J-emine's reflexionando

There were two things on my mind when the Beijing work trip was confirmed;

– Dine at Pure Lotus
– Find “that place” at Hou Hai

I could hardly contain my excitement of securing last minute reservations on a Friday evening at the restaurant, despite being told we only have 1.5 hours before the table needs to be cleared for guests that’s made prior reservations.

It took us awhile to find the well-hidden restaurant, situated amongst car park barriers and low rise apartments (and throw in a budget hotel somewhere within the compound too). Luckily, restaurant attendants were outside leading guests towards the the direction of the restaurant. Guess, many have feedback the difficulty of finding the place.

The entrance was mystiquish– impressive, the huge wooden door with a large Buddha hand lead you into a dimly lighted room with rose-scented oil being poured into your hands by restaurant attendants, all decked out in Tibetan- Buddhist inspired robes. The indoor decor was a perfect blend of mismatched furnitures with large drapes creating an illusion of Arabian night meets Tibetan Zen.

The menu was a longish, hardcover book that seemed to weigh at least 5kg with English and Chinese translations of the dishes tagged with whimsical titles, that created a flurry of not knowing what to order or where to start. Luckily, we both had similar taste and were quick to decide on which dishes caught our fancy – so, amongst the two of us, we ordered four dishes that were seemingly apt to our palate – dong po rou (东坡肉) that came in a beautiful jade vessel, lotus mixed vegatables, sweet and sour fish, and wasabi fishballs.

Each of the mock meat/seafood dishes were made either from tofu or mushrooms, but there is only that much of mock meat my stomach could handle with a strong inclination towards vegetable- dominated dishes. My favourite of the lot was the lotus mixed vegetable – abundance of goodness, is what I’ve come to term it.

The presentation of the food deserves a big thumbs up – each dish came in either ceramic or porcelain vessels, gourd or intricate shaped bowls with some form of carving or ornament fixated on it. The entrance of the food would always draw upon a ‘ooh and ahh‘ of appreciation for the details and thought that goes into each and every dish.

It was an enjoyable experience and glad I managed to check the restaurant off my list – would I go back again? Yes, for the ambiance and to bring the fogies or friends (if we’re ever in BJ at the same time) but otherwise, I’ve tasted better vegetarian food at fraction of the cost and minus the presentation. To think of it, I’ll be meeting my favourite vegetarian chef in Jakarta this month for M’s wedding, oh my how I’ve missed his cooking!

Sorry to digress – but yes, do check it out if you’re ever in the area and take a nice stroll to Sanlitun after a hearty vegetarian meal. Oh, do give the tea amiss and try the variety of shakes/juices available. (There’s tons of nice tea huts in Beijing to check out too – next entry!).

Chaoyang Park 朝阳公园
Tongguang Bldg, 12 Nongzhanguan Nanlu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区农展馆南路12号(通广大厦内)