The Short Now
It’s only 11.30 in the morning and already the restaurant is filling up with the bold and the beautiful, some solo, some plural. We’re in good company. The omnipresent winter sun is flowing into the second floor dining room through louvred windows, simultaneously highlighting and shadowing the beautiful interior like a giant weathervane. In the bowed corners of the quatrefoil shaped space quatrefoil shaped chains hang in front of hand painted silk depicting colourful birds.
In Chinese culture the quatrefoil shape or persimmon stem, symbolises good luck, fortune, prosperity and harmony – like so many things do! Quatrefoils appear again on the deep pile carpet and on the ceiling of the double height foyer directly below. We’re lunching in Zijin Mansion, the Michelin star restaurant in the epic Waldorf Astoria Beijing, beneficiaries of good luck, fortune, prosperity and harmony.
Chef James Wang is celebrating a decade of working up a storm in the hotel. He explains, “Inspired by traditional Cantonese cooking techniques and concepts, Zijin Mansion selects seasonal ingredients and combines them with local dietary culture, presenting traditional and authentic exquisite Cantonese delicacies for diners.” Signature dishes which we will enjoy include Zijin Metropolitan, a rich soup with South African dried abalone and fish maw. It’s the very essence of Hakka flavours.
Feeling dry curious we have a glass of Pinot Noir Sparkling Grape Juice. And then a couple of dozen courses. Yes! Lit to the left: old masters, new mistresses. Appetisers such as Marinated Abalone with Mushroom XO Sauce. Main courses include Panfried Boston Lobster with Basil, Onion and Scallions. Puddings include Double Boiled Coconut Milk with Chocolate Bird’s Nest. We’re eating the menu. All of it. The Chef knows all about delivering refined simplicity while highlighting a respect for the ingredients. Haute cuisine of China on a plate. Or rather a lot of plates, bowls and stands. We’re getting it.
Our bill per head arrives. Amuse bouche 0 RMB. Amuse Bouche 0 RMB. Sparkling Water 136 RMB. Pinot Noir Sparkling Grape Juice 196 RMB Michelin Set Menu 988 RMB. Subtotal 1,320 RMB. Service charge 15 percent. Total 1,518 RMB. That’s roughly £160 per person for a world class leisurely three hour meal so while not exactly bargain basement it does connect to that old Chinese saying, “Cheap things are not good; good things are not cheap.”
