of seasonal fruits. In the evening, guests can enjoy Mediterranean tapas platters with wine and craft beer.

If you go:

Craft, Crowne Plaza Beijing Lido, No 6 Jiangtai Road, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 7am-12pm. 010 - 8443 6227.