Bellagio is often hailed as one of the city's top night time dining spots, winning the then That’s Beijing Reader’s Restaurant Award in that category for 2006 and 2007.
If your idea of post-club chilling out involves iced-desserts in midwinter and a complete lack of a cocktail menu then you might agree with this assessment. Personally, I treat the restaurant as an ideal place for brunch. The Cantonese or date and longyan milk teas are delightful and invigorating. A light snack such as the pork wontons are succulent and effortlessly combine the tastes of sweet, spicy and numbing.
The use of space, lighting and mirrors creates an impression of a much larger dining area than the restaurant actually occupies. You neighbouring tables are near enough to create a lively atmosphere yet somehow you don't feel you need worry about eavesdropping. If you have a busy day ahead of you this is surely the ideal place to start your motor.
The all-female wait staff have appropriated the favoured haircut of the lesbian community to create an impression of a highly disciplined regiment of asexual servers. They mostly appear fairly content with their lot although have the habit of sometimes busying themselves with trivialities or gossiping when one wishes to catch their eye.
The clientele is varied: interracial couples carting along spoilt offspring at lunchtime; model-grade women make an appearance at hours normal folk are working; middle-aged housewives with, presumably paid-for, young male company can be seen and overspill from nearby gay hangout Destination guarantees the presence of older, obese European men dining with young, presumably paid-for male company during the weekends.
Young, nervous men in expensive clothes that don't quite suit them try to muster relaxed conversation with colleagues from the media industries. One accepts an expensive cigarette though clearly does not know how to inhale, another seems grateful for a call on his Hong Kong-bought iPhone.
At lunchtime one table will perhaps be occupied by fat, unpleasant-looking, middle-aged Chinese men in cheap navy-blue suits, seemingly content to sit muttering and shovelling quantities rice and soup between their slack, expressionless jaws. Doubtlessly these are “public servants” whose days are measured out in borderline misappropriation of public funds for expensive dining, petty bribery and falling asleep at their desks.
For main dishes, poultry is reliable.
Bellagio's sanbeiji is a dry pot containing a decent quantity of fragrantly spiced chicken. Their duck comes with a sauce that veers daringly close to jam though the tangy fruit cuts through what can be a fatty meat rather than acting as a cloyingly sweet afterthought. The crispy chicken is similar to a British pub's "chicken in a basket" thought certainly of considerably higher quality. The skin is salty and the cooking method creates a varied texture of meat. Though undercooked areas in chicken flesh would normally be a red-light for salmonella or worse I have a degree of trust in the quality of the produce and take my bird-flu outbreak scare stories with a pinch of salt.
The biggest disappointment is probably the restaurant’s noodle dishes, none of which are impressive and all command at least 30 RMB. Tastier options are available in Beijing for less than half that price. A much better option is the caifan, basically a bowl of steamed rice with bacon bits, though the taste and texture is absolutely perfect. Set meals at the back of the menu provide a reliable option for those who just want a decent plate of meat and rice.
A big meal at Bellagio might set you back a couple of C-notes with my preferred light lunch an acceptable 49 RMB.
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