RBL's new chef is as good as they say
by Ann Mah, that's Beijing
In case you were wondering, RBL stands for "restaurant, bar, lounge,"
and it’s a name that does little justice to this sleek, three-story,
one-stop entertainment complex, the brainchild of restaurateur Handel
Lee. The basement encloses the bar, named for its origins as the
imperial icehouse, where a live blues band thumps six nights a week.
The ground floor houses a lounge, empty on a recent visit, while
knives, forks and chopsticks are wielded in the upstairs dining room.
Since it opened about a year ago, RBL has garnered praise from
international publications – Condé Nast Traveler recently featured both
bar and restaurant on its 2006 Hot List – though local buzz has
remained but a murmur. However, with the arrival of a new chef, Dan
Segall, formerly of the Hilton's Louisiana, RBL seems poised to make a
splash - not the crash of a belly flop, but the delicate spray of a
practiced diver.
The menu is highly stylized, featuring separate categories like sushi,
cold, hot, rice and side. I don't like overly designed menus -
seemingly beloved by hip Beijing restaurants - as they detract from the
dining experience, making it unclear if dishes are for one diner, or to
share. As our waiter charmingly explained, cold dishes are all first
courses (RMB 75), hot dishes are entrees (RMB 140), and rice (RMB 70)
can be ordered to share, or as an entrée, while sides (RMB 30) are to
share. Sushi (RMB 30-40) can be eaten as either a first or main course.
Confused yet?
Our bewilderment dwindled with the arrival of our cold dishes: tuna
cru, an enchanting combination of sliced, raw tuna sashimi, dressed
with coconut milk, lime juice and ginger, and sprinkled with a
chiffonade of spicy shiso leaf, was a glorious, exotic combination of
flavors, subtly rich and refreshing. The kani kyuri - steamed Dungeness
crab rolled inside thinly sliced cucumber and sprinkled with lemon oil
- was a mixture of crunchy and soft, perfumed throughout with a citrusy
essence, though a sprinkle of green tea salt lacked flavor and seemed
too gimmicky.
Main courses were slow to arrive, giving us a chance to gaze at the
windowless dining room, which is stark, with gauzy curtains and white
chairs doing little to soften the bleak space, and loud voices echoing
harshly off the thick walls. Distraction came in the form of food, a
slow-roasted beef fillet, cooked to tender, rosy perfection and
accompanied by a light red wine and miso jus. Charcoal-grilled seabass
was firm and moist, with the fish’s fresh sweetness rising above the
other flavors. A sauce of cauliflower cream provided a luxurious pool
of richness, though it would have been even better with a dash - a few
dashes - of salt.
Chicken katsu and kana rice accompanied our meal - and indeed, could
have been a meal on its own - the buttery, rich rice topped with a
breaded filet of chicken, flawlessly crisp on the outside, tender
within - the ideal of katsu. An RBL salad was refreshingly tart with a
yuzu dressing, though the leaves practically wilted before our eyes.
We finished the meal with a miso crème brulée and nori soda, a
challenging fusion of east and west that featured a salt-heavy custard
with a tiny, chilled glass of soda water and floating nori flakes on
the side. The crème brulée packed a sodium-heavy punch, while my dining
companion took one sip of the soda and proclaimed: "That's fishy!" Not
exactly the reaction one looks for in a dessert, but the only total
misstep in an otherwise sleek and poised meal.
+ Fresh and modern food with a happy coexistence of Eastern and Western flavors.
+ Polite and attentive service - and no hovering!
- Windowless dining room feels bleak, like dining in a warehouse.
a signature mouse.