As their feet sink into the plush carpet, the contentment of diners patronising Garden Court restaurant on the first floor of The St. Regis Hotel is almost tangible. Their shoulders visibly relax, small smiles creep across their faces, and some even give a barely discernible sigh of satisfaction.
Astor Grill offers great food, an inviting atmosphere, attentive service in the midst of Beijing and is a fine example of the excellence cuisine the St Regis has to offer.
As we sipped this strong home-made brew, and listened to the soothing murmur of a room full of happy customers, we felt like we had an experienced a slice of something different; maybe not one hundred percent pure Italian, but very close.
We came to Danieli’s with high expectations for several reasons. Amongst these was St. Regis’ status as one of Beijing’s premiere hotels and comments we had heard from our contacts lauding the authenticity of its food. However, another was just the simple fact that this reviewer professes to crave good Italian food.
Hearing that Aman was a small, recently opened resort located on the grounds of the Summer Palace was akin to hearing that a hotel had been built next to the Eiffel Tower; for the unacquainted, the Summer Palace is one of Beijing’s must-visit destinations, a site chosen for an imperial retreat and a site deemed worthy of the coveted UNESCO world heritage label.
The civilized concept behind Naoki’s “French-Kaiseki” cuisine is to savor many smaller dishes. For some of the dishes we liked best, the portions might have erred slightly on the side of being too small, but their consistent quality and excellent presentation more than made up for this. We thoroughly enjoyed this very-high end lunch that tasted just as good at it looked.
There is little better in life than drinking excellent wine and savoring a big juicy slab of steak. The Grill at Aman provides exactly this, and it does so in the most memorable and relaxing of settings.
The Celestial Court provided the luxury one would expect from one of the world’s most respected hotel chains, yet it managed to do so while retaining authenticity and side stepping the usual pitfalls of gaudiness and ostentation.