Dining Eater’s Digest These dishes were tried-and-trued by Sijia Chen, Dana CosioMercado, Oscar Holland, and Aisling O’Brien. Want to take a bite for yourself? See Directories for restaurant listings. Got a suggestion? Send a photo and a description to editor@beijing-kids.com.
Spring Blossom Roll This pretty green roll is artfully arranged and delicately presented, just as Japanese food should be. The roll is filled with asparagus, gobo age (deep fried burdock root), and inari (deep fried tofu), and topped with slices of avocado with edamame perched on top. It is by turns silky, soft, crunchy and chewy. An eight-piece roll costs RMB 60 at any branch of Hatsune.
Shrimps in Peppers in a Jar The experience of fishing the shrimps out of this dish (which did not actually come in a jar) was akin to extracting your toddler from a ball pit. The shrimp was slippery and not too willing to come out; but when it did, it was flavorful and not too spicy. Try it for yourself at Alpha and Omega Café in Pinnacle Plaza for RMB 108.
Lemon Tart The refreshing taste of lemon is used to particular effect in Comptoirs de France’s sour lemon tart. Topped with a little piece of chocolate, the bite-sized version costs RMB 18 and the larger pastry costs RMB 32. Enjoy with a hot or iced drink.
Unagidon Good freshwater eel (known as unagi in Japanese) is hard to find in Beijing. Luckily, newly-opened contemporary Japanese restaurant Brick & Wood does a pretty good rendition. The eel is prepared fresh every morning, marinated for hours, basted in the chef’s secret sauce, steamed for 15 minutes to open up the proteins, and char-grilled to perfection. It comes as part of a RMB 150 set menu that includes soup and an ever-changing selection of cold sides.
September 2013
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