Beijing Dining - Yi House Bistro: Classy Food and Environment

by siennapc

When the Yi House Hotel became Grace Hotel, its restaurant changed its name from Fennel to Yi House Bistro. Although it has new owners, most aspects of the restaurant have stayed the same, from the commendable aesthetics to the sophisticated European menu.

The seafood platters are truly impressive, with exceptionally fresh, flavorful ingredients. They range from ¥588 all the way up to a ¥1,288 platter that comes with an entire Boston lobster. Most of the seafood is imported, but we were particularly taken with the Dalian clams.

The night we visited, the rucola in the jamon iberico salad (¥198) was substituted with local, organic baby spinach. The ham, generous parmesan and poached egg combined with a wonderful dressing for a rich, nutty flavor. Food presentation is superb, and we loved the artistic swipes of red and yellow bell pepper sauces with our bacalao cod (¥208). The fish is marinated in salt for 24 hours and may prove too salty for some palates, though. Our organic Mongolian lamb fell off the bone and reminded us of the rich lamb shank at Temple Restaurant Beijing. It came with the best mashed potatoes we’ve ever had. The secret ingredient is olive oil, apparently.

The raw milk cheese plate is sure to impress cheese snobs, and the desserts are good, too. We tried the sampler platter (¥98), which came with three mango desserts, including a “mango pizza” on perfectly buttery, flakey pastry.

Yi House offers great atmosphere, with perfect lighting, calming blue walls, changing art displays and tables well spaced. The music is at times schizophrenic—jazz suits the environment, but rock does not. Service could use a tune up, but with a GM who used to manage Shanghai’s Mr. & Mrs. Bund running the hotel, Yi House is in good hands.

Our rating: 4/5 stars

DETAILS

What: Yi House Bistro

Where: No. 1, 706 Houjie, 798 Art District, Jiuxianqiao Lu, 酒仙桥路二号院798艺术区706后街一号

Tel: 6436-1818