Black Sesame Kitchen Back Behind the Stove at The Orchid

When Black Sesame Kitchen was forced to move from its original Heizhima Hutong location earlier in 2014, we held our breath as to whether they would find another hutong space. Luckily for us, they are back and now based out of The Orchid, offering reservation-only private dining and weekly communal dinners. 

We called by a couple of weeks ago to try out one of their communal dinners, which make the most of The Orchid's comfy upstairs lounge. Since there were only two of us, we took a seat at a table already buzzing with both local expats and one-off visitors. 

The food, from executive chef Zhang Aifeng and assistant chef Wang Kaiyun, is like the best kind of home cooking - tasty and comforting, yes, but a step above anything you could whip up yourself. The menu will change according to the seasons, but on the night we visited we particularly enjoyed a unctuous dish of five-flavor eggplant and some spicy squid cooked in the style of Chongqing lazi ji.

Dinner will set you back RMB 300 per person for a ten course Chinese meal plus two and a half hours of free flow wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks.The dinners are held at 7pm every Tuesday and Friday. Make sure to book in advance by emailing reservations@blacksesamekitchen.com or calling 13691474408. 

More stories by this author here.

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Photos: Robynne Tindall