Sharks and Polka Dots at Peking Legacy

The great fish moved silently through the restaurant, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail. The young couple, complacently chewing zhajiang mian, felt fear. Then the shark turned suddenly to the left, and with two quick thrusts … nose-dived into their noodles.

To all you eco-nuts who say shark has no place in a Chinese restaurant, I beg to differ. But only when the shark is helium-filled, radio-controlled and the waitress lets you play with it while couples pretend to enjoy their dates.
The predator patrols a bare cream and turquoise space which, beneath its contemporary veneer, has a thrown-together, overbright look that seems a Chinese design trademark.

The menus are on iPads, which is the biggest waste of 16 gigabytes I can think of. The food, contemporary Chinese with a local twist, isn’t all that bad, though. Lotus root kung pao chicken (RMB 28) was flavor-packed without being too sweet. Steamed organic kale leaves (RMB 38) were emerald fresh, the noodles with eggplant sauce (RMB 18) faultless. Mushrooms fried to a crisp in duck liver “foie gras” (RMB 68) nearly succeeded, but were too salty and dry. Similarly, beef with wheat gluten (RMB 48) tasted like it had been braised in the Dead Sea. Admittedly, we were too wimpy to order the sea cucumber stir-fry, ground pigeon tortillas or an appetizer called “stinky peanuts.”

The restaurant’s exterior is covered in polka dots, and a giraffe and bat grace the logo; the animals pertain to some boring life-style “concept.” Style over substance? More like flawed execution. But did I mention the shark?

Standout dishes: Eggplant noodles, lotus root kung pao chicken

Also try: Madam Zhu’s Kitchen, Hong Lu

Peking Legacy 福禄寿禧 Daily 11am-11pm. Northeast corner of Beixinqiao (next to subway exit B), Dongzhimennei Dajie, Dongcheng District (6226 6368) 东城区东直门内大街（北新桥地铁站B出口）

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