Stave Off the Cold Weather With Chat Room's Hearty New Menu
The flaky pastry crumbles delectably in your mouth and, as satisfying as that is, it's nothing compared to what that puff encases: tender, deeply flavorful 21-day aged beef.
This is the tastiest portion of Chat Room's hearty new seasonal menu, which arrives just in time for the colder weather. The particular high point that we are referring to is the beef puff pastry in the Raf-Wellington and UK Bone Marrow dish (RMB 268, pictured above), which is part of the all-day dinner section of the Joy City mall restaurant's new menu. While the pastry is the best part of the dish, the bone marrow is also incredible, house-roasted in herbs and is topped with sweet-and-sour layer of caramelized onion chunks mixed in red wine sauce. And while Beef Wellington has long been served at both locations of Chat Room's sister restaurant, The Rug, this is the first time that it is featured at the Joy City outlet and the first time that it has a side of bone marrow, which ups the ante considerably.
Another excellent all-day chef's dish is the tomahawk pork loin ranch plate (RMB 198). This massive chef's slow cooked roasted pork loin arrives still on the bone, making the pork juicy and firm, and it's topped off with a side of wholesome stir fried potatoes and homemade old style spicy kimchi.
Patrons looking for lighter fare will delight in the Spicy Bang Bang Chicken Salad (RMB 52). It features sliced chicken chunks, cucumber and other mixed veggies, along with peanut butter sesame and chili oil sauces on the side. It's very much an Asian influenced dish, its veggies comfortably moist to the point of only having a slight crunch, while the peanut butter sesame sauce gives it a distinctively sweet-and-sour zip.
Other must-try items include the range of new warm organic Greek yogurts, which will surely tempt the restaurant's Chinese clientele, who often prefer to avoid typically cold yogurt. There are also wild berry honey organic (RMB 46), golden banana (RMB 42) and avocado green (RMB 48) varieties. We tried the avocado option, and were amazed by its frothy consistency and subtly bitter flavor, making for a refreshing alternative to standard runny and overly sweet yogurts. The secret to its success is the fact that it's made from organic farm milk, and that it is steamed in-house.
Families will, meanwhile, enjoy the expanded kids menu, which features cocktails that parents and children can enjoy together (the former with alcohol and the latter, of course, substituting booze with a youngster friendly sparkling juice). In the same vein, Chat Room is also attempting accommodate many of its customers that drive a range of new mocktails, the best being a Basil Smythe (RMB 48), the leafy green ingredient being a perfect appetite stimulant for the feast ahead.
This sumptuous menu is topped off with a selection of new desserts, from which we chose a strawberry topped New York-style cheesecake (RMB 48). Made with an anything-but-typical Australian cheese that is steamed and then baked in impressive five-hour process, for a dessert that is super smooth, and a far superior version to the powdery alternatives found at lesser restaurants. It's made all the more delicious by a coating of vinegar and honey on top, giving it a complex sweet and sour flavor that eschews overt richness (another flaw at numerous restaurants).
These are but a few of the fantastic new menu items at Chat Room, and they elevate the restaurant's overall appeal considerably. Add to that a flashy, magazine quality aesthetic to the new menu, giving you plenty of incentive to stop by, flip through those glossy pages and order enough hearty, indulgent dishes to make you forget all about Beijing harsh winter.
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Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
Twitter: @MulKyle
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Photos: Kyle Mullin
