Authentic Aussie Astral

I’ll be honest – I can be quite biased against hotel restaurants and bars. I never doubt an international hotel’s ability to deliver quality F&B with 5-star service, but with the exception of boutique hotels like The Opposite House, the Park Hyatt, and Centro, I find that most hotel venues in Beijing to lack vibrancy, buzz, atmosphere and that extra draw to keep you coming back.

Before CW’s Gourmet Month, I had never heard of Astral Restaurant, nor had I heard of Tangla Hotel, which is located on the west side of Beijing, just a few minutes walk east of MuXiDi subway stop.

Only 6 months into opening, Astral delivered one of the most original and deliciously memorable dining experiences in Beijing.

This is precisely why I started LumDimSum – To share an incredibly unique dining experience with people who might miss out on something wonderful because it is outside of what I like to call, “The Sanlitun/CBD Bubble” (which is very easy to get trapped in considering the vast number of quality establishments readily available). With so many top-notch restaurants and bars on the east side of town, it’s easy to turn a blind eye to the west side, especially when we’re talking about going past FuXingMen.

It was quite a time-consuming journey, but the trek across the city during peak traffic time was totally worth what we had

'Irresistible' Cocktail

coming – a 4-course menu featuring exotic meats like emu, crocodile, and kangaroo, clearly a rare find in Beijing.

The only restaurant in Beijing to focus on Australian produce, Astral also has an extensive list of Australian wines and beers and refreshingly delicious cocktails with some unbeatable promotions, namely – Free flow beer for RMB 100 and 2-for-1 cocktails at RMB 68. I highly recommend the ‘Irresistible’ (a suiting name) – Grand Marnier, Fresh Strawberries & Apple Juice and the Washington Apple – Whiskey, Apple Pucker & Cranberry Juice.

Ok, foodies, let’s get to the good stuff-

*Note -  The 4-course set menu we ordered was RMB 150 + 15% service, available only as part of CW’s April 2010 Gourmet Month.

The first part of the 4-course menu was the Cream of Pumpkin with Crabmeat & Creamy Pea & Ham Soup. Both were smooth, creamy and a perfect starter complemented by an assortment of freshly baked buns. Soups on their a la carte menu are all available between RMB 68-78.

Next, the second course got interesting with Emu Fillet Carpaccio (RMB 108) and Timbale of River Trout. Both dishes were out of this world. Emu Carpaccio was perfectly paired with mustard sauce and just the thought of the flavor of the smoked trout gets me salivating all over again. A few other appetizers worth noting from their a la carte menu include Paupiette of Smoked Salmon with Asparagus & Citrus Dressing (RMB 98) and Baked Tasmanian “Casino” Oysters with Fish Roe (RMB 138).

For our main course, we ordered both the Kangaroo Loin with Carrots, Polenta, Spinach & Hollandaise sauce and the Crocodile Fillet with Roasted Veggies & Lyonnaise Potato. Trying these exotic Australian imported meats for the first time, it was so much fun going back and forth between each dish trying to analyze and find the proper words to explain the taste and texture of both kangaroo and crocodile meat. If you’re never tried it, I can best explain kangaroo meat as having a similar texture to beef, but with a smokier flavor and crocodile meat as a cross between chicken and fish with a taste of prawns but with the texture of tougher fish meat.

…I can keep going, but I think you get the picture.  If not, I took pictures for you.

While we were blown away by the meal thus far, we were not so impressed with the desserts – The Australian Lamington with coconut sauce was 3 dense cakes covered in a thin layer of chocolate and coconut sprinkles with coconut cream served on the side. And the Berry Pavlova was really just a mountain of cream topped with passion fruit sauce and some berries.  The desserts were definitely the weakest link of this meal, but it didn’t really matter considering how exquisite the first three courses were.

Overall, I highly recommend for people to make the trip out to the west side of Beijing if they ever have had an itch to try something totally different. Describing to you the taste and texture of crocodile, kangaroo, and emu can only get you so far.  You gotta bite the bullet and try for yourself.

If you are not the adventurous foodie, then there is a vast assortment of other enticing entrees available including Lobster Baked with Hollandaise – 350g (RMB 380), 200g Waygu Beef (RMB 488), 200g Australian Angus Beef Tenderloin (RMB 258), Australian Lamb Rack (RMB 318).

If you can’t decide between species from the sea and land, then Astral offers a few surf ‘n turf combo dishes – Grilled Beef Tenderloin & Ocean Prawn (RMB 288) and the Australian Lamb Rack with a Seafood Skewer (RMB 288).

Based from my dining experience tonight, I think that regardless of what you end up ordering, you won’t be going home disappointed.

Review of Astral Restaurant: Located in TANGLA Hotel, 19 Fuxingmenwai Dajie Xi Chang’an Jie, Xidan/Financial Street (Across from the Capital Museum. Subway: Line One to Muxidi Station, Exit B, and walk east for 2 minutes.)  复兴门外大街19号,北京唐拉雅秀酒店 出租车：首都博物馆正对面；乘坐地铁：一号线，木樨地站B出口，东走2分钟。Tel:  5857-6688 ext. 6611

Best Part:

• Beijing’s only establishment serving Australian-imported meat like Emu, Kangaroo, and Crocodile (not only serving as an adventurous dining experience, but a great talking point)
• Quality, taste and presentation of dishes were exceptional
• Australian manager & chef are both very knowledgeable and friendly
• Extensive Australian wine & beer selection along with fantastic cocktails like the ‘Irresistible’ with fresh strawberries
• Great Drink Promotions: Month of April-June, cocktails are 2-for-1 at RMB 68. Every Thur-Sat, pay 100rmb +15% to sample their selection of Australian beer. Special runs from 8pm till 11pm.
• CW Gourmet Month Deal is unbeatable in terms of value and overall dining experience.

Comments:

• As stated in the review above, the desserts were the weakest link of the meal. Too much cream or too much dense cake, it gave too much fluff and lacked the richness of flavor that we, sweet-tooth lovers, crave at the end of a meal.
• It’s location on the west side of Beijing is no doubt an obstacle. Considering it’s proximity to the subway station, I would highly recommend going by subway for transport.
• The design of the venue is more Chinese than Australian.  The bar may be in the shape of a boomerang, but the flashing colored lights are just tacky and resemble BabyFace Club more than Aboriginal design. The clear beaded strings enclosing a section of seating also resembles Ding Ding Xuan Hot Pot more than anything I’ve ever seen in Australia.
• One waitress actually came up to each person at my table every time a dish was served to ask how we liked it. It was cute and considerate the first time around, but got old pretty fast.  Staff is friendly and attentive, but clearly just following protocol more than common sense.
• Live Band (2 girl duo with one on the keyboard singing everything from jazzy to pop beats). They were quite talented and the volume was perfect (not too loud), but near the end of our dinner, they sang a Chinese Country song that made my ears bleed. In their defense, it could have been a request from the audience? For their sake, I hope this was the case.

Rating: (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best)

• Food: 9
• Atmosphere: 6
• Service: 7
• Overall Experience: 8

Prom Party

This Friday, April 30, BLING is bringing PROM to Beijing.

That’s right; you heard correct. PROM.

It’s like going back to high school — but knowing what you do now.

Limo pick-up, Big Dresses, Tuxedos, Corsages, and Prom Pictures.

Do it right this time, only this time you don’t have to pre-arrange a date.

Dressed up couples get 2-for-1 drinks until midnight.

Exclusively @ BLING.

Date: Friday, April 30

Time/时间: 9pm-late

Reservations for table bookings are highly recommended: Contact me directly

Go Bananas for BananaFish

I love bananas. As a kid, I used to say I ate so many bananas, I could turn into a monkey.

So you can imagine how my eyes lit up when I heard BananaFish serves sushi rolls with banana as its main ingredient! According to the management of BananaFish, when it comes to the banana sushi rolls, people either hate it or love it but for me, I knew it would be love at first sight.

Background: BananaFish is a newly-opened Pan-Pacific Grill Restaurant on the third floor of Tongli Studio (between White Rabbit and Kokomo) with floor-to-ceiling wooden door that leads into a beautiful wooden interior space with a massive charcoal grill specialized in cooking whole fish, meats and veggies on chuar sticks. Serving a wide selection of appetizers and salads, grilled entree dishes, individual grill items (seafood, meat and veggies), BananaFish also has a special selection of about 5 sushi rolls and 5 dessert items. Another highlight of BananaFish is their extensive New World wine menu with an assortment of fruity cocktails (ideally paired with dessert).

After a warm welcome, we chose seating right in front of the grill, which was perfect for two people.  And once the weather finally starts to gets warmer, I have no doubt that their outdoor seating will be in high demand.

Starting our meal with the appetizer and salads section, we ordered the San Francisco Salad (RMB 28) – slices of avocado, mango and shrimp around a bed of lettuce with oil and vinegar dressing served on the side and the Chicken Breast Caesar Salad (RMB 25) – Grilled, tender seasoned chicken breast atop a creamy caesar salad with bacon bits and chunks of croutons.

Next came our high-anticipated banana sushi roll, called the Sea Tale (RMB 38) – bananas on the inside with cooked tuna, raw tuna, avocado and crab roe on top.  This was definitely a highlight of the meal with an interesting combination of sweet and savory flavors, not to mention the unexpected creamy texture of banana with rice and fish. Also highly recommended was the sushi roll called Three Kinds of Life (RMB 38) – A 6 piece nigiri set with 2 pieces of tuna, 2 salmon, and 2 avocado, all topped with crab and crab roe.  While all the seafood and ingredients were fresh and flavorful, my only complaint was that the sushi rice was not as moist or as flavorful as Hatsune‘s sushi rice, home of Beijing’s legendary California-style sushi rolls. Sushi rice aside, I’ve got to give it to BananaFish for their sushi rolls’ creative combinations and beautiful presentation. I definitely dig the use of banana in sushi rolls.

For entrees, we chose the Tiger Prawn with Mango Salsa (RMB 38) – 2 Giant Grilled Tiger Prawns with a side of marinated mango slices and tomatoes and Grilled Pork Ribs with Honey BBQ (RMB 38) – 2 racks of marinated BBQ pork ribs with steamed veggies on the side. Next time, I’d definitely like to try the Blackened Squid and the Grilled Beef Fillet with Bacon.

From the individual grill section, we sampled the Grilled Mackerel (RMB 18), which was moist and tender on the inside, crispy on outside. Other items include various other fish, a variety of meat (Chicken heard, Chicken Gizzard, Pork Loin, etc.) and veggies (corn, garlic, onion, sweet potato, asparagus to name a few).

For dessert, we sampled the second banana sushi roll called Mango Lover (RMB 38) with banana and avocado on the inside, mango and dried cranberries on top. The verdict on the Mango Lover was also a winner, but considering it was quite similar to the Sea Tale sushi roll and just too filling as a dessert, I would definitely still opt for the Sea Tale over the Mango Lover.  The preferred dessert dish was the Fried Bananas with Ice Cream (RMB 22). This dessert was fantastic and was the perfect end to a “banana meal”. My only suggestion is that I would have preferred two scoops of chocolate since bananas compliment chocolate so well.

Review of BananaFish:  3/F Tongli Studios, Sanlitun 三里屯同里3层  Tel: 6415-7166

Best Part:

• I highly recommend all Banana dishes, especially the Banana sushi – called Sea Tale (RMB 38) -Bananas on the inside with Cooked Tuna, Raw Tuna, Avocado, Crab Roe on top, or the dessert sushi roll, Mango Lover (RMB 38) – banana and avocado topped with mango and dried cranberries
• The massive charcoal grill is quite impressive and entertaining to watch. If you are coming in a small group of 2-3 people, I’d recommend sitting at the bar in front of the grill.
• Design of the venue and seating arrangements is strategically laid out and I applaud the use of mirrors to give the illusion of using a bigger space.

Comments:

• As a newly-opened restaurant, the service is clearly still in training stages, but their staff’s attitude was friendly and BananaFish management is on top of their game.
• BananaFish shares the same entrance door and is connected to sister restaurant Bambu BBQ (serving BBQ grill Asian fusion cuisine).
• Bananafish is also by the same owner of The Apartment, Alpha, BambuBBQ and White Rabbit (they are slowly taking over and dominating Tongli Studio).
• For the month of April, BananaFish will be offering a 20% discount on all food items.

Rating: (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best)

• Food: 7
• Atmosphere: 9
• Service: 7
• Overall Experience: 8
  

Show Off Your Short Sleeves @ Xiu

Xiu’s Terrace Re-Opening Party

This Wednesday, April 28, Park Hyatt’s Xiu re-opens its gorgeous outdoor terrace for the summer! (They covered up their terrace with a hookah tent during the cold winter months).

Enjoy BBQ, music and chilled drinks as the longest winter EVER is finally coming to an end. *fingers crossed*

Note: From 8PM-10PM : Invitation only
10pm onwards: Open to the public

**To get on Riviera’s VIP guest list, be the First 20 LumDimSum readers to e-mail Riviera founder & PR socialite, Benoit Thebaut and get yourself & your friends on the guestlist! Benoit Thebaut – ben.thebaut@rivieraevents.com

Free Pizza @ La Pizza

Mama Mia!

I have just gotten wind of a great LumDimSum Hot Tip!

La Pizza (3.3 Sanlitun branch) will be giving away free pizza & beer on Wednesday, April 28 from 3:30-4:30PM.

Why? “To celebrate the approval of the European Community trademark DOC -STG marks on the Pizza Naples indicate the typicality of true Neapolitan pizza” -La Pizza

In case you were as confused as me (this also went right over my head), just remember the main message: free pizza & beer at La Pizza!

For more information, check out CW’s site.

Buon appetito!

Now Online: candy&caviar F/W 2010

candy&caviar’s entire Fall/Winter 2010 Collection is now online!

Click this image for a direct link to candy&caviar’s website:

*candy&caviar’s online store has most recently released a few hot items from the Women’s FW 2010 Collection, but if you’d like to try on more items, then you can visit the candy&caviar showroom at China Central Place.

Get a Sneak Peak Behind-the-Scenes with the Official candy&caviar 2010 Fashion Show Video:

candy&caviar F/W 2010 Fashion Show from candy&caviar on Vimeo.

Can’t get enough?  Click below for a second candy&caviar 2010 Fashion Show Video Courtesy of DJ Keza:

candy&caviar 2010 Fashion Show by DJ Keza from candy&caviar on Vimeo.

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:
CATHERINE DE FRANCE
D.LOUNGE
LUMDIMSUM
LOLLIPOP BAKERY
BON BON BINS

candy&caviar Showroom Address:

北京市朝阳区建国路 89号华贸商务楼4号楼1905室

China Central Place, Building 4, Suite 1905

Beijing, China

www.candyandcaviar.com

“Suck My Kick”: Kickball 2010

Candice Lee‘s annual birthday kickball tournament has become a high-anticipated, full-on epic Beijing event.

From team captains, team uniforms, team spirit and chants to keg stands, beer boat races and serious athletic competition, Anything & Everything goes in kickball.

LumDimSummary of C-Dice’s 2010 Kickball Tournament:

1 Birthday Girl

+

6 Teams

+

150+ People

+

25 Kegs

+

Endless Heckling Matches/Competitive Streaks

= 7 Hours of Non-Stop Kickball Fun

LumDimSum Photo Gallery of C-Dice’s 2010 Kickball Tournament:

Team 你以为

Team Golden Horde

Team CBD Bloodz

Team HouHai Crips

Team WonTon Hitters aka Best Team EVER

Team Super Dupers

LumDimSaying: By Albert Einstein

“There are only two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

-Albert Einstein

*What is a LumDimSaying? A quote I find worth noting. And sharing.

Make Room for ROOMbeijing

Brian McKenna‘s new restaurant, bar and lounge, ROOMbeijing opens its doors with a soft opening starting at 11AM on Monday, April 26.

With Brian McKenna‘s name attached, I figured it would be safe to assume high-profile, international cuisine complemented by glitzy drinks, house music, and contemporary art.

But instead they are marketing themselves as:

“The place to go if you want a casual snack and a drink, a private dinner with colleagues or the family, a relaxed first date – it’s whatever you want it to be. There are no dress codes and no assumptions of how you should dine. Just expect great value for money, flexible service and a place to be yourself.  Average spend per person: RMB 100-150 (lunch); RMB 200-300 (dinner).” – ROOMbeijing

Expect the unexpected.

• Location: Above Giorgio Armani, Level 3, PARK LIFE, Beijing Yintai Centre, 2 Jianguomenwai Avenue 银泰中心
• Reservations: (+86 10) 8517 2033 (Open Reservation Dates Starting Monday, May 10)

Sophia’s Birthday Bash

Happy Birthday Sophia!

LumDimSum Photo Gallery of Sophia’s Birthday Dinner @ Hatsune Sanlitun:

Stock Up on Affordable Art

The major annual art event, Affordable Art Beijing 2010 will be showcased in The Orange in the Sanlitun Village.

For one weekend only, art lovers have an opportunity to stock up on an extensive range of paintings, sculpture, prints and photographs from just a few hundred RMB up to a max of RMB 10,000.

Art pieces will be rotated with new pieces showcased as soon as one sells, so the stock of artwork will be continuously replenished throughout the weekend.

Note: Purchases will be cash only with a 20% deposit to secure a work and the full payment must be received before 6pm on Sunday 25th April 2010.

LumDimSummary: Karaiya’s 2nd Wine Tasting Dinner

Thanks again to Alan Wong for a 2nd successful session of Karaiya Spice House’s Wine Tasting Dinner!

After Karaiya’s first wine event, Alan switched things up. Instead of white wine, Alan opted to serve four different red wines and instead of serving one wine at a time, Alan poured all the wines at once to make things a little more interesting.

A tasting flight of four different red wines complemented by Karaiya’s top signature dishes, Alan provided a blind tasting test for all guests by explaining how to assess and evaluate the wide range of flavors, aromas, and general characteristics of each wine before revealing each wine’s label.

Keep posted on LumDimSum for details about upcoming events hosted by Alan Wong.

LumDimSum Photo Gallery of the Wine Tasting Dinner Party @ Karaiya Spice House:

LumDimSum’s Choice Chinese on CW

LumDimSum Reviews Madame Zhu’s Kitchen as the Choice Chinese of CityWeekend’s April Issue:

Update:

Having just re-visited Madame Zhu’s Kitchen the other night, I would like to spotlight a few new items that I was delighted to discover:

• Pineapple Salad - RMB 32
• Egg with Shrimp and Crab – RMB 18 for a single serving. (photo below)
• Fried Spinach with Beancurd and Mushrooms – RMB 38 (photo below)
• Tofu Ice Cream -RMB 18 for single serving. (photo below)

Bang for your Buck: Bambu BBQ Soft-Opening Special

Now here’s a sweet tip for my favorite LumDimSum friends:

Feel free to spread the word and bring friends to come and enjoy this great offer for a limited time:

50% off all food – Today (Wednesday) to Thursday (April 20-22)

40% off all food – Friday to Sunday (April 23-25)

30% off all food – Monday to Friday (April 26-30)

20% off all food – The entire month of May

Laugh Til It Hurts: Beijing Improv’s Interactive Arts Festival

Beijing Improv presents their 2nd Annual Beijing Improv Interactive Arts Festival this weekend, April 23rd-25th @ Penghao Theatre.

With two days of workshops and performances in photography, dance, poetry, theatre, music, and fashion, the Beijing Improv Interactive Arts Festival will bringing together Beijing’s top local and international artists to create spontaneous and hilarious shows for your enjoyment. (In Chinese and English.)

30RMB Day Pass includes all shows and workshops for a day. An additional charge will apply for those who wish to attend the BJI Evening Performances.

For more info, check out their website.