Best Food In China

Location

The fine-dining restaurant critic establishment warns not to eat at revolving restaurants - an impressive passing view distracts from the food, or so they say. The same people often turn their noses up at the idea of a self-service buffet. I must admit that as I sat down at this restaurant, I had similar qualms. However, an all-you-can-eat meal at the Starlight Revolving Restaurant, with great food and a terrific view, more than satisfied this critic and is sure to please all but the most hard-line restaurant traditionalist.

On the 28th floor of Jianguomen Inner Street’s Beijing International Hotel, the dining room is a tasteful blend of warm golden browns and soft lighting that twinkles as it bounces off shiny light fittings and stainless steel dish covers. However, this subtle décor humbly gives way to the spectacular view. Opting for the lobster-less lunchtime spread, a full 110-minute restaurant rotation on a clear day will allow you to see as far as the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, and Beihai Park. At dinner – a slightly wider range that features lobster - the sprawling city lights are equally striking. Whenever you dine, the view will be fantastic and, despite my initial misgivings, is certain to complement, rather than detract, from the overall dining experience.

In my experience, buffets can be tacky affairs whose food and atmosphere make you feel like you are back at school. Yet the thoughtful layout of the serving area means that there is less awkward plate-in-hand jostling as you pick up your food. Also, tables are not plonked side by side, they are back to back, dotted neatly around the circumference of the revolving seating area. This allows a sense of decorum and privacy, which, just like school canteens, is something that many buffets lack.

Another common all-you-can-eat objection is that food emphasises quantity of choice over quality of individual offerings. With a smaller range than some of Beijing’s buffets, the chef appears to have been able to prepare everything to the standards you would expect from a good à la carte menu. A quick run down: a tasty - if a little thin - beef steak was cooked for me; there was a wide range of fresh sushi; I tried plenty of interesting hot dishes; there was a desert selection as lovely as it was colourful; and wrapped up personally for me were some of the best Beijing duck pancakes that I had eaten for a while.

If I had to focus on one thing, it would be what its nametag described as simply “Pork.” It was pork, but what the nametag failed to communicate was the delicate cabbage wrapping and the gorgeous white wine-like sauce. Hopefully the “Pork,” or something equally as good, will be there for your visit. However, and this is a good thing, just like the restaurant, parts of the menu are revolving too.

Different tactics are called for when reviewing a buffet restaurant - I have only myself to blame for bad service and small portions, and similarly, it is hardly the chef’s fault if I place clashing flavours together on the same plate. Most important with all-you-can-eats is the range and quality of the food, as well as the dining environment. The food easily makes up in quality for what it lacks in range - of the buffet spreads in Beijing, this one is one of the tastiest. As for the environment, the layout makes the experience refreshingly intimate for a buffet and the spectacular spinning view is a dining concept that did not take long for me to come around to.

- by Jeremy Webb

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