Wood You Dig This? Bland Nachos But Impressive Tiramisu at New Solana Restaurant

Located at the riverside of Solona, next to Moka Bros, Wood Fusion Grill & Bar is a two-floor modern restaurant with outdoor seating. The space opened in early 2016, replacing the former Vietnamese restaurant Va Va Voom, but keeping their chairs and tables.

On the menu there are six salads, four soups, six pastas (you can choose between capellini, linguine or macaroni), four steaks, grilled seafood, grilled pork, lamb, Mexican chicken flat cake, and nachos. As for the desserts, there is tiramisu, baba, lava cake, and pudding. We ordered the two of the restaurants most popular dishes, the French fruit and nut salad (RMB 68) and shrimp and asparagus pasta and nachos (RMB 58).

The salad was a combination of lettuce, sliced apple, some orange, cherry tomatoes, pine seeds, and walnuts, with very little sauce. As a self-professed salad lover, but obviously not that much of a salad lover, I felt like I was chewing on flavorless grass. The pasta was only average, including only four shrimp and very little asparagus.

The nachos were the most miserable thing I’ve ever seen. I think they just grabbed a handful La Tapatia tortilla chips, heated them up, and put on a spoonful of sour cream, salsa, and some jalapeno on the side. I'm not picky, but I had to picture myself sitting in Luga’s dreaming of their version of the same snack: chunky, with unashamedly thick layer of cream dolloped on top.

To finish this sad meal we ordered the tiramisu (RMB 58), which turned out to be the only item to surprise us. The kick of rum was strong but balanced with a creamy sweetness, which made us believe that the pastry chef must certainly be a different one to whoever only went as far to pour the chips onto the plate.

The cocktail list is long, with both classic cocktails and special cocktails, but their beer selection is limited, with only 1664, Chouffe, Lindermans, Hoegarrden, Maredsous, and Delirium on offer.

Lastly, the atmosphere is good, and the al fresco area gave a good view of the sunset, but only if you can survive the attack of Beijing's summer mosquitos or the prospect of paying for food you could probably make better at home.

Wood Fusion Grill & Bar
Southern Gourmet Street, Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park, 6 Chaoyang Park Road, Chaoyang (5726 8255)
木餐厅: 朝阳区朝阳公园路6号蓝色港湾南边湖畔美食街

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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Tracy Wang