Location: Next to Lido park across from the Rosedale Hotel. Very convenient for anyone that finds themselves near Lido very often. It’s also on the way into or out of the city for people that live in Shunyi.

Atmosphere: It’s got sort of a natural/unfinished industrial vibe. Two story windows provide lots of natural light. The furniture is a mish-mash of random office chairs and the tables and other furniture seem to be made of whatever spare wood was lying around. Unfinished concret and old rusty steel beams frame the shop and three trees sprout up from the lower level while crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling. Very eclectic, pretty cool. There are two levels and plenty of seating.

Coffee: I ordered a cappuccino my first visit. The foam was good, but it was served in a very large cup so the coffee to milk ratio was off. I had their brewed coffee on my second visit, and was happy with it. Better than Starbucks, but definitely not the most amazing cup I’ve had. The most the staff could tell me was that they got their coffee from someplace in 798. We also ordered an iced mocha, which was also quite tasty. Also each drink comes with two cinnamon-sugar toast sticks, which was a nice bonus. Coffee grade: Solid B.

Food: Maan specializes in waffles, which looked delicious, and also has sandwiches, breakfast and some baked goods.

Wifi: Good. Just get the password from the staff.

Price: About the same as Starbucks. ¥15 for the brewed coffee, ¥25 for the cappuccino, and ¥28 for the iced mocha.

Other thoughts: Great customer-first service. We found a piece of chipped glass in a drink and when she told the staff they were very apologetic and quickly made her a new one. They also brought out complementary ice cream for both of us. Every shop will have mistakes or screwed up orders; it is impossible to completely eliminate freak accidents like a chipped glass, but the true measure of good customer service is how you fix things when something does go wrong. And Maan did very well at that.