January 20, 2012 Filed under Food
By Annie Wei
Beijing Today recommends a new Beijing duck restaurant in Sanlitun with good deals on Chinese New Year’s eve and two online recipe sites for those who prefer to cook at home.
New duck spot
by Sanlitun
Looking for a unique duck experience? A restaurant near Sanlitun, Bianyifang, uses a closed-door oven to roast ducks, a technique introduced to Beijing from the Yangtze River area during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
The chef must maintain good control of the temperature. The meat doesn’t come out as dry when it’s roasted in a closed oven instead of an open oven. The duck’s skin also comes out crispy but not greasy.
We recommend the flower-flavored Beijing duck (starting at 188 yuan). The duck is soaked in water lilies, dates and tea before roasting for a pleasant aroma.
As a duck house, the restaurant has developed hundreds of dishes made from duck. The duck liver (38 yuan) makes for a great appetizer.
From the store’s establishment in 1855 to the early 1910s, Bianyifang was not a restaurant but more like a workshop that produced many ready-to-eat meat products like sausages and meatballs.
When it started serving customers, it specialized in Shandong cuisine, so Bianyifang is also known for its Shandong dishes.
Its specialties include tangchu daliyu (88 yuan), carp in wine-flavored sauce. A big carp is braised in sauce made from fermented wine, and it comes out sweet and a little sour. Customers can request the chef debone the fish first to make a fillet.
We like the jiuzhuang dachang (98 yuan), nine-turns of pork intestine. It’s a classic Shandong recipe. The intestines are boiled, deep-fried to golden brown and then braised with garlic, scallion, ginger, soy sauce and sugar.
The restaurant will offer a Spring Festival special set menu. A table of 10 will get six cold dishes, a duck and eight hot dishes for 1,260 yuan. A fancier set menu for 3,500 yuan is also available.
Bianyifang – Shimao Gongsan
Where: 4th floor of Shimao Department Store, 13 Gongti Bei Lu, Chaoyang District
Open: 11 am – 10 pm
Tel: 8405 9699
Creating a feast with e-recipes
Nothing warms up your stomach during the holidays like a delicious homemade feast. With help from two popular recipe sites, anyone can make delicious Chinese food.
Wenyi’s Kitchen
This is a free iPad app by food blogger Ma Wenyi. Her blog has all kinds of recipes and has attracted 100 million visitors; her microblog has half a million followers. The app’s recipes are selected from 2,000 recipes on her blog and 13 cookbooks. Recipes are clearly categorized. Although it’s in Chinese only, there are pictures for each procedure, and all ingredients can be obtained from local markets or grocery stores.
Website: itunes.apple.com/us/app/id493244898
Xiachufang
In three months, xiachufang.com already had 200,000 registered users. Its recipes for delicious foods are simple and easy to follow. Users can upload their dishes with photos and share their tips. (All recipes are in Chinese.)
By Annie Wei
Beijing Today recommends a new Beijing duck restaurant in Sanlitun with good deals on Chinese New Year’s eve and two online recipe sites for those who prefer to cook at home.
Duck liver, 38 yuan/Photos by Hu Yuanjun
Beijing duck, starting from 188 yuan
New duck spot by Sanlitun
Looking for a unique duck experience? A restaurant near Sanlitun, Bianyifang, uses a closed-door oven to roast ducks, a technique introduced to Beijing from the Yangtze River area during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
The chef must maintain good control of the temperature. The meat doesn’t come out as dry when it’s roasted in a closed oven instead of an open oven. The duck’s skin also comes out crispy but not greasy.
We recommend the flower-flavored Beijing duck (starting at 188 yuan). The duck is soaked in water lilies, dates and tea before roasting for a pleasant aroma.
January 13, 2012 Filed under Food
Luxury dining in western part of town
By Annie Wei
The opening of S.T.A.Y. last September at Shangri-la Hotel gave the western part of the city, better known for its college district and dive bars, a taste of international fine dining.
S.T.A.Y., which stands for Simple Table Yannick Alleno, is the brand of a chef of a three-star Michelin restaurant.
Every season, Alleno flies in to prepare a new menu. He recently discussed with his staff a variety of black truffle dishes that will be available in the spring.
Oyster in gelee with leeks and black truffles is a creative update of a traditional French starter – fresh oyster with lemon juice. It features two fat oysters on black truffles and cream puree, topped with gelee and leeks and in bed of sea salt.
As truffles have become a rare and expensive ingredient in many restaurants, some will use Yunnan truffles instead of French ones. But not at S.T.A.Y., because food never lies.
The celery cream soup with black truffles is a dish that will bring out the best in truffles. French truffles can be cut into thin pieces, while Yunnan ones cannot.
The sea scallops terrine with black truffles is delicately made: many layers of scallops with sliced truffles. The light and tender flavor of scallops enhances the truffles. If you prefer something more classic, try Australian beef sirloin Aiguilette with black truffle sauce. The truffle aroma makes the beef more delicious.
Duck foie gras stuffed cabbage and black truffle is highly recommended for its great combination of texture and flavors.
S.T.A.Y.’s desserts are a perfect way to finish a meal. Its milk chocolate in crispy dark chocolate tube with shaved black truffle tastes smooth, milky and yummy!
S.T.A.Y.
Where: 29 Zizuyuan Lu, Haidian District
Open: Monday to Saturday, 11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 5:30-10 pm; Sunday, 11 am – 6 pm
Tel: 6841 2211 ext. 6727
Cost: Average 1,000 yuan per person
Yannick Alleno, Frech chef of a Michelin three-star restaurant/Photos by Zhou Baoling
By Annie Wei
The opening of S.T.A.Y. last September at Shangri-la Hotel gave the western part of the city, better known for its college district and dive bars, a taste of international fine dining.
S.T.A.Y., which stands for Simple Table Yannick Alleno, is the brand of a chef of a three-star Michelin restaurant.
Every season, Alleno flies in to prepare a new menu. He recently discussed with his staff a variety of black truffle dishes that will be available in the spring.
Oyster in gelee with leeks and black truffles is a creative update of a traditional French starter – fresh oyster with lemon juice. It features two fat oysters on black truffles and cream puree, topped with gelee and leeks and in bed of sea salt.
As truffles have become a rare and expensive ingredient in many restaurants, some will use Yunnan truffles instead of French ones. But not at S.T.A.Y., because food never lies.
January 13, 2012 Filed under Food
By Annie Wei
The Rug Cafes at Lishui Jiayuan, near the south gate of Chaoyang Park, has become the new go-to place for weekend brunch.
Its signature items are original, onion, sesame and poppy seed bagels (12 to 19 yuan), paired with garnishes (10 yuan) like peanut butter and cream cheese.
Its homemade pancake (58 yuan), made of organic eggs, is highly recommended. The pancake takes 20 minutes to prepare and comes out fluffy, soft and tasty. The homemade taco (48 yuan), cheesecake (38 yuan) and double chocolate cake (48 yuan) are also good choices.
A cup of cappuccino or latte costs 30 yuan and a simple salmon salad costs 80 yuan, but you can expect quality here. The salmon salad comes with Brie cheese, which is normally only used in fine dining restaurants.
Apart from simple foods and afternoon tea desserts, the cafe also offers full meals such as its steak (198 yuan for 227 grams, 266 yuan for 340 grams): 21-day fermented tenderloin steak with spinach, stir-fried potato chunks, sea salt, black pepper and special sauce.
The cafe has a relaxing and cozy ambiance: a glass wall and wood floor and ceiling. Apart from using organic ingredients, the cafe also promotes a low-carbon lifestyle. Most of their ingredients are purchased locally.
The Rug Cafes
Where: 1st floor, Building 4, Lishui Jiayuan, opposite south gate of Chao-yang Park
Open: 11:30 am – 10 pm; closed on Mondays
Tel: 8550 2711
Salmon salad, 80 yuan
Bagel, 19 yuan; peanut butter, 10 yuan
By Annie Wei
The Rug Cafes at Lishui Jiayuan, near the south gate of Chaoyang Park, has become the new go-to place for weekend brunch.
Its signature items are original, onion, sesame and poppy seed bagels (12 to 19 yuan), paired with garnishes (10 yuan) like peanut butter and cream cheese.
Its homemade pancake (58 yuan), made of organic eggs, is highly recommended. The pancake takes 20 minutes to prepare and comes out fluffy, soft and tasty. The homemade taco (48 yuan), cheesecake (38 yuan) and double chocolate cake (48 yuan) are also good choices.
A cup of cappuccino or latte costs 30 yuan and a simple salmon salad costs 80 yuan, but you can expect quality here. The salmon salad comes with Brie cheese, which is normally only used in fine dining restaurants.
Apart from simple foods and afternoon tea desserts, the cafe also offers full meals such as its steak (198 yuan for 227 grams, 266 yuan for 340 grams): 21-day fermented tenderloin steak with spinach, stir-fried potato chunks, sea salt, black pepper and special sauce.
The cafe has a relaxing and cozy ambiance: a glass wall and wood floor and ceiling. Apart from using organic ingredients, the cafe also promotes a low-carbon lifestyle. Most of their ingredients are purchased locally.
The Rug Cafes
Where: 1st floor, Building 4, Lishui Jiayuan, opposite south gate of Chao-yang Park
Open: 11:30 am – 10 pm; closed on Mondays
Tel: 8550 2711
January 6, 2012 Filed under Food
By Annie Wei
Dalangtaosha hotel chain launched its latest project, East Wine Cellar, near Guomao in the central business district this week after two years of preparation and an investment of 45 million yuan.
With three floors and a basement, it is the biggest cellar in town, with a capacity of more than 100,000 bottles.
To match its theme, the cellar offers French and fusion Chinese food. Goose liver, oysters, seafood and fine steak are served with paired wines.
For a company outing or group meal, the seafood platter (800 yuan), a typical southern French cuisine with oysters, lobsters and crabs, is a must-try.
Wang Jieming, the cellar’s chief sommelier, recommends Rayne Vigneau 2009 (600 yuan) from Bordeaux, France, which has a gold color and honey and white flower aroma, to pair with the seafood.
The cellar does not list prices for each dish, but a lunch set menu with a main course, a soup and bread costs 588 yuan, with a 15 percent gratuity fee.
For appetizers, the scallop and small onion salad is a good choice to match with a sparkling wine.
We recommend its steak, made with Australian beef, a classic choice to go with red wine.
Grilled cod is the specialty of the chef, who has lived in southern France for many years, a dish that pairs well with Bordeaux white wine.
To finish the meal, try the restaurant’s mango and egg pudding, a chef’s special, and complete it with a fruity-aroma sweet white wine.
The building is done in a European Gothic style, combining an open corridor for the lobby with a high dome. It can accommodate 500 people.
It also has a dining area, lounge and cigar bar, with VIP rooms and an outdoor terrace that opens in the summer.
The cellar has lots of parking space available.
East Wine Cellar
Where: 1017 Shengshi Longyuan, Sihui, Chaoyang District (take the first exit off Sihui, Jingtong highway, walk 500 meters east, turn right at the gate of Shengshi Longyuan, pass the bridge and turn right again, walk another 300 meters)
Open: 11 am – late
Tel: 8770 6716
East Wine Cellar/Photos provided by East Wine Cellar
Rayne Vigneau 2009, 600 yuan
By Annie Wei
Dalangtaosha hotel chain launched its latest project, East Wine Cellar, near Guomao in the central business district this week after two years of preparation and an investment of 45 million yuan.
With three floors and a basement, it is the biggest cellar in town, with a capacity of more than 100,000 bottles.
To match its theme, the cellar offers French and fusion Chinese food. Goose liver, oysters, seafood and fine steak are served with paired wines.
For a company outing or group meal, the seafood platter (800 yuan), a typical southern French cuisine with oysters, lobsters and crabs, is a must-try.
Wang Jieming, the cellar’s chief sommelier, recommends Rayne Vigneau 2009 (600 yuan) from Bordeaux, France, which has a gold color and honey and white flower aroma, to pair with the seafood.
The cellar does not list prices for each dish, but a lunch set menu with a main course, a soup and bread costs 588 yuan, with a 15 percent gratuity fee.
For appetizers, the scallop and small onion salad is a good choice to match with a sparkling wine.
January 6, 2012 Filed under Food
By Annie Wei
For those who work at the new office buildings at Baijiazhuang Dongli on East Third Ring Road, the options for lunch and dinner are limited – the street is full of cheap eateries packed with customers.
If you want to have a nice dining environment but don’t want to walk all the way to Sanlitun Village, try Dong Lounge and bar at Taiyue Suites. It’s located at the intersection of Baijiazhuang and Sanlitun Nan Lu. So far, it’s lesser known and quiet.
The lounge is on the second floor of the building’s north gate. The outside is painted white. Inside, it’s spacious and simply decorated, with only a few tables.
All dishes are served in decent portions, and prices are reasonable for the Sanlitun area. For example, its signature salad (75 yuan) is packed with vegetables, dry Spanish tomato, bacon, bread and Parmesan cheese.
The most popular dishes are Australian tenderloin (120 yuan), with potato biscuits, spinach and mushrooms, and grilled goose liver (95 yuan) with rum, pineapple, cherry tequila and sprouts. The latter is the lounge’s specialty. Unlike traditional goose liver matched with apples, the rum and pineapple give the fat and tender goose liver a nice touch.
Other dishes include seafood pasta (75 yuan), with lots of fresh squid, shrimp and clams; grilled lamb (120 yuan) from New Zealand, with Japanese mustard.
Apart from offering lunch and dinner, it’s a place for freelancers who look for new spots to have coffee and work in the afternoon. For a snack, try its Mexico chicken roll (55 yuan), with vegetables, yogurt cream and avocado sauce. The filling is tasty, made of homemade sauce, tender chicken and sweet pepper.
The place also has a nice selection of wine and decent cocktails.
Kook Zhang, the lounge’s owner, doesn’t expect or need a full house of customers. “I hope it a place for my friends and I, or people who are like-minded, a place to enjoy wine and a nice meal or some quality cocktails before they head to other nightclubs,” he said.
Dong Lounge and Bar
Where: 2nd floor, Taiyue Suites (walk from its north gate), 16 Sanlitun Nan Lu, Chaoyang District
Open: 11 am – 2 am the next day
Tel: 6585 2058
Grilled lamb, 120 yuan
Grilled duck, 95 yuan/Photos provided by Dong Lounge
By Annie Wei
For those who work at the new office buildings at Baijiazhuang Dongli on East Third Ring Road, the options for lunch and dinner are limited – the street is full of cheap eateries packed with customers.
If you want to have a nice dining environment but don’t want to walk all the way to Sanlitun Village, try Dong Lounge and bar at Taiyue Suites. It’s located at the intersection of Baijiazhuang and Sanlitun Nan Lu. So far, it’s lesser known and quiet.
The lounge is on the second floor of the building’s north gate. The outside is painted white. Inside, it’s spacious and simply decorated, with only a few tables.
All dishes are served in decent portions, and prices are reasonable for the Sanlitun area. For example, its signature salad (75 yuan) is packed with vegetables, dry Spanish tomato, bacon, bread and Parmesan cheese.
The most popular dishes are Australian tenderloin (120 yuan), with potato biscuits, spinach and mushrooms, and grilled goose liver (95 yuan) with rum, pineapple, cherry tequila and sprouts. The latter is the lounge’s specialty. Unlike traditional goose liver matched with apples, the rum and pineapple give the fat and tender goose liver a nice touch.
Other dishes include seafood pasta (75 yuan), with lots of fresh squid, shrimp and clams; grilled lamb (120 yuan) from New Zealand, with Japanese mustard.
Apart from offering lunch and dinner, it’s a place for freelancers who look for new spots to have coffee and work in the afternoon. For a snack, try its Mexico chicken roll (55 yuan), with vegetables, yogurt cream and avocado sauce. The filling is tasty, made of homemade sauce, tender chicken and sweet pepper.
The place also has a nice selection of wine and decent cocktails.
Kook Zhang, the lounge’s owner, doesn’t expect or need a full house of customers. “I hope it a place for my friends and I, or people who are like-minded, a place to enjoy wine and a nice meal or some quality cocktails before they head to other nightclubs,” he said.
Dong Lounge and Bar
Where: 2nd floor, Taiyue Suites (walk from its north gate), 16 Sanlitun Nan Lu, Chaoyang District
Open: 11 am – 2 am the next day
Tel: 6585 2058
December 30, 2011 Filed under Food
By Annie Wei
For people who like food, interior decoration and attentive service don’t matter as much as what comes out on the plate.
Lu Di, a writer and photographer in the local dining scene for eight years, recommends three restaurants that are, in his words, “really tasty and not expensive.”
As one of the country’s eight major cuisines, Anhui cuisine is known for its wide selection of seasonal local produce, the use of cooking temperature and a variety of culinary techniques.
Most diners choose Anhui provincial or grand restaurants with traditional wood architecture. The latter is a throwback to the heyday of Anhui merchants and salt traders during the Ming and Qing dynasties, when businessmen from Anhui introduced their food throughout the country.
But the small eatery Lu recommends is out of the limelight. Its interior is very plain, and it has yet to be reviewed on major food websites, such as Dianping.
It is located on the northeast corner of the vegetable and meat market Pingleyuan, near a residential area three kilometers east of Jingsong station on subway Line 10.
Changjiang Jiangzayu (68 yuan) is Lu’s go-to dish. Jiangzayu refers to various kinds of small fish along the Yangtze River. In the 1970s and ’80s, when the river was still clear, there lived an abundance of fish. The dish offers different types of fish, which have different textures. Fish from the upper Yangtze are tender and delicate, while fish from the middle parts are leaner, and those in the lower parts are fat.
Lu said jiangzayu isn’t always available because Yangtze fish are more scarce these days.
Maya Yaxue, or duck blood (58 yuan), may not be popular among squeamish foreigners, but Lu likes it for its smooth and tender texture.
Hedoufu (16 yuan), sliced tofu soup, is a surprise. While the soup is common in many restaurants, here the soup is prepared with lard. Sliced tofu and deep-fried lard tastes smooth, and is paired with crunchy deep-fried peanuts.
For vegetables, Lu recommends diced parsley, peanuts and dry tofu (18 yuan).
The restaurant has only has three tables in the front room, but regulars normally head straight for private VIP rooms in the back, Lu said.
Xiaohebian Anhuicai
Where: Northeast corner of Pingleyuan market, 29 Xi Dawang Lu, Chaoyang District
Open: 11 am – 9 pm
Cost: Average 80 yuan per person
Lu is from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, so he knows a thing or two about that region’s authentic cuisine. He recommends Guangxi Provincial’s Nalan Restaurant.
“When I read reviews of Nalan online, many people said they were disappointed,” he said. He thinks that may be because they’re not ordering the right dishes.
He suggests starting with huangguapi (18 yuan), cucumber pickle, a special vegetable from Qinzhou, a small city in Guangxi.
Pickles are traditional snacks in Guangxi. The Qinzhou huangguapi is crispy, sour and sweet, and makes a good appetizer.
Lipu yutou (10 yuan per slice), steamed taro, is Lus favorite. Lipu, a small town near Guilin, is famous for producing quality taros of big sizes. They have a strong aroma, are soft and tastier. Lu said he likes steamed taros. “It’s better to steam it before peeling it. The peels can preserve the taro’s water, otherwise it will be too dry,” Lu said.
Shajiang tuji (78 yuan), free-range chicken in galangal sauce, is a traditional chicken dish enjoyed by people from Guangxi and Guangdong provinces.
Lu said he knows these chickens are from Guangxi, where locals prefer free-range chicken to farmed ones, because the chicken is more tender and soft.
Lu also said the restaurant has the best Guilin rice noodle (8 yuan for small and 15 yuan for big serving) in town. “The sauce is made just right.”
Nalan Jiulou
Where: Guangxi Provincial, 26 Panjiayuan Huawei Li, Chaoyang District
Open: 11 am – 9 pm Tel: 6779 6688
Cost: 80 yuan per person
Although the dining scene in Haidian is not as renowned as it is in Chaoyang District, there are plenty of restaurants that offer quality meals on a student budget.
Lu recommends a hotpot restaurant that specializes in handmade meatballs of Chaozhou flavors. Chaozhou, a city in Guangdong is known for its unique cuisines. Meat ball, is one of famous Chaozhou street food.
The hotpot soup starts from 20 yuan, while a set menu of beef balls costs only 48 yuan, including soup, beef balls, sliced beef and cabbage.
Lu recommends its baojiang beef balls (18 yuan) and shrimp balls (31 yuan), both fresh, tender, tasty and juicy.
Most vegetable dishes cost 8 yuan per serving.
Weikeduo Chaozhou beef ball hotpot
Where: 49 Zhongguancun Dajie, Haidian District
Open: 11 am – midnight
Tel: 6257 3789
Cost: Average 30 yuan per person
By Annie Wei
For people who like food, interior decoration and attentive service don’t matter as much as what comes out on the plate.
Lu Di, a writer and photographer in the local dining scene for eight years, recommends three restaurants that are, in his words, “really tasty and not expensive.”
Food photographer, Lu Di
Changjiang Jiangzayu, 68 yuan/Photos by Lu Di
Duck blood, 58 yuan
Delicious Anhui eatery
As one of the country’s eight major cuisines, Anhui cuisine is known for its wide selection of seasonal local produce, the use of cooking temperature and a variety of culinary techniques.
Most diners choose Anhui provincial or grand restaurants with traditional wood architecture. The latter is a throwback to the heyday of Anhui merchants and salt traders during the Ming and Qing dynasties, when businessmen from Anhui introduced their food throughout the country.
But the small eatery Lu recommends is out of the limelight. Its interior is very plain, and it has yet to be reviewed on major food websites, such as Dianping.
It is located on the northeast corner of the vegetable and meat market Pingleyuan, near a residential area three kilometers east of Jingsong station on subway Line 10.
Changjiang Jiangzayu (68 yuan) is Lu’s go-to dish. Jiangzayu refers to various kinds of small fish along the Yangtze River. In the 1970s and ’80s, when the river was still clear, there lived an abundance of fish. The dish offers different types of fish, which have different textures. Fish from the upper Yangtze are tender and delicate, while fish from the middle parts are leaner, and those in the lower parts are fat.
Lu said jiangzayu isn’t always available because Yangtze fish are more scarce these days.
Maya Yaxue, or duck blood (58 yuan), may not be popular among squeamish foreigners, but Lu likes it for its smooth and tender texture.
Hedoufu (16 yuan), sliced tofu soup, is a surprise. While the soup is common in many restaurants, here the soup is prepared with lard. Sliced tofu and deep-fried lard tastes smooth, and is paired with crunchy deep-fried peanuts.
For vegetables, Lu recommends diced parsley, peanuts and dry tofu (18 yuan).
The restaurant has only has three tables in the front room, but regulars normally head straight for private VIP rooms in the back, Lu said.
Xiaohebian Anhuicai
Where: Northeast corner of Pingleyuan market, 29 Xi Dawang Lu, Chaoyang District
Open: 11 am – 9 pm
Cost: Average 80 yuan per person
December 23, 2011 Filed under Food
By Annie Wei
If you think China can’t produce quality wine, you’re wrong – and now there’s proof. Last week, wines from China went up against a wine from Bordeaux at a blind tasting at Zun Club, held by TasteV, a new wine sharing site, and Jim Boyce, a local blogger.
A Chinese wine won.
There were 10 judges, five from China and five from France, who were asked to rank 10 different wines. First place got one point, second place got two points, and so on.
Grace Vineyard Chairman’s Reserve 2009 (488 yuan), a wine from Shanxi Province, came in first with 34 points. Second place went to Silver Heights The Summit 2009 (416 yuan), with 42 points. Helan Qing Xue, Jia Bei Lan Cabernet Dry Red 2009 (220 yuan) was third with 44 points.
Rounding out the top five were Grace Vineyard Deep Blue 2009 (228 yuan) and Barons Rothschild Collection Saga Medoc 2009 (350 yuan), the wine from Bordeaux.
The wines were opened and tested for quality by Philip Osenton, who works with the distributor Globus and used to be the head sommelier at the Ritz Hotel London.
The judges are all wine experts active in the booming wine industry, including Ma Huiqin, professor at China University of Agriculture; Fiona Sun, senior editor at the China edition of Renue du Vin; Nicolas Carre, sommelier and wine consultant; and Jerome Sabate, wine maker with Dragon Seal in Beijing.
“Some Chinese wines are able to compete on an international level,” Boyce said.
With a booming wine market in China, the blind tasting attracted lots of interest from home and abroad.
Some compared the event to the Judgment of Paris in 1976, when California wines beat top French wines in a tasting. That event was considered seminal for the California wine industry.
Boyce, however, made sure to point out that organizers never meant this contest to be a competition between the best that China and Bordeaux have to offer.
They used a price index to compare top Chinese wines with bigger and better-known Bordeaux brands sold by major distributors in town.
Nonetheless, Boyce got hundreds of emails and calls inquiring about Chinese wines and vineyards.
Grace Vineyard
Chairman’s reserve 2009
This wine has a gooseberry aroma, is spicy, full-body and balanced. It tastes smooth and has a long length.
The Grace Vineyard was founded by a successful businessman and wine lover, Chen Jingqiang. For years, Chen was bothered by the fact that China could not produce quality wine. With the help of friends, winemakers and scholars from France, Li set up Grace Vineyard in Shanxi Province in 1997.
Chen was asked many times why he chose a highly polluted region like Shanxi, known for its coal and mining industry, to start a vineyard. Chen said he ran a successful coal mining business in Shanxi many years ago and felt responsible for the environmental damage he might have caused. The vineyard was his way of compensating.
Silver Heights
The Summit 2009
This wine has good tannin structure and mouthfeel, is well structure and has a good finish.
The vineyard is considered the highest in China because it is located on the eastern slopes of Helan Mountain in Ningxia Autonomous Region.
The grapes get plenty of sunshine, but the soil isn’t the most fertile, so vines need to go deeper to absorb water and nutrition.
Its owner, Emma Gao, is one of the few woman winemakers in the country. Gao’s father decided to produce Chinese wine and sent her to learn winemaking in France many years ago.
Helan Qing Xue Jia Bei Lan Cabernet Dry Red 2009
This wine gives off rich fruit aromas, tastes spicy, is full-bodied and the has a long, intensive finish.
Helan Qing Xue’s vinery on Helan Mountain is a half-hour drive from Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia. The vinery is run by a partnership between a local grape industry group and private investors. Li Demei, a professor at Beijing University of Agriculture and a leading Chinese wine expert, is the vinery’s chief consultant.
Grace Vineyard
Deep Blue 2009
It has a nice aroma and is spicy, with fresh acidity. It pairs well with meat.
Barons de Rothschild Saga Medoc 2009
A fruity and balanced wine.
By Annie Wei
If you think China can’t produce quality wine, you’re wrong – and now there’s proof. Last week, wines from China went up against a wine from Bordeaux at a blind tasting at Zun Club, held by TasteV, a new wine sharing site, and Jim Boyce, a local blogger.
A Chinese wine won.
The wine tasting event at Zun Bar was advertised as Ningxia vs. Bordeaux./Photos by Jim Boyce
The competition
There were 10 judges, five from China and five from France, who were asked to rank 10 different wines. First place got one point, second place got two points, and so on.
Grace Vineyard Chairman’s Reserve 2009 (488 yuan), a wine from Shanxi Province, came in first with 34 points. Second place went to Silver Heights The Summit 2009 (416 yuan), with 42 points. Helan Qing Xue, Jia Bei Lan Cabernet Dry Red 2009 (220 yuan) was third with 44 points.
Rounding out the top five were Grace Vineyard Deep Blue 2009 (228 yuan) and Barons Rothschild Collection Saga Medoc 2009 (350 yuan), the wine from Bordeaux.
The wines were opened and tested for quality by Philip Osenton, who works with the distributor Globus and used to be the head sommelier at the Ritz Hotel London.
The judges are all wine experts active in the booming wine industry, including Ma Huiqin, professor at China University of Agriculture; Fiona Sun, senior editor at the China edition of Renue du Vin; Nicolas Carre, sommelier and wine consultant; and Jerome Sabate, wine maker with Dragon Seal in Beijing.
“Some Chinese wines are able to compete on an international level,” Boyce said.
December 16, 2011 Filed under Food
By Annie Wei
On the menu this week: new winter dishes you can’t find anywhere else; authentic Cantonese cooking from a famous chef; and a classic Nanjing restaurant that currently established its second location in town.
Don’t believe it when people tell you hotpot is only for cold weather, because the Vietnamese like it down south just as much as the Chinese. Nuage, one of the earliest Vietnamese restaurants in town, started a special Saigon hotpot earlier this winter.
The broth is prepared with a dozen ingredients, such as wild mushrooms and tomatoes, and Vietnamese herbs. It gives out a strong aroma.
Each diner is given an independent hotpot, so the broth boils quickly. Try tasting a bit of it – its strong acidity and tartness due to the tomatoes and limes will whet your appetite.
The hotpot set menu (168 yuan) contains three meats: beef tenderloin (58 yuan), scallops (48 yuan for three pieces) and tiger prawns (88 yuan for five pieces). The tenderloin needs to be beaten to avoid being too chewy if overcooked. The scallops and prawns are big, sweet, fresh and tender.
The bean vermicelli is imported from Vietnam, and one can also add cabbage (18 yuan) and water spinach (18 yuan).
A set menu can happily feed two.
The pumpkin pudding (55 yuan) can be shared by four to six people. The pudding is made of green beans, cream and eggs and put inside a steamed, hollowed-out pumpkin. It does not taste too sweet but delicious.
We like its homemade soy milk (starting from 20 yuan per glass and 88 yuan per draft), with its strong flavor of soybeans. It pairs well with some osmanthus flower and honey. They have two kinds of soy milk, made of soy beans or mixed beans. The mixed soy milk costs 110 yuan per draft.
The second floor offers a great view of Houhai, where people ice skate or sit around enjoying warm drinks and the charm of a cozy winter.
Nuage
Where: 22 Qianhai Dongyan, Haihou area, Xicheng District
Open: 11 am – 10 pm
Tel: 6401 9581
The Qi restaurant of the Ritz-Carlton on Financial Street has a new chef: Hong Kong-born Jimmy Wong, who began his career at Lee Garden, a leading restaurant group in Hong Kong since the 1980s.
Wong comes from Singapore, where he has worked for 23 years.
At Lee Garden, Wong said he learned the basics of cooking: be selective with ingredients and bring out the food’s natural flavor.
“Many high-end restaurants here are making fusion food,” he said, but he prefers cooking authentic dishes.
Wong is still adjusting to how things are done here.
“Many things you find here are fake or of poor quality,” he said.
To solve that, he took several months to source suppliers. To ensure water quality, he uses bottled water.
Qi used to have several Chinese regional cuisines, but Wong decided to make it mostly Cantonese with some Beijing dishes. “Cantonese cuisine is what I am good at, and we retained some Beijing dishes because we have many local customers,” he said.
Wong said he prefers a lighter flavor, so his barbequed goose and Peking Duck tend to be less oily.
We recommend the business set menu (688 yuan with 15 percent service fee), including dim sum platter, BBQ platter, double boiled fish maw soup with sea cucumber and sea conch, deep-fried custard rolls, stewed noodles with shrimps and preserved vegetables, and creamy sago mango as dessert.
The restaurant has a dozen soup choices made from nutritious and rare ingredients. They are highly recommended, as such expensive ingredients take experience and knowledge to select and prepare. Most urban dwellers are not good at making it right.
Qi Restaurant
Where: 2F, The Ritz-Carlton Beijing, Financial Street, 1 Jinfang Jie, Xicheng District
Open: 11 am – 2 pm, 5-9 pm
Tel: 6629 6999
Since opening in Haidian last winter, the restaurant Nanjing Dapaidang has built a reputation for having lots of delicious dishes at low prices.
Its second branch launched at Sanlitun Gongsan Shimao Plaza last month.
Dapaidang means “food stalls,” so it’s not surprising that the restaurant has a wide range of Nanjing snacks in addition to Huaiyang cuisine and popular national dishes.
The new outlet retains its signature antique décor: a wood-carved interior with many big lanterns reminiscent of ancient Nanjing alleys.
Classic Nanjing dishes include yanshuiya (46 yuan), a duck marinated and fried with salt, air-dried and then steamed. It’s a thousand-year-old traditional dish. Compared to Peking duck, yanshuiya uses slimmer ducks, so the dish is less greasy.
The restaurant will offer a promotion at its new outlet where select Nanjing dishes are half-off.
For example, stewed meatballs are 11 yuan on Monday but regulary priced 22 yuan; other daily deals: vermicelli in a pot (11 yuan) on Tuesday, chicken with sour sauce (14 yuan) Wednesday, beef foss with pancakes (14 yuan) on Thursday, pigeon soup with mushroom (16 yuan) on Friday, fried tofu with shrimp egg (13 yuan) on Saturday and glutinous rice (16 yuan) on Sunday.
Nanjing Dapaidang
– Sanlitun
Where: 4F, Shimao Baihuo, 13, Gongti Bei Lu, Chaoyang District
Open: 11 am – 9 pm
Tel: 8405 9777
Nanjing Dapaidang
– Haidian
Where: Floor 2, Jinlehui, D district, Zhongguancun Guangchang, 15 Zhongguancun Dajie, Haidian District
Open: 10 am – 10 pm
Tel: 5986 3111
By Annie Wei
On the menu this week: new winter dishes you can’t find anywhere else; authentic Cantonese cooking from a famous chef; and a classic Nanjing restaurant that currently established its second location in town.
Nuage's winter hotpot, 168 yuan/Photo provided by Nuage
Nuage’s new vietnamese hotpot
Don’t believe it when people tell you hotpot is only for cold weather, because the Vietnamese like it down south just as much as the Chinese. Nuage, one of the earliest Vietnamese restaurants in town, started a special Saigon hotpot earlier this winter.
The broth is prepared with a dozen ingredients, such as wild mushrooms and tomatoes, and Vietnamese herbs. It gives out a strong aroma.
Each diner is given an independent hotpot, so the broth boils quickly. Try tasting a bit of it – its strong acidity and tartness due to the tomatoes and limes will whet your appetite.
The hotpot set menu (168 yuan) contains three meats: beef tenderloin (58 yuan), scallops (48 yuan for three pieces) and tiger prawns (88 yuan for five pieces). The tenderloin needs to be beaten to avoid being too chewy if overcooked. The scallops and prawns are big, sweet, fresh and tender.
The bean vermicelli is imported from Vietnam, and one can also add cabbage (18 yuan) and water spinach (18 yuan).
A set menu can happily feed two.
The pumpkin pudding (55 yuan) can be shared by four to six people. The pudding is made of green beans, cream and eggs and put inside a steamed, hollowed-out pumpkin. It does not taste too sweet but delicious.
We like its homemade soy milk (starting from 20 yuan per glass and 88 yuan per draft), with its strong flavor of soybeans. It pairs well with some osmanthus flower and honey. They have two kinds of soy milk, made of soy beans or mixed beans. The mixed soy milk costs 110 yuan per draft.
The second floor offers a great view of Houhai, where people ice skate or sit around enjoying warm drinks and the charm of a cozy winter.
Nuage
Where: 22 Qianhai Dongyan, Haihou area, Xicheng District
Open: 11 am – 10 pm
Tel: 6401 9581
December 9, 2011 Filed under Food
By Annie Wei
After opening last year, Modo quickly became a go-to place for its creative dishes, wine selection and cozy yet modern ambiance.
Earier this week week, chef Daniel Urdaneta updated Modo’s winter menu to give it more Mediterranean flair.
Customers are encouraged to order several small plates as starters to share with friends.
We tried its Mediterranean confit with cherry tomatoes and olive sauce and Campesino bread (195 yuan). The salmon rillette is a European staple made of salmon, butter, fat, salt and lemon juice, and is a richer and more tasteful way of eating salmon. Meanwhile, the tomato salsa adds a freshness and fruity flavor to the dish.
The country-style pate is what Urdaneta personally loves. It’s a mix of pork and chicken, smooth and rich in flavor and texture.
For main dishes, we tried the braised sea bass (138 yuan). The fish was served in an iron cast cocotte pot, like the stone pot rice in Korean restaurants. Such a container lets the dish express all its flavor.
We also tried the red wine braised chicken (128 yuan) with saffron and brie risotto and baby carrots, which comes in a big portion. The chicken is done conque au vin, meaning it’s cooked a long time at a low temperature in wine sauce.
The highlight of dining in Modo is you can match each dish with a different wine. Diners can buy a wine card and use it at the restaurant’s self-service Enomatic machines, which dispense wine.
The machine uses an inert gas preservation system that keeps the wine’s flavor and character for three weeks.
Modo has two machines that offer 16 wines. The restaurant said it selected wines from all over the world, and the selection frequently changes.
Each wine can be dispensed in three amounts: 15 milliliters (starting from 15 yuan), 75 milliliters (half-glass) and 150 milliliters (whole glass).
Modo
Where: 3rd floor, South Sanlitun Village shopping mall, 19 Sanlitun Lu, Chao-yang District
Open: Noon – 10:30 pm, and later for drinks
Tel: 6415 7207
Cherry tomatoes and olive sauce, and salmon rillette/Photos by Sun Xiaoping
Country-style pate
By Annie Wei
After opening last year, Modo quickly became a go-to place for its creative dishes, wine selection and cozy yet modern ambiance.
Earier this week week, chef Daniel Urdaneta updated Modo’s winter menu to give it more Mediterranean flair.
Customers are encouraged to order several small plates as starters to share with friends.
We tried its Mediterranean confit with cherry tomatoes and olive sauce and Campesino bread (195 yuan). The salmon rillette is a European staple made of salmon, butter, fat, salt and lemon juice, and is a richer and more tasteful way of eating salmon. Meanwhile, the tomato salsa adds a freshness and fruity flavor to the dish.
The country-style pate is what Urdaneta personally loves. It’s a mix of pork and chicken, smooth and rich in flavor and texture.
For main dishes, we tried the braised sea bass (138 yuan). The fish was served in an iron cast cocotte pot, like the stone pot rice in Korean restaurants. Such a container lets the dish express all its flavor.
December 9, 2011 Filed under Food
By Annie Wei
Those who ask recommendations for Thai restaurants will usually get the same two or three established restaurants that everyone knows.
But if you’re out for quality Thai at lower prices, try Taishange, opened earlier this year.
Lin Ziming, a Chinese Thai, spent more than 30 years living in Thailand before marrying a Beijing woman and starting his business in the capital.
All Thai restaurants offer traditional dishes such as prawn tom yum with coconut milk, curry prawn or crab, chicken satay and prawn or fish cakes, and Taishange is no exception.
A taste of tom yum soup (26 yuan for small and 98 yuan for big serving) will tell you right away that Lin knows his Thai food: it offers a great balance of sweet and sour, and is full of various kinds of Thai herbal aromas. If you don’t like spicy, ask for the chicken and coconut milk soup (79 yuan), which is creamy and flavorful.
Lin’s chef is from Thailand and makes sure all dishes are prepared in the same way as they would be back home.
For starters, we always love the papaya salad (32 yuan), but Lin said the winter isn’t a good season for green papaya. He suggested rice vermicelli salad mixed with black fungus and coriander (28 yuan), which tastes cool, full of Thai spices and lime, and delicious.
The restaurant’s mixed fried platter (68 yuan) includes deep fried fish patties, shrimp patties and fried marinated chicken wrapped in pandanus leaf, and is popular. The fried shrimp patty is crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. The dipping sauce is also good, a bit spicy, sweet and sour. You can taste the sourness from the freshly homemade plums.
Taishanfang serves the biggest shrimps in town for its curry-fried shrimp (138 yuan for six pieces), which cannot be found at any other restaurant in town.
The restaurant offers simple lunch choices as well, such as the pineapple seafood fried rice (49 yuan). Although the dish is normally served in a real pineapple, Lin said a pineapple is too small and many customers have complained it holds too little rice, so he serves the rice on a plate – enough for two people.
The rice is fried and mixed with southern sausage, shrimps and mussels.
Lin said in Thailand, two dishes are especially popular: the tom yum soup and the steamed fish. Both use a lot of Thai limes that give out a distinct lime flavor and tartness.
To keep the dishes authentic, Lin uses fresh materials, and all herbs are shipped from Thailand twice a week.
“You cannot replace the herbs,” Lin said. Thai lime, for example, has a strong flavor that local limes can’t imitate.
The restaurant has become a popular spot for its convenient location, underground at The Place, with decorations in mellow gold and mahogany, and splendid Thai artwork. During lunch hours, it’s cramped with office workers. In the evenings, Thai people working in Beijing occupy most tables.
Taishange
Where: 142, B1, The Place, 9 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang District
Open: 11 am – 10 pm
Tel: 6587 1525
Tom yum soup, 26 yuan/CFP Photos
Thai lime steamed fish, 138 yuan
By Annie Wei
Those who ask recommendations for Thai restaurants will usually get the same two or three established restaurants that everyone knows.
But if you’re out for quality Thai at lower prices, try Taishange, opened earlier this year.
Lin Ziming, a Chinese Thai, spent more than 30 years living in Thailand before marrying a Beijing woman and starting his business in the capital.
All Thai restaurants offer traditional dishes such as prawn tom yum with coconut milk, curry prawn or crab, chicken satay and prawn or fish cakes, and Taishange is no exception.
A taste of tom yum soup (26 yuan for small and 98 yuan for big serving) will tell you right away that Lin knows his Thai food: it offers a great balance of sweet and sour, and is full of various kinds of Thai herbal aromas. If you don’t like spicy, ask for the chicken and coconut milk soup (79 yuan), which is creamy and flavorful.
Lin’s chef is from Thailand and makes sure all dishes are prepared in the same way as they would be back home.
For starters, we always love the papaya salad (32 yuan), but Lin said the winter isn’t a good season for green papaya. He suggested rice vermicelli salad mixed with black fungus and coriander (28 yuan), which tastes cool, full of Thai spices and lime, and delicious.
The restaurant’s mixed fried platter (68 yuan) includes deep fried fish patties, shrimp patties and fried marinated chicken wrapped in pandanus leaf, and is popular. The fried shrimp patty is crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. The dipping sauce is also good, a bit spicy, sweet and sour. You can taste the sourness from the freshly homemade plums.
