Food and drinks

Old China Hands 5 March

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Full house

Our monthly lunch for Old China Hands 5 March had again to fight to get enough seats in Morel’s Restaurant. Initially I got 30 seats… then up to 40… Giving a chance to the people on the waiting list!
We were 36 exactly, pretty impressive number.
While we had some concerns with the “Double Meetings”, it all went well. As usual the restaurant was fully packed…

Kent is leaving

One of our enthusiastic and regular members, Kent, is sadly leaving us soon. His has been separated from his wife (stuck in USA) for over a year. They finally decided Kent will leave Beijing for the USA. One more victim of the virus pandemic. Will miss him as well as his great deserts he brought us! Kent is talented…. painter, musician, cook, …

Kent wrote on Facebook (unedited):
“Due to my plans to leave China in May, today will probably be my last luncheon with my foreign expat friends. Every month on the first Friday about 35 of us gather from various countries and have a lunch together in a famous Belgian restaurant named, Morel’s, after it’s owner Chef Renaat Morel. Our organizer, Gilbert Van Kerchove, who is also Belgian and has lived in China over 40 years was also honored by me today. Instead of today being a going away party for me, I presented Renaat and Gilbert with a portrait done by me as gratitude for all of the great food and fond memories that they have helped cultivate for all of us that are part of the Old China Hands group.”
Thanks my friend (yeah my correct name is Kerckhove hehe).

Thanks for the painting! Though my wife said I should check a skin specialist for the suspicious growth on my face.
We even had (once more) a birthday celebration, our Aussie lady Rebecca.

A famous foreigner joined

We had also the famous Cao Cao joining us. I will write about that in another post. I already mentioned him here.

Next lunch

Next lunch is planned for Friday 2 April. Lucky it is not 1 April. And I hope I will not mess up (again) my invitation email… with the wrong date somewhere…

SKP the Beijing super mall

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Exploring total luxury

Finally I visited SKP the Beijing super mall, on 9 January 2021.
You could call it the temple of capitalism, luxury shopping, extravagant consumerism.
It houses about any famous international brand, clothing, shoes, kitchen ware, watches, jewelry, anything. Bring your credit card…

We had dinner in the Macau Taste restaurant, in the connected China Central Mall, through underground level 1. Nice food!
You also find around there an Apple store and many banks.
We did not visit SKP-S.

I also had the experience to buy a small kitchen knife. Indeed normally NO ANY SHOP sells knives. If you need knives for your kitchen in Beijing, good luck. Hey, it is a weapon!
I did find exactly what I wanted, though super expensive. I succeeded to buy it after filling out forms, contact data and copy of my Green Card. Tip from the shop: do not take the subway with it… We went by Didi…

About SKP and the new SKP-S (Select)

One of the most upscale malls in Beijing, SKP is filled with shops selling pricey designer goods. Shop in comfort then have lunch at one of the many restaurants, many in China Central Mall connected to SKP.
Located on Jianguo Road, West Dawang Road and near Dawang Bridge. See the maps.
See this website with many great pictures: https://superfuture.com/2020/01/new-shops/beijing-skp-s-mall-opening/

Says the website:
As the planet’s biggest luxury market, you’d say China is the holy grail for any self-discerning brand operating in fashion’s upper echelon. The SKP mall in Beijing has long been the home of glittering trophies from the realm of fashion and lifestyle, featuring a myriad of flagship stores of relevant brands from across the planet. Interestingly, SKP is state-owned, and it looks like the venture’s raison d’être is aligned with the harsh government crackdown on illegally imported luxury goods in recent years. As a consequence of local market conditions, SKP mall in Beijing is slowly transforming into a department store, aiming to offer a more cohesive shopping experience to the Chinese capital’s most discerning shoppers, and which is able to rival some of planet’s most prestigious shopping grounds along the way.

The opening of SKP-S (SKP Select), a distinctly design-led south wing is part of this newly adopted strategy. In a bold move, the company has teamed up with Gentle Monster, the Seoul-based eyewear brand known for its bold and highly evocative retail design, to create premises fit for today’s generation of digital-savvy shoppers.

Exploring food in Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Cocottine by Flo

Some of my experience in exploring food in Beijing. Sadly many restaurants disappear after some time as dispute about rent and other are a market killer. That was also the case with Flo in Taikoo Li… Gone…
This Flo outlet is in Parkview Green, the impressive glass building in Dongdaqiao Lu.
Date of visit: 18 December 2020.
Nice surrounding, good service. Cost for the Osso Bucco and Risotto Seafood Chicken was RMB 416, not cheap but still reasonable, it was too much for two persons. Yeah, doggy bag.

The architecture of Parkview Green is unique and the shopping center has a bit of everything. Mandatory shopping with my guide Sophie who works there and finally convinced me to explore the building.

HULU TRB

On Saturday 14 September 2019 another visit to HULU in Taikoo Li, I am never disappointed by the dishes and service. Good management by Ignace.

During September 13 – 18: a special week “Best of Brussels & Guest Chef Maxime Maziers”.
In celebration of 25th friendly city anniversary of Beijing and Brussels, the Belgian culinary luminary, Maxime Maziers, has embarked on an extraordinary dining journey in Beijing, to uncover the Best of Brussels for the gastronomic aficionados from the Far East at Hulu by TRB.
Prior to taking over the previous three Michelin starred Restaurant Bruneau, where Chef Maxime Maziers worked closely with the founder of Restaurant Bruneau, Jean-Pierre Bruneau for 5 years, the young talented Maxime humbly decided to delve into his later incomparably audacious cooking identity from numerous highly regarded establishments. Now he returns back to his root, being elected as “Young Chef of the Year 2019” by Gault & Millau, Chef Maxime Maziers is ready to sprinkle his gastronomic wisdom into a series of meticulously cultivated dishes in combination with the iconic Lindeman Beer that best capture the Best of Brussels.

See some of the special dishes!

O’Steak, French Bistro

The restaurant is well know, as it name says, for its steaks. Location is in front of April Gourmet near Chunxiu Lu. Overall tasty, nice presentation. Simple but cozy environment; rather small in size.
I still prefer Morel’s for steak as I am suspicious about those steaks in other restaurants that are a bit too tender … because of tenderizer and other stuff.

I chose the mushroom risotto and duck leg. Both very tasty. Date: 9 November 2020.

Morel and Gilbert were on Mafengwo

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Mafengwo (马蜂窝)

On 25 November 2020 Restaurant Morel and Gilbert were on Mafengwo. As usual I was not really aware what was going on. I just followed orders…
The platform:
See: https://www.dragonsocial.net/blog/what-is-mafengwo-content-ota/

Mafengwo started as a travel forum for independent travelers. Users on the platform share their journeys, travel tips, itineraries, recommendations, and feedback with other users on the platform. Its user base has increased over time and has developed into an enormous millennial traveler community. One of the best ways to understand how it works is to think of it as the Chinese equivalent of TripAdvisor, Lonely Planet, and Expedia combined.
Mafengwo  presents a powerful opportunity for businesses to target young Chinese free & independent travelers
See here details of the website/app performance:
mafengwo.cn is ranked #42 in the Travel and Tourism/Travel and Tourism category and #6884 Globally.  https://www.similarweb.com/website/mafengwo.cn/

It was live

I thought, well, another interview. Only later I realized it was live… and I was online for quite some time. If I knew I would have acted a bit more “careful”…

Guess what, within hours my interview had over 300,000 views, with all kinds of funny comments (also about my sweater).
I could not find a link to the interview, one can only watch through Mini Program, I guess 201125 mafengwo3.jpg might give a clue how to find the long program.
As I always say, life in Beijing is never boring and Morel’s Restaurant is where the action is…

The Roots Restaurant

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

New kid on the block

Above the well-known Paddy O’Shea’s Irish pub in Beijing Dongzhimenwai, The Roots Restaurant has opened recently.
In a previous post I mentioned a small event we held there for a Rotary Fellowship Dinner.
This time we organized a small party in the restaurant for the Rotary, a post about it is coming out very soon.

Small but nice

The French manager Antoine is providing a good service with excellent food in a cozy atmosphere. The place only sits some 35 guests, it was formerly a Japanese restaurant, apparently a victim of the pandemic last year. They prefer to keep it small to make it cozy. The vacant rest of that floor where once the Indian Ganges Restaurant was (it seems also a victim of the virus), is now being remodeled and there would be another Indian restaurant coming.

Mediterranean food

For our group Antoine made a buffet with a North African inspired menu, said to be much Moroccan. It was delicious. I am a big fan of the sausages and the “stewed beef and tomato”, among others.
See the pictures!
Prices are very reasonable.
Our group was very happy with the food, the red wine and the Belgian Vedett beer.

Antoine also used his colorful North African tableware.
Recommended!