Family-style French
Though Beijing’s Waldorf Astoria is a fairly new kid on the capital block, it too claims a century of tradition from its famous New York forbear. Waldorf salad and red-velvet cake were born in its kitchens. US President Harry Truman favored sipping its classic bourbon old-fashioned, and the Peacock Alley bar created a special cocktail for Marilyn Monroe.
In the Beijing venue, chef Benoit Chargy has shaken up the menu at Brasserie 1893. The goal: enhance the French dining experience with less formality but a key tradition — sharing. Signature plates designed for two or more include starters of poached octopus marinated in lemon garlic, baby vegetables prepared Provence-style, and a salad of fresh pear and assorted nuts with a light yogurt-herb dressing.
Soup, of course, is served individually — at our tasting, it was a conversation-stopping green apple and pea, with sliced Iberian ham and coconut foam. Next came an equally delectable hot appetizer: blue lobster and scallop ravioli, with peach coulis and chervil foam.
The show stoppers, however, were the generously plated mains. Pan-seared and lemon-marinated mountain trout, sustainably sourced, showcased the restaurant’s flair with freshwater fish and seafoods. Bavette flap steak is normally served rarer than many Chinese like beef, but the servers are alert and will instruct the kitchen with your preference. Roasted whole baby chicken with root vegetables and gravy, meanwhile, is so yummy that it will induce memories of Sunday dinners with your French granny — even if you never had one.
Dessert options include a WA standard, caramelized vanilla mille-feuille. We were more tempted by the banoffee, a stack on a shortbread base with soft caramel, caramelized banana and Chantilly cream. Then there was that red-velvet cake, which the kitchen gives a Chinese edge with bits of candied hawthorn.
Brasserie 1893 at the Waldorf Astoria Beijing, 1/F, 5-15 Jinyu hutong, Dongcheng district. 0108520-8931.