Best Food In China

Location

Considering the Hilton Wangfujing has been open a mere 14 months, it has an impressively well-established bar and dining area, comprising Flames cocktail bar, Vasco’s Macanese restaurant, the Library lobby lounge, and Chynna Chinese restaurant.

It was the latter - the Hilton Wangfujing’s flagship Chinese restaurant - that we had the pleasure of visiting recently.

Chynna’s décor is predictably grand and opulent, with a barrel-shaped wall-ceiling containing plush booths encaged by traditional Chinese-style room dividers, thickly-carpeted VIP rooms, and a scattering of contemporary art offerings from the Singaporean designers.

The food, on the other hand, we were promised would be fully authentic. The Hilton has turned its nose up at any funny fusion nonsense, instead opting for regional Chinese classics from Guangdong, Sichuan, Anhui and Hunan (considered the main influences of Beijing cuisine), albeit with a modern twist.

We were presented with no less than four extensive and padded menus full to bursting with dishes, sectioned into appetisers, soups, poultry and meat, vegetables and (rather unusually for a Chinese restaurant, but we will come to that later) desserts. There is also a lunch option, ranging in price from 100 – 300RMB for around 10 set dishes, which struck me as excellent value for money given the nature of the establishment and the assumed quality of the food.

Fortunately the Hilton has an in-house nutritionist on hand to help guide diners through it all, along with two resident Tea Masters, who will help you navigate the well-endowed tea menu.

Our table was soon groaning under the weight of a considerable range of gourmet delights, among them Fried Prawns with Fresh Fruit (168RMB), Codfish with Sichuan Soy Bean Sauce (98RMB), Stir-fried Beef Tenderloin with Green Chili & Ginger (68RMB) and Soup of Black Hen with Chinese Angelica (26RMB/person).

The Hilton also has a pleasing lack of snobbery when it comes to dishes consumed by the average Beijinger at their local haunt; Kung Po chicken (RMB48) and pan-fried dumplings with a variety of fillings (26RMB) both feature, and moreover had not been tweaked beyond recognition by disdainful chefs.

The crowning culinary glory for all of us was the Beijing Roast Duck (168RMB) however. The chefs require 30 minutes notice for preparation and cooking, but let me assure you it’s worth the wait. It arrived expertly sliced on separate plates for meat only, meat and skin, and even skin only (which comes with a pot of sugar into which you can dip the crispy mouthfuls if you are feeling particularly outrageous), along with pancakes, plum sauce and greenery.

My Chinese colleagues were particularly impressed with the duck soup made from the cooking process. It is rarely served but should always be requested as it’s an excellent indicator of the chef’s cooking skills. This one received a resolute thumbs-up.

And so to the desserts - always a tricky area for Chinese restaurants aiming for authenticity since the Chinese have never perpetrated the usual end-of-meal sugar fest.

Joyfully the chefs have been given creative licence with this section, and taken full advantage to create the remarkably imaginative Lychee Crème Brulée with fresh seasonable berries and raspberries (58RMB) and Warm Green Tea Madeleine served with “HuDiao” wine sauce (58RMB).

The latter was particularly divine, showcasing soft, warm sponge cake delicately flavoured with green tea, over which a thimble of sweetly spiced wine is drizzled – the ultimate delight.

Overall Chynna is in many ways what you would expect for a Hilton restaurant. It’s undeniably swanky and luxurious, offering diners a 5 star-quality intimate or formal ambience and impeccable service for special occasions.

Having said that, while Chynna has the inevitable aura of exclusivity it is not exclusionary in nature and the staff have worked commendably hard to extend the dining experience to all through down-to-earth food and friendly service. Five stars indeed.

-- by Jennifer Pooley

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