Best Food In China

Location

The Invito Woman represented on the logo is what the restaurant strives to be, sexy, and Invito is sexy. With a Florentine image, each level is sexy, featuring a casual café on the first floor, with al fresco lakeside seating; a fine dining restaurant on the second floor; and a trendy cocktail lounge underground (only available for events upon reservation).

Their contemporary cuisine focuses on aromatic cooking, and lush black truffles and famous wagyu beef. In fact, they can safely boast to serve the best Chinese wagyu beef. The cuts come from the same farm that the governor orders from. Invito also proudly boasts an Enomatic wine machine, allowing any of their wide range of boutique wines to be served by the glass. Manager Paola is a charming passionate man who will gladly explain the machine and allow wine tasting. Their wine menu is rich and full, and one can safely say that Invito has the best wine menu in town. It is a rarity to be able to drink obscure boutique wines from Australia to Italy in Beijing. All of this serves to make you feel sexy about yourself as you leave the restaurant.

For Apperetivi, the Tuna carpaccio with pesto lemon dressing and arugula salad was fresh with a strong tuna sauce that flowed effortlessly into a latent beef flavor. The tuna was nicely seared, raw pink in the center and crispy brown edges. The Foie Gras with onion cream, porcini mushrooms hit in levels of flavor. Impeccably made, its richness was enhanced by the sweet creamy onion sauce. The savory mushrooms made sure to not allow the onion to overwhelm the dish, providing an ever flowing parade of textures and taste.

As soups go, the Soup of the Day was a Sweet Potato soup with bell peppers, and the first spoonful sent the memory back to days of old when grandparents would make this sweet creamy with hints of savory soup.

However, the Cannellini bean soup, savoy cabbage, black truffle could not match the soup of the day. Known for their truffle dishes, this soup was bland with the truffles adding nothing to flavor, and had a texture that was creamy but not smooth. It lacked a pleasing texture or aromatic taste.

For pasta the Home made potato gnocchi Tuscan style was very good, though not melt in your mouth fantastic. Beginning with a perfect and hearty beef ravioli taste, it maintained a minced rather than melted or traditional bolonaise flavor. The mushrooms in the gnocchi were the definite highlight of the dish, and gave an overall succulent taste. In fact, we craved for even more mushrooms which would have only made the dish better. The Saffron risotto with asparagus and prawns, guava sauce was the statue of creativity, albeit disconcerting. The saffron rice gave it a firm, grainy texture and the guava sauce did little to add zest to the dish. The prawns however were fresh and crunchy.

As the Second -Main courses arrived, the presentations were impressive. The Wagyu beef Rossini with gratin truffle potatoes and chanterelle mushrooms in balsamic sauce lived up to its reputation. Served rare, the way it should be, it was excellent and had a orchestrated tune of enigmatic tastes. So tender that a spoon could cut through it, the shaved truffle, mushrooms, and honey and red wine balsamic sauce performed together to literally allow it to dissolve in the mouth. That being said, the Braised lamb shank with mashed potato and prunes was a disappointment. The mashed potato with cinnamon was great, and served the way mashed potato should be - buttery and succulent with a tinge of sweetness. The lamb shank was very tender and a great meat, but was overwhelmed by a strongly sweet sauce that was not appetizing. If the lamb had been left on its own and complimented with a medium light sauce, it would have been quite good.

Finally, the Dolce-Desserts. The Tiramisu with vanilla ice cream was sexy. With a layer of coffee chocolate shavings, the tiramisu was creamy and fluffy and felt whipped. Rather than the traditional wine taste or sponge layer, this one felt smooth and lush. The White chocolate and raspberry mousse cake had a layer of sponge cake on the bottom, and a gooey raspberry center, and was more of a cheesecake rather than mousse. It was not bad but not outstanding and was overshadowed by the tiramisu. It must be said, that one should definitely leave room for dessert at Invito.

One would be hard pressed not to find a reason to visit Invito. Their wine and wagyu and foie gras is quite a sight to behold and taste, and Invito easily has the most breathtaking romantic view. Overlooking Chaoyang Lake, it would not be hard to get lost in the meal and in the scenery, and your date will be thankful.

-- by Larissa Paschyn

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