We wanted to spend a nice, elegant and inspiring evening at the Green T. House, downtown Beijing. We wanted to show our visiting foreign friends what kind of cool dining experience Beijing has to offer.
It was last Saturday evening and I booked for four people at the white table as I do not like the canteen style narrow seating at the long table in the middle. The white tables in the back were empty, except for the four of us and some others that left shortly after our arrival at 8pm. While wondering about the many available seats at an "in place" on a Saturday night we ordered our favorites. We started to eat and enjoyed the atmosphere when all in a sudden a very loud music came out of the speakers. So loud we could not understand each other. A noise that almost hurt your ears - and there she came (or he) the Beijing Opera performer. I wondered what has happened to the Green T. House that they offer that kind of touristic entertainment program. If I want to see Beijing Opera I go to a Beijing Opera performance. And if I go to a restaurant I expect to eat.
But that is not the whole story. To crown our lovely day we ordered two Brownies for desert that are served in a spectacular setting with smoky dried ice. Unfortunately the Brownies were just liquid dough. When complaining we were treated like everywhere else in China - just poor. We were explained that this is the Green T. House signature dish. We said, we used to come before and we are used to have it in a more baked way... the answer was: Really? - and nothing happened. After a while I said that we would like to talk to the manager who was friendly and offered us new brownies or maybe another desert. This was fair, we thought, and we ordered the Green T. ice cream and Bitter Lemon Pudding as we had lost confidence in the brownies. The extremely overpriced ice cream, four tiny scoops of different taste for 168 kuai (!) was tasty, but not enough for the money.
However the highlight of the evening was the burning and later exploding Bitter Lemon Pudding. It was burning and burning and the decorative chocolate sheet was melting and melting. The staff only took care of it, when a piece of cooking chocolate - BAM ! - exploded and flew over the table and hit my friend just over the eye. They came with a napkin filled with ice cubes to cool his burned skin.
And all what we got was a "sorry".
Do you think, the desert was canceled from the invoice? No.
We were too tired to argue.
We just won't come back.
Alternative cool dining in Beijing :
Lan Club
Address: 4/F LG Twin Towers, 12B Jianguomen Waidajie
Phone: 5109- 6012 /13
Open daily 11-3 am (since October 2006)
Whampoa Club
Address: Jia 23 Financial Street
Phone: 8808-8828
Open daily (since August 2007)
4 comments:
Good to know I should not go here anymore. It used to be a great place, time change...
The Lemon pudding sounds delicious but I am not sure about "liquid brownies." :)
The Bitter Lemon Pudding (more like a Bitter Lemon Muffin) was not able to rescue the happenings.
It was a disappointment because it was one of my favorite restaurants for the last two years.
I think it has the wrong concept at the moment.
what a shame! there is a Green T House in Hong Kong too, though I've never been, but the company I work for won an award for the design work they did.
Only just found your other blog today! will keep checking it regularly now.
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