Bottega Helps Us Keep the Chills at Bay With Its Hearty New Set Lunch Menu

Though Beijingers mostly make their way to Bottega to get a carb fix, ordering their famously wood fire-kissed pizzas and mouthwatering pasta, the restaurant is slowly but surely building up corners of its menu that you might have previously overlooked.

We first noticed this a few months back when we tried a number of noodle and risotto options that were so good, we didn’t even miss the restaurant's pizzas. Now they’ve taken that notion a step further with their new lunch set, for which you can try a starter and a main together for RMB 98 (dessert and a couple of the fancier items like the tailgate beef fillet are extra). Here are a few of our favorites:

Zuppa Di Minestrone
This simple soup is a surprisingly warm delight that’ll melt away your winter blues. That’s because it’s a wholesome, thick, and chunky mix abounding with tomatoey flavor and rounded out by chunks of veggies and bread. Co-owner Daniele Salvo calls zuppa di minestrone a staple back in Italy, a dish that as a boy he’d eat at least twice a week, and its straightforwardly satisfying quality leaves little room to wonder why. Pro tip: mix the soup before tucking in, to better balance the pesto flavor.

Tartare Vegetariana
By far the most creative item on this new lunch menu, the tartare vegetariana will usurp all your preconceived notions about tartare, because it swaps the raw beef typically associated with the dishes in favor of roasted eggplant. Held together with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, the juicy eggplant dish is sure to satisfy vegetarians and, though it won’t likely convert carnivores, it makes for a fun offbeat alternative all the same.  

Fettuccine Bolognese
This slow cooked beef and pork ragu bolognese is made all the more delectable by its delightfully springy handmade fettuccine noodles. The dish is creamy and flavorful thanks to the ragu, and has the beef gives it a zingy salty tinge.

Calamari
Compared to some of the frankly bland fish dishes we tried on a more expansive version of this set lunch menu at Bottega’s Sanlitun location a few weeks back (which has thankfully since been pared down), this grilled stuffed squid is much heartier and more satisfying. Chock full of salty cannelloni bean puree, cushy potato, peas, and flavorful sun-dried tomato, it is filling enough to make you feel as stuffed as the baby squid you’re chowing down.

Crema Catalina
While on the tiny side, amounting to only about four bites, this rich dessert (available for an extra RMB 28, which we wish was covered in the set lunch fee, but alas) will nevertheless tickle your taste buds. Topped with vanilla ice-cream, the crème brulée is admirably well balanced, being just the right amount of sweet. The secret: Kahlua liqueur, whose coffee flavoring makes this dessert flavourful while avoiding the overt bitterness that would’ve weighed it down had they used an alternative like espresso. That quality makes it rich enough for western patrons, while not being too sweet for the Chinese palate, hitting a proverbial sweet spot if ever there was.

Bottega’s new set lunch menu features a starter and a main for RMB 98 (a couple of items have an extra cost listed on the menu) and it is now available from 11am-2.30pm daily at both the restaurant’s locations.

Read: Our in-depth feature about Bottega's Pizza Family Tradition

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Photos: Kyle Mullin