Simply Lovely Luce 路溪 Italian Restaurant on 旧鼓楼大街
Posted: February 21st, 2012 | Author: LumDimSum | Filed under: Foodies & Dining Scene | Tags: Cafe Sambal, Italian food, Jiugulou Dajie 旧鼓楼大街, Luce, 路溪 | No Comments »
Luce Italian Restaurant 路溪 is lovely. It’s warm, they have a warm ambiance with candles everywhere and the flowing mist from humidifiers is a nice touch. When I dined here last week, the restaurant was busy, but it still felt intimate. The decor is simple and casual, but also elegant and modern at the same time. The service was not especially quick, but they were friendly and accommodating enough.
Jiugulou Dajie 旧鼓楼大街 seems to just get better with time, it’s beyond me why it’s so often overlooked as a more common destination for cafes, bars and restaurants. Luce is certainly not a new restaurant, but I haven’t heard much about it. I suppose that’s because there is nothing phenomenal about it, but there also isn’t anything terribly wrong either. It’s simple, it’s lovely and that’s Luce.
To be perfectly honest, I was immediately impressed the moment I set foot inside. If you can’t tell from the abundance of photos, I got a little camera-happy and that’s because it’s a really cute restaurant. Nothing elaborate, extravagant or particularly eye-catching, but it’s quaint, clean, unpretentious and kind of perfect for a sweet dinner date.
LumDimSum Snapshots of Luce Italian Restaurant on Jiugulou Dajie 旧鼓楼大街:
Similar to their restaurant decor, their 2-sided menu is also simple and pretty straight-forward.
Printed front and back on a little menu card, they offer a few appetizers, a few salads, pastas, mains and desserts. Just a few choices in each category, you’re certainly not overwhelmed with choice and enough options so that you’re not wanting more.
As you can see here, prices are reasonable and they even place little red stars next to their dish recommendations.
Luce’s Dinner Menu:
We each picked an appetizer each, two mains and two desserts to share (which was plenty) so we didn’t get to try too many dishes off their menu, but I think I got a sufficient impression of Luce from what I tasted.
For appetizers, we ordered the Mixed Salad with 21 vegetables, fruits and nuts included (RMB 58), which reminded of the ROOMbeijing’s 42-ingredient salad. Needless to say, ROOM’s 42-ingredient salad kind of wins hands-down, but Luce’s 21-ingredient salad was still a decent salad. My biggest gripe was that it was just a bit of a strange presentation for the salad as I didn’t think the bowl was able to show off all the various ingredients and was difficult to mix up.
The Beef Carpaccio Rolled with Arugula and Pine Nuts (RMB 52) was a pretty big disappointment. The beef was still frozen through and really, all I could taste was piercing, cold ice in my mouth. We decided it would be best to finish off the mixed salad to give the beef carpaccio time to thaw, but it was just really not good.
Dinner at Luce Italian Restaurant:
Appetizers:
21 Mixed Vegetable, Fruit and Nut Salad with Honey Vinaigrette Dressing (RMB 58) / Beef Carpaccio Rolled with Arugula and Pine Nuts (RMB 52)
Main course dishes were better than appetizers. Both the Grilled Chicken wrapped in Parma Ham on a bed of mushrooms (RMB 95) and the Rack of Lamb on a bed of Vegetable Ragu (RMB 118) were tasty and satisfying. Both cooked and prepared as we had asked and portions were appropriate (not leaving us too stuffed, and leaving just enough room for dessert). Next time though, I’d like to try one of their pasta dishes.
Main Course:
Rack of Lamb with Vegetable Ragu (RMB 118) / Grilled Young Chicken Wrapped in Parma Ham (RMB 95)
We had wanted to order the Ricotta Cheesecake with Raspberry Coulis, but they were out so we settled for the Vanilla Crème Brûlée (RMB 28). It was OK, but not fresh and had clearly been prepared in advance and sitting in a fridge. It was also a very small portion (served in a very little cup) and not as creamy as crème brûlée ought to be. Luce’s “Chocolate Soup” (RMB 55) is actually just a standard chocolate soufflé or chocolate lava cake. The chocolate was tasty, but it was cooked all the way through (no gooey chocolately center) and also nothing really worth writing home about.
Dessert:
Vanilla Creme Brulee (RMB 28) / Chocolate Soup with Pistachio Ice Cream (RMB 55)
Although Luce is certainly not the best Italian restaurant option in town, I would recommend it as the best option in the Dongcheng district if you are close to Gulou and it certainly boasts attractive views of the Drum and Bell Tower in their upstairs seating and I hear their rooftop terrace is a popular point of destination in the summer months.
Luce is versatile – from a birthday party to a romantic dinner for two, Luce won’t empty your wallet and it’s bound to generally please everyone. They have a great wine selection at very reasonable prices (their house red is an Argentinean Syrah wine at only RMB 200 per bottle) and a decent drink list at their bar.
Other Reviews of Luce Italian Restaurant:
Review of Luce Italian Restaurant: Just south of Cafe Sambal on Jiugulou: 138 Jiugulou Dajie,旧鼓楼大街; Tel: 8402-4417
Best Part:
- The ambiance of Luce is quaint, simple and lovely.
- It’s easy to find – just south of Cafe Sambal on Jiugulou Dajie 旧鼓楼大街 and close to an abundance of other cute cafes, bars and restaurants.
- Easy, elegant, down-to-earth Italian restaurant with reasonable prices.
- Impressive wine selection at great prices. We had their house red – a great Argentinean Syrah at RMB 200 per bottle.
- Their second floor dining area has gorgeous views of Drum and Bell Tower and they have a great rooftop terrace open during the summer months.
Comments:
- The food is pretty mediocre. I was quite impressed by the restaurant decor, ambiance and even their menu selection, but all the dishes either were satisfactory or didn’t meet our expectations. Nothing was really spectacular, nothing we tried made it to the “best in Beijing” category. That being said, it was a lovely dining experience and although I won’t be rushing back, I would be open to going again should the opportunity present itself.
- Service was a bit slow, but they were friendly and accommodating enough. There was one guy dressed in sweats who I assume was the owner was busy serving customers and quite engaged, but waitress was nowhere to be found during most of our meal.
- Prices are not cheap, but I think very reasonable and you walk away with a pretty decent meal.
Rating: (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best)
- Food: 7
- Atmosphere: 8
- Service: 7
- Overall Experience: 7
