Jaan Restaurant, Raffles Hotel
On our first night in Beijing, our group sat down to dinner at the
Raffles Hotel’s French restaurant, Jaan. We’d flown in from London overnight, and the combination of jetlag and general lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll on all of us. I was looking forward to a quick dinner and an early night.
The eight-course extravaganza that followed lasted more than five hours. After four slightly-larger-than-starter-sized meals of varying descriptions – including a salad, chicken stew and two delicious soups: asparagus and lobster - a tall cocktail glass arrived with a ruby red filling. Phew, I thought, dessert has arrived. But one mouthful told me that this was just the palette cleanser – a red wine flavoured Slush Puppie. The main course, two desserts and cheeses were yet to come…
But actually I was thankful. The piece de resistance was the main course: succulent roast lamb, pink and tender, served with perfect potatoes and a light gravy. I certainly wasn’t expecting good French food in China.
Green T. House
There is just one long sleek black table in the centre of the restaurant, with impossibly high seat backs that stretch up towards the ceiling like something out of Lord of the Rings. Here, food is an art, with the emphasis on presentation. The small touches make the Green T. House extra special – courses are served on large palm tree fronds, champagne flutes are filled with tiny glass beads, and extra long wooden chopsticks rest on painted Penjing branches.
At the
Green T. House, every dish - whether salad, soup, meat or fish - uses green tea as an ingredient. The Chinese have appreciated the benefits of tea for centuries and, much like the Brits, they nigh on worship it. No builders’ brews here, though. The golden, fragrant tea is served from large china teapots, infused with rose petals and stirred with powdery cinnamon sticks rather than teaspoons.
Our nine-course feast began with individual slices of crisp Asian pear, topped with a green tea and mustard sauce, with a sprinkling of walnut pieces and crumbled goats’ cheese. Wow. These were so delicious, I could have devoured an entire platter full, but the length of the menu reminded me not to be too greedy. We then had huge king prawns, which had been dressed in (what else?) green tea and enough hot wasabi to make your eyes water before being rolled in what looked like smashed up corn flakes. Several other courses followed, all carefully planned and well-executed, and each dish looking like an entry for an art competition. The restaurant’s creator Jin R is an artist and musician first, restaurateur and chef second, and her artistic roots certainly shine through in her cuisine. We were lucky enough to meet Jin R, and her talent, beauty and utter modesty left me, well, green.
The dessert was simple but beautifully presented. Scoops of ice cream in different colours and flavours were arranged on a mound of steaming dry ice around a central golden Buddha figure. Undoubtedly one of the best restaurants I have ever visited.
The Commune
The Commune is an interesting minimalist building located in the hills around the Great Wall of China. Owned by Kempinski, the hotel features ten guest lodges in vast grounds, each with stunning views of the mountains and the Great Wall of China.
The restaurant at the Commune is much like an art museum. The white walls and clean lines of the hotel’s interiors provide a stark contrast to the stunning natural landscapes that paint the windows. The Great Wall gives you that ‘pinch me, I’m really here’ feeling, as though you’ve stepped inside a postcard. To be able to see it as you eat lunch is fantastic.
The food at the Commune was more like Chinese food as we know it - various meat dishes, stir-fried vegetables and special fried rice (albeit a little more ‘special’ than the kind you get in the all-you-can-eat buffets in Soho). There were some unusual dishes too, like pickled melon, and chicken pancakes. Another day, another delicious meal…
The Food Markets
We saw a completely different dining experience taking place here - not that I can comment on the taste of the food. Amongst normal-looking chicken satay sticks stood rows of starfish, beetles and lizards on sticks, as well as live beetles and mini-scorpions just waiting to be eaten. Now, I’ve eaten some strange things in my time but live beetles are different. And lizards? No, thank you.
The Best of the Rest
Other eateries we visited included Dadong Peking Duck Restaurant, whose crispy duck pancakes were superb, and Raffles’ East 33, a buffet-style Asian fusion restaurant with an enormous range of food. To my relief, they also offered full English and Continental breakfasts - raw fish, hoi sin and wasabi can be a bit too much in the morning.
The Dining ExperienceEach restaurant in Beijing provided us with a (long) menu; but rather than indicating a list of different meals to choose from, these just point out the array of courses you will be brought, like it or not. At first I felt frustrated that I could not choose my dinner, and could not limit myself to three, even four courses. But there’s something wonderful about having the responsibility taken away in a restaurant. Dining out is a far more relaxing experience without 20 minutes spent agonising over a four-page menu; when you haven’t the worry of “will I like it?”, “perhaps I should have gone for the chicken”, or “so-and-so’s dinner looks better than mine”. Eating together was a social event for our group, and we loved sharing the experiences of the dishes, discussing the different flavours and combinations.
This October, whilst most of us are enjoying the last few warm days of our Indian Summer (it's best to remain optimistic) former Cox & Kings employee Pablo Basombrio will be braving the icy conditions of Patagonia, located in the southern tip of South America, on an expedition to traverse the continent. Pablo is attempting to cross Patagonia from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, along more than 660 kilometres of fjords, lakes and ice-caps. If successful it will be the first such crossing without external support.
Pablo and his brother Juan will first navigate the Chilean fjords to penetrate the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in their double kayak. Next they will pull the kayak as a sledge across 330km of snow, ice and crevasses, to reach Upsala Glacier. Finally, and paddling again, they will cross Lake Argentino and descend the Santa Cruz river to the Atlantic Ocean. The route follows the journey made by legendary explorer Eric Shipton in 1960/61, although the fact he approached the ice by ship is what makes this expedition, using a kayak, a unique crossing from Pacific to Atlantic.
Pablo has organised and led two big expeditions before; Cape Horn in 1999 and Isla de los Estados in 2001. Currently living in South London, Pablo has been preparing for the expedition by taking kayak sessions at Richmond Canoe Club, as well as walking with a 15kg rucksack whilst pulling a sledge made out of car tyres around Bushy Park, which must be an unusual sight for the locals.
Djemaa el-Fna 
