8 Qi Nian Cantonese Revamps A La Carte Menu at New World Hotel on Aug 1

Summer 'tis the season for our loved ones to travel miles to visit us and experience the city. After an exhausting day of visiting crowded tourist sites, some of us require a cool and calm respite from the heat and hordes. Cantonese restaurant 8 Qi Nian's RMB 98 all-you-can-eat-dim-sum buffet offers an alternative to the classic Peking roast duck or sweat-inducing hot pot.

Located on the second floor of New World Hotel, 8 Qi Nian just has changed 80 percent of its a la carte menu with more Cantonese dishes. Instead of providing luxurious birds' nests, shark fins or sea cucumbers, they offer more home-style and hearty dishes, such as chili braised pig’s ear (千层耳, qiāncéng ěr), poached chicken with chili oil (口水鸡, kǒushuǐ jī), deep-fried river shrimp with soy sauce (油爆河虾, yóubào héxiā), steamed Chinese yams with blueberry jam (蓝莓山药, lánméi shānyào), and roasted Australian Black Angus beef ribs with barbecue sauce. These tempting dishes were created by new executive Chinese chef Yuen Yiu Fat, the Honorary President of the World Association of Master Chefs (Beijing Branch). We were invited to preview some of the dishes on the automatically rotating table (!) for 25 to share. (Pricing is still yet to be determined.)

The meal kicked off with appetizers. Our favorite was the poached pork belly (蒜泥白肉, suànní bái ròu), which was seasoned with garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, white sesame, and soaked in chili oil. Under the pork, shredded cucumbers soaked up the trickled-down juices and spices for a fresh and flavorful accompaniment. The double-boiled fish soup with apple and almond was hearty without being too heavy.

Of the main dishes, steamed pork belly (梅菜扣肉, méicài kòuròu) was the winner. Originally a Hakka specialty, this dish's preparation if work intensive – the meat must be blanched, fried in a wok, soaked in water, sliced, stuffed and steamed for hours. In this rendition, they slow-cooked the pork to make it more seasoned, and cut the pork belly into thick slices. The skin was glazed and golden brown, the fat was irresistibly soft, and the Chinese cabbage under the meat was soaked in delicious meaty flavor. The steamed mandarin fish was huge, but seemed lacking in seasoning due to the thickness of its cut.

To round it off, we had a bowl of hearty fried rice, featuring chopped Chinese sausage, preserved pork, barley, millet, and coix seed. It might look a bit plain, but the flavor and texture was complex thanks to the different softness of the grains. The heartiness and homeliness of the dish best suits it to a chilly winter evening after a night of drinking. If you happen to dine here for dinner, head upstairs to Yin on 12 to end the night with cocktails and views of the sunset over ancient architecture in the heart of Beijing.

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Photos Courtesy of New World Hotel, Tracy Wang