Modernized Antiquity: Xuxian Lou Opens at Gongti West Gate

Xuxian Lou can be a perplexing experience for those well-versed in Chinese legends. Its modern courtyard, graced with a jade-green pool, is a direct reference to the opening scene of the classic White Snake tale, in which the scholar Xuxian meets two snake spirits by the West Lake. In case you’ve missed the reference, a statue of Xuxian himself stands in the pool.

The interior keeps to this theme of modernized antiquity, with lovely celadon porcelain, a long fish pond and ample natural light. It’s the menu where the confusion begins. There’s an enticing list of specialties from Hangzhou (Xuxian’s hometown), but thrown into the mix are non-sequiturs like baked seafood with pastis cream, “musli,” and a puzzling hefty block of white bread served with ice cream.

West Lake smoked fish (Xihu xunyu, RMB 42) should have been melt-in-your-mouth crispy, but was tough and chewy instead, lacking any hint of caramel smokiness. Much more pleasing was the sticky rice cakes (RMB 68) with sweet red-braised pork ribs served in meaty but dainty segments. With dishes like that, Xuxian Lou could make a name for Hangzhou cooking, but this palatial four-story restaurant stretches itself thin with ambition.

It also serves as a lounge, with a long list of sweets and enticing beverages that don’t quite deliver. Our strawberry sorbeto and Prosecco float (RMB 38) turned out to be a chunk of ice cream floating in sparkling water – with a shot of vodka on the side. But after 9.30pm, the pretty rooftop garden becomes a pleasant bar – a lovely meeting spot indeed, for Beijing’s scholars and snake spirits.

Xuxian Lou 许仙楼
Daily 9am-11pm. North side of the Gongti West Gate courtyard, Gongti Xilu, Chaoyang District (6551 8812)
朝阳区工体西门院内北侧

Standout dish: Sticky rice cakes with red-braised pork
Also try: Jade Garden, Yuan Yuan

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