Good food, clientele - eh.

Previously wrote a review of this place and it vanished, though I can see it in my MY REVIEWS section. Odd. So here it is:

---------

Had dinner here last night and it was a pretty decent affair...

Given the time, effort and hype associated with the design of ROOM, I expected something really unique. That said, I was pretty underwhelmed. Its an odd melange of pop-art and kitsch. In some areas of the place it works (I think the 3d posters are pretty cool) and in other it feels like an upscale hotel lobby (i.e. the lounge area). Kinda like they wanted to go the LAN route, but be classy and hip (LAN's just gaudy), and somewhere along the way ran out of money and decided to just throw some stuff on the otherwise sparse walls. I'd say, based on design alone, it'd rate an even B, and most of that's for the amusing "hidden-behind-the-bookshelf" bathrooms.

Speaking of design, I'm curious how well the space will work for the events they're throwing (DJs, etc). Its a large circular room, but there's a big room in the middle of it (unsure if its a serving station or a private room) that would obscure any view for roughly 40% of the patrons looking from any direction.

On to the food.

Started with the 42 ingredient salad. It was quite good though, at times, a bit bland. It came out at room temp (I tend to prefer a salad have a bit of a chill at least) and considering how many ingredients there were, I was surprised at how it lacked any "zing." There were some interesting elements to it... the semi-cooked egg... the little gelatin cubes of someflavororanother... overall, also a B.

Moved onto the Rabbit/pistachio/bacon terriine, which was quite good. The thin bacon "crust" gave it a nice flavor. In general, ROOM's charcuterie offerings looked quite good, though the cheese menu was less impressive. I'd give this an A-.

Next was an item from the specials page - black cod in a curry sauce. Very good... the fish was perfectly cooked and the sauce, though very rich, was the perfect accompaniment. Also an A-.

Lastly, the shrimp risotto with avocado ice cream, lemongrass & tempura. I went into this mostly out of curiousity, having read some good reviews of it, but was skeptical. Its fantastic. The combined flavors of the avocado ice cream and the risotto works perfectly and was a surprising hit for both Chinese and American palates. Really loved this dish. A+

Cocktails were solid - an apple martini and a lemon martini both served ice cold and well mixed, though a bit sweet. B+

Service was attentive but not obtrusive.

Prices are on the expensive side - for example, despite how great the charcuterie options look, you could get similar or identical selections at Scarlett for a fraction of the price. As others have mentioned, there are 3 sizes. If you intend to share and get more than a couple of dishes, I'd suggest small will do the trick for 2-3 people.

In addition - and I almost hate to mention this - the douchiness quotient of the clientele here was VERY high when we ate there. The place was populated with folks who talk loudly on their cellphones while eating and have no clue what they're ordering. One side of us was a young couple, bedecked in high-end fashion, who literally ordered the most expensive things on the menu but had no clue what they got. They had a huge plate of iberico ham that they took home in a doggy bag because it "wasn't cooked." I wanted to scream (it was like ¥800 worth of ham, wasted).

The other side was a girl - maybe 20, and her date, at least 50, who literally asked for "the most expensive ham, lobster, steak, pasta and wine" by way of ordering. Had no clue what they actually were getting. Made me mental. In short, ROOMBeijing is apparently VERY popular with the city's nouveau riche... and should be making a killing selling them $100+ plates of acorn-fed-pork and Maine lobster.

All in, an interesting place, worth a stop, but I'm still debating how much of a "return visit" destination it is. I'd be inclined to not go again soon, but there were still a number of interesting dishes on the menu I'd like to try, and that shrimp risotto is haunting me...