BREAKFAST – Du Yi Chu

Go local – Start the day in the century old shao mai shop at Qian Men Da Jie

The menu is small – just a couple of dumpling choices and appetisers. I went straight for the highly recommended san sian (Mixture of pork, prawn & sea cucumber)  shao mai.

SAN SIAN SHAO MAI – The dumplings arrived piping hot after 20 minutes (freshly made upon order).

Overall – Better than your average shao mai and a quick immersion to the local food scene.

LUNCH – Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant

You just can’t miss eating the “national dish” when you are in Beijing. I went to the highly raved Da Dong to search for the best peking duck in town. Da Dong won many awards in recent years as one of the most innovative Chinese restaurants. They claim to serve a leaner peking duck as compared to their competitors. I was very excited to give it a try as I prefer peking duck with lesser fats like the one in Imperial Treasure.

Peking Duck – The skin was decently crispy but it had a gamey taste which I did not like. Da Dong’s duck is better than Quan Ju De in my opinion but definitely not a winning bird (like Imperial’s) that would make me go back over and over again.

Complimentary fruits – Fresh fruits with elaborated (Read: exaggerated) presentation.  They also served a complimentary hawthorn sorbet in a fancy wine glass.

Overall – A decent Chinese restaurant with pretentious presentation of its dishes.

DINNER – S.T.A.Y (Simple Table Alleno Yannick)

This is my best meal in Beijing!

PETIT FOURS…..NOT.  🙂 These were the amuse bouche served at the start of the meal – cod fish coated with squid ink and small Chinese radish! Look at the cute lazy Susan and chopsticks. Localized French fine dining anyone?

EPICUREAN DEGUSTATION MENU–

[LEFT] SMOKED SALMON TART with schrenki caviar and sour cream – It tasted like what it looked but there was a crispy biscuit below the salmon which enhanced the overall texture of this dish.
[RIGHT] DUCK FOIE GRAS TERRINE with passion fruit coffee jelly and toasted brioche – I like the simplistic presentation of this dish. The passion fruit jam went well with the foie gras.

[TOP LEFT] FENNEL SOUP with spanner crab meat
[TOP RIGHT] PAN SEARED SCALLOPS with black truffle carbonara pasta
[BOTTOM LEFT] BRAISED CODFISH with sate spice, morels and green asparagus fricassee
[BOTTOM RIGHT] KORE BEEF FILET with fondant potatoes in seaweed butter

All good but not great. If i have to pick my favourite- that would probably be the scallops.

[LEFT] Dessert Library
[RIGHT] Pastry Chefs at Work

The concept of a dessert library is intriguing – It’s a place where you can choose your desserts, interact with the chefs and watch them assemble your sweets.

THE PASTRY RIBBON – Selection of two desserts from the pastry library

[LEFT] MILLEFEUILLE with praline cream & caramelized hazelnut
[RIGHT] RASPBERRY LEMON SOUFFLE MERINGUE with raspberry compote and fresh mint cream

The desserts were well plated and tasted heavenly. S.T.A.Y reduced the sweetness of the desserts served in the Beijing branch to suit the Asian palate. Perfect for people (like me) without a sweet tooth! 🙂

Overall – A pleasant fine dining experience. I will happily revisit S.T.A.Y in my next trip to Beijing.