Can't Get Enough Olive Oil? Bantu Has You Covered
The whole Bantu experience turns on Sardinian olive oil. The temperate climate of the Italian island is suited to olive groves and chef/owner Roberto Masili is generous in his pours of this exceptional import from his home region.
On the afternoon we visited, eel (RMB 148) came atop a bed of thinly-shaved fennel carpaccio, the olive oil-soaked skin and vegetables offset by the flaky white flesh of the fish and a shallow river of fresh tomato gazpacho. The carbonara risotto (RMB 88) was decadent, although close to overwhelming in its creaminess and a touch more salt would accentuate the savory snatches of bacon and shavings of Pecorino.
If you ever hesitate to eat vegetables, you learn here that the trick is simple: infuse them with olive oil. The pillow of mashed potatoes beneath the olive-crusted sea bass (RMB 178) was a convincing argument for this oil over butter, although the fish itself fell a bit flat, saved only by a sweet, earthy balsamic shallot. Have you had roasted cuttlefish before? If not, this is reason enough to order the black ink ravioli (RMB 98).
Although the mains were certainly not disagreeable, come for the bookends of the meal, which were standouts. Our bruschetta starter was a salty jumble of field and forest – a sloping mound of sautéed mushrooms, bacon, olives, puffs of mozzarella and, of course, a liberal sprinkling of olive oil. The carrot tart is unlike the American understanding of carrot cake; it is lighter and unsullied by raisins and nuts. An excellent pistachio ice cream and a delicate cookie rolled in fennel accompany and, in comparison, the shallow pool of chocolate syrup beneath it that seems merely to be Hershey’s is disappointing.
But this disappointment is an exception, and the excellent value of the weekday business lunch (two courses, RMB 88; three, RMB 138; four, RMB 178) more than made amends for that small transgression.
Bantu
202, 2/F China World View, Meilin Building, 2B Gongti Donglu, Chaoyang District. 8587 1299
朝阳区工体东路乙2号美林大厦2层202
Want more restaurant reviews? Check out the August issue of the Beijinger here.
