Food and drinks

Rotaract Beijing West Club one year anniversary party

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Rotaract Beijing West: one year already

Rotaract Beijing West Club one year anniversary party was finally held in Legend Beer, gongti xi lu on 20 April
Our first idea was Homeplate (Sanlitun) but they could not accommodate our 30+ group.
We had Rotaractors from both clubs: the Birthday Boys and Girls from Wudaokou with their President Kien, the Beijing Rotaract Club (Sanlitun) with President Peter as well as several Rotarians from our Beijing Rotary Club.

Legend Beer did not disappoint

Indeed, we managed to have a great deal for our group. Most went for the Pork Hamburger, also my favorite.
Renaat Morel from Morel’s Restaurant also came to taste the hamburger and approved!
We started around 7 pm and we went well beyond 10 pm.
A very successful party with so many nationalities I will not even try to list them.

Dining Table of the World Belgium and Israel

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

The clips are out!

Dining Table of the World Belgium and Israel are out.
See earlier posts to view the whole story:

Dining Table of the World

CCTV shooting with 6renyou at Morel Restaurant

It was done by Beijing 6renyou International Travel Service Co., Ltd.
Correction: the shooting was done by a CCTV crew but the clips will not be shown on CCTV.

Now watch

There are several episodes, if you visit one of the links you will find the other episodes (all in Chinese).

See below the links of the Israel and Belgium episodes of the food program, which respectively was put online on April 12 and April 19 on Tencent video (v.qq.com).
Dining Table of the World Belgium and Israel:

Biteappita of Israel: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/8iwh1qc80rkdmci/g0392lsrj3n.html

Morel’s of Belgium: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/xhqjjey5fgb4ulv/d03944i7j6q.html

If it is difficult to watch with the Chinese link, see here the Morel’s one, in two parts:

and

And yes, I am also allowed to say something… as a regular customer… (in part 2)

Belgian best cuisine in Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Best Belgian food

Belgian best cuisine in Beijing: Morel’s Restaurant for sure. The other “Belgian” locations are great too but have a different focus. In Morel’s it is simply rich and great Belgian food. As some say: the best French food you find in … Belgium. I am not a fan of the large and expensive dishes where we need to find the tiny morsels of food (typical for “Nouvelle Cuisine” or so-called famous chefs). We like it copious. Also, those tiny pieces: before you actually get the taste, it is gone.

Some of the dishes

Of course they have a special selection of Belgian beers but the wine list is also recommended.
Mussels are very popular and the Chinese guests love them, and yes, most patrons now are … Chinese.
For me, the signature dish is still the gratinated endive with ham, cheese, mashed potatoes and more. In Belgium we call it chicon and not endive.

A dish from my hometown Ghent is “Waterzooi de poulet à la Gantoise”. Warning! The chicken dish is as the chicon one very “filling”, so don’t even think ordering something on the side… The dish also exists made with fish.
See here more:
https://www.rtbf.be/tv/emission/detail_sans-chichis/les-recettes/article_waterzooi-a-la-gantoise?id=5857&emissionId=38
And:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterzooi
“Soup-base of egg yolk, cream and thickened vegetable broth. The stew itself contains chicken, vegetables including carrots, onions, celeriac, leeks, Potatoes and herbs such as parsley, thyme, bay-leaves and sage.”

I only eat a (good) steak in Morel’s. I take the best cut, usually with béarnaise. And Belgian fries, of course. The meat is sourced by the chef from the farm he personally knows. No funny ingredients nor treatment, just pure beef.
Bon appetit! Smakelijk!

Location of Belgian best cuisine in Beijing

Morel’s restaurant & café, opposite of Worker’s Gymnasium north gate, close to Subway Line 2 Dongsishitiao Station.
In Chinese:
地址：北京莫劳龙玺西餐厅（工人体育馆北门对面，春秀路路口西北角），北京市东城区新中街 红五楼一层，工人体育馆北门对面

Other Belgian bars and restaurants in Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

De Refter

Among the other Belgian bars and restaurants in Beijing, De Refter is the youngest, see also:
Exploring new food in De Refter (Sanlitun)
https://www.beijing1980.com/2016/04/29/exploring-new-food-in-de-refter-sanlitun/

The place is small, cozy and food choices are limited. I find their beer prices a bit on the high side. Music can be pretty nice. In summer sitting outside, also for lunch, is a plus.
What the place lacks is a good manager who takes care of the customers. When our friend Steve is around, perfect, but he spends a lot of time in the other De Refter in Shanghai.
Nice place to organize a small party.

The Tree

The Tree has been around since 2005, after the original The Hidden Tree was leveled in what is now SOHO Sanlitun. It is now the only one left as the two other locations such as Nearby The Tree closed.
Famous for its pizza but some regret the quality is not as before, and competition is fierce: La Pizza around the corner is very popular and so is Luga’s.
I tried once their “Belgian Beef Stew” but wa disappointed: the meat was tough, that means they chose the wrong type of meat and/or did not cook it properly (it requires many hours).
Still a good place to hang out with a wide choice of beers and I can still recommend the pizza.
See also:
https://www.beijing1980.com/2016/05/19/rotaract-east-elections-and-party-at-the-tree/

Dining Table of the World

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Launch of “Dining Table of the World”

I had earlier posted about the December 2016 shooting of the food program “Dining Table of the World” (世界上的餐桌).
See:
CCTV shooting with 6renyou at Morel Restaurant
https://www.beijing1980.com/2016/12/20/cctv-shooting-with-6renyou-at-morel-restaurant/
It was done by Beijing 6renyou International Travel Service Co., Ltd.

Launch event 16 March 2017

The program was planned to be broadcast on Tencent Video (v.qq.com) on 16 March 2017 (and also on other platforms like iQiyi, Youku, Sohu and le.com).
The launching event of the program was held in 3W Coffice in Wangjing, together with the launching of the concept of the “Tailor-Made Travel Day”.
It was also attended by Ms. Isabelle Thomas (France Tourism Development Agency), Ms. Li Xin (Visit Flanders), Mr. Avi Shabtai (Biteapitta) and Ms. Meirav (Ischam), among others.
I somehow represented Morel’s Restaurant, see some quick screenshots of the segment of our Belgian restaurant.

3W Coffice

See also the location of the event in Wangjing: 3W Coffice, pretty nice. I loved the glass cubicle for people using their mobile to call…
The business started as start-up-themed cafe and became a meeting place for entrepreneurs and angel investors. It has expanded its services to start-ups, and serves as an incubator and “makerspace” for nascent firms.
Read the story here:
“Pure and simple: 3W Coffee founder’s secret to start-up success in China”, 10 August 2015.
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/1848269/pure-and-simple-3w-coffee-founders-secret-start-success

Biteapitta

One of the restaurants featured is Biteapitta, located in the small Sanlitun bar street. Excellent Middle East cuisine (Israeli), I love it also because it reminds me of my time in Brazil: the cuisine is very popular there, a “healthy fast food”. Over there it is called “Syrio-Libanes”.

See the videos

As for now, the following videos are out:
Right now 4 episodes (France, Germany, India, Japan) are already online, while the other 3 (Israel, Belgium, Thailand) will be broadcast in the next following 3 weeks.

France: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/8hfe7v52c4wn583/e0384tg2eze.html

Germany: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/np1selvh1ktq8pq/u03860rr8l2.html

India: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/7w6i01scw5qhss2/s03883f3g14.html

Japan: https://v.qq.com/x/cover/sh4d3thzgakdu6g/w0390drd067.html