Restaurant Porn is a regular column of daydreams presented as a means to introduce Vancouver diners and designers to concepts, looks, and fully-formed ideas that they might draw an inkling of inspiration from. We do our best to pair the foreign rooms with local addresses so as to let everyone in on the daydream.

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(via) This bit of pith from the Cool Hunter says it all: “We are perhaps getting close to a saturation point with restaurant interiors that feature dark wood, rounded corners and pink upholstery in a slightly-prissy-yet-masculine 1930s movie vibe, but we are not quite there yet.” Not yet, indeed.

WHAT IT IS: A 70+ seat, two-level restaurant and bar with two private rooms inspired by the social clubs and tea parlours of 1930s Taipei. Dubbed Xu, the well reviewed looker was designed by Shayne Brady and Emily Williams of busy London firm BradyWilliams Studio.

WHERE IT IS: On Rupert Street in the heart London’s Soho/Chinatown. Think of it as the London equivalent of Keefer Street (a tale of parallel gentrifications!).

WHERE WE WISH IT WAS: Since the design is reminiscent of a deeper pocketed Kissa Tanto and the menu reads like it could have been written by the kitchen crew at sister eatery Bao Bei, it’s probably best that a reasonable facsimile didn’t land in Vancouver. So we’re thinking it would better suit Victoria, specifically on the north side of Fisgard Street in Chinatown.

WHY WE WISH IT WAS THERE: Victoria could use it better than Vancouver could, and its Chinatown could do with a new restaurant to contrast (and perhaps draw greater attention to) staple standards like Don Mee, Fan Tan Cafe and Golden City.