We ended up eating our hotel a couple of nights, and both were surprisingly tasty. The first night, we tried a French restaurant (Bistrot B) on the ground floor, and then on another night the Chinese restaurant (Country Kitchen) on the third floor.
Bistrot B came surprisingly pretty close to the mark, considering we were in mainland China, after all. You have to remember, surfing the internet here is a pain of the highest order, and we had just battled some of the most excruciating airport lines and customs (truly an exercise in patience and discipline to try any suffering soul) and traffic. So sitting there in a beautiful booth of a beautiful hotel, eating crusty French sourdough and hangar steak frites with pepper sauce felt a bit transformative. But that said, it still wasn't like Paris, or anything, so don't get your hopes up!
We then went to Country Kitchen for dinner another night. It's a very beautiful (though dimly lit) space. Here, the roasting station:
The noodle making station.
His and hers drinks: a Slowboat draft for him, a lychee soda for me.
Michael loves beef shank (the calf of the cow) so when I saw this marinated appetizer I had to get it. The cold noodles underneath (not pictured) were a delicious mix of spicy and sour.
We got a boring stir fried kale dish (old habits die hard, I know it's weird, but I love my veggies).
I chose their handmade noodles in a sour and spicy tomato pork broth with bits of cured pork belly. Are you picking up on the fact that I love sour and spicy?? The noodles were cooked to al dente perfection.
The restaurant's roast duck and pork section looked very appetizing; however, having just had roast duck the night before (see previous post), we decided to go for their intriguing traditional roast pork belly. Given Michael's preference for roast duck, I knew we had no other choice, really, once the waiter described the pillowy buns on which we could put the pork belly and condiments.
I repeat, pillowy buns of perfection!
We finished our meal with an osmanthus bean curd pudding (I know, Chinese desserts... they just don't have the same ring to it as "molten lava cake" or "chocolate peanut butter crumble") which was doubly disappointing because I was picturing of the "doufu hua" Taiwanese variety. Overall, I thought the food quality and consistency and attention to detail in preparation was very good. I would come back to this restaurant.
Bistrot B came surprisingly pretty close to the mark, considering we were in mainland China, after all. You have to remember, surfing the internet here is a pain of the highest order, and we had just battled some of the most excruciating airport lines and customs (truly an exercise in patience and discipline to try any suffering soul) and traffic. So sitting there in a beautiful booth of a beautiful hotel, eating crusty French sourdough and hangar steak frites with pepper sauce felt a bit transformative. But that said, it still wasn't like Paris, or anything, so don't get your hopes up!
 |
| my fish bisque |
 |
| Michael's lamb shank |
 |
| My hangar steak frites |
 |
| Michael's side of polenta |
We got a boring stir fried kale dish (old habits die hard, I know it's weird, but I love my veggies).
I chose their handmade noodles in a sour and spicy tomato pork broth with bits of cured pork belly. Are you picking up on the fact that I love sour and spicy?? The noodles were cooked to al dente perfection.
The restaurant's roast duck and pork section looked very appetizing; however, having just had roast duck the night before (see previous post), we decided to go for their intriguing traditional roast pork belly. Given Michael's preference for roast duck, I knew we had no other choice, really, once the waiter described the pillowy buns on which we could put the pork belly and condiments.
To honor the Beijing tradition, we had to get some classic carbohydrates (northern cuisine in China is very much about the carbs). We opted for traditional Beijing chive and pork "pancakes," which appeared looking more like rolls. Six came in one order, which shocked us given the size of them. Michael loved these and pronounced them scrumptious. Let the record show that I didn't even have one.
We finished our meal with an osmanthus bean curd pudding (I know, Chinese desserts... they just don't have the same ring to it as "molten lava cake" or "chocolate peanut butter crumble") which was doubly disappointing because I was picturing of the "doufu hua" Taiwanese variety. Overall, I thought the food quality and consistency and attention to detail in preparation was very good. I would come back to this restaurant.
Bistrot B
G/F, Rosewood Hotel
Jing Zhong Center, Hujialou
Beijing, PRC
Country Kitchen
3/F, Rosewood Hotel
Jing Zhong Center, Hujialou
Beijing, PRC
No comments:
Post a Comment