Best Food In China

Location

The Great Sunday brunch at Café d’Or imbues a glamorous vibe to its diners. Stepping into the white, natural light and elegantly simple hall, you feel like you have entered a 1920s club. Each of the staff you walk by ebulliently yet somehow calmly greet you and are quick to serve your first glass of nicely chilled Moet champagne.

The swank does not stop there. Dishes on offer include Braised Rabbit, Suckling Pig, Goose Liver, and other dishes that you will not find at the big brunches. Café d’Or’s brunch is a medium sized brunch. Located in the Financial District, it is not as popular or as accessible as the others, and they have wisely targeted their brunch for a smaller clientele. As a result the quantity of choices is not as great, but the quality and exoticness is definitely higher.

The Peking duck is excellent and perfectly made, and the Suckling Pig is also commendable. The Goose liver can be fried or grilled and Café d’Or does not skimp on the quality of it. The Goose liver is as good as that found at the high end French restaurants in Beijing.

The small grill station offers tender lamb, lean beef, which are generously peppered and served medium rare, and are succulent and pleasantly good quality, but the show stealer is the Crocodile meat that is served. There is no other brunch that serves Crocodile meat, and they make sure that it tastes good too. On the grill are also a variety of fantastic kebabs that are sure to please and are mouth wateringly juicy and some are even crispy heaven.

Another exotic feature is the Mornay lobster and grilled oysters and scallops, which also can compete with the grilled and mornay lobster found at restaurants. Café d’Or has made sure to present caliber dishes.
Though that in itself is filling, there is also a Mexican station serving delightfully light tacos filled with sweet guacamole and fresh vegetables, and there is a Noodle Station with a variety of handmade noodles that are not typically found, including an amazing green noodle that with one bite schooled the mouth in how noodles should be made.

The Chinese station has fun Beijing finger food snacks filled with the traditional delicious bean paste, and dumplings that hold their own, in particular a plump juicy shrimp dumpling, and succulent wantons.
The sushi and sashimi includes octopus and tender sushi rolls with green and black caviars. On offer is also pizza and quiches that though are not as hot as they should be, are also not as bland and ordinary as their counterparts at other buffets. There is also seafood stir fries, meat stews, and smoked pineapple chicken that is a wow.

The salad station offers numerous oils and sauces so that patrons can make their own salads, and also offers a small yet tantalizing selection of pasta salad and refreshing noodle salads that can easily be over indulged in. There is also an omelets station with omelets that look fresh and not as mass produced as other buffets make them look.

The only flaw in the brunch is the quality of desserts. The Ice Cream is excellent and rich, but the short cakes, cheese cakes, and mini tarts and mousses are bland. Further, the macaroons and small cookies were to dry and stale. However, there is a fun chocolate fondue and a wonderful Crème Brule cart that comes to your table and is prepared in front of your eyes. The Crème Brule is great and made the way it should be.
For parents, there is a play area for children with their own buffet line to ensure their enjoyment.

Café d’Or has put great care into their brunch, and has made the effort to give an amazing brunch, and it shows. At 299 rmb including champagne and alcohol, it has a competitive edge in price, that includes a Vodka Bar and imported wines. They have tried to impress and have not failed. Yes, it is out of the way and not as much of a spectacle as the other brunches, but the dishes are impressive and delicious, and it can be said that the food here is overwhelmingly a Hit rather than a Miss.

-- by Larissa Paschyn

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