Beijing restaurants

Old China Hands Lunch 4 October 2024

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Golden Week

Being right in the middle of the Golden Week of 1 October the Old China Hands Lunch 4 October 2024 saw only 21 participants, not bad under the circumstances.
We had the pleasure of celebrating 50 years of China for our friend Raja. As far as we know he is the “oldest” OCH in our group.
We prepared a banner and a special cake for the occasion. Many lined up to take a picture with the celebrity!

The food

As always Morel’s spoiled us with the food. See the pics for some of the dishes

  • ham salad Andalouse OR puff pastry with chicken curry Indian style OR fresh daily soup
  • veal scurry sauce sauce served with salad and Belgian fries OR sliced roast beef with gravy served with cauliflower and pan-fried potatoes OR pan-fried snapper Meunière served with daily vegetables and boiled potatoes
  • daily dessert

Gilbert on YouTube

Video with my interview got uploaded on YouTube channel:

“I have been living in China since 1980.”
By King Kwesi
I must say it’s a bit long but it gives a pretty good overview of some aspects of my career.

Origin of “Old China Hand”

If someone is an old hand at something, they are very skilled at it because they have been doing it for a long time.
In 1940s America, the term China Hands came to refer to a group of American diplomats, journalists, and soldiers who were known for their knowledge of China and influence on U.S. policy before, during, and after World War II.

Old China Hands Lunch 6 September 2024

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Bye bye summer

Our Old China Hands Lunch 6 September 2024 had 27 participants to celebrate the end of summer. Still a lot of people busy.
The menu (see some in the pics):
– tomato stuffed with fish salad OR cooked ham roll stuffed with Russian potato salad OR fresh daily soup
– farmer’s pork sausage with onion sauce served with red cabbage and fried potatoes OR chicken cordon bleu served with daily vegetables and pan-fried potatoes OR pan-fried snapper Meunière served with daily vegetables and boiled potatoes
– daily dessert

As always all enjoyed the food and lively conversation!
The next lunch is on 4 October, yes in the “Golden Week”, so no excuse you need to work!

The chef has to check it

Renaat Morel regularly has to check the quality of the dishes, what a job!

But it also helps Susan to shoot her Douyin clips.

A customer returns

A Dutch lady, Maaike, was in Morel’s on 11 April 2000 while pregnant with her son. Her husband got a speed lesson from Renaat to make a nice steak, so he could spoil his wife.

On 20 September 2024 she came back to the restaurant with the son who said “I was here before!” (in his mother belly!). Another super-tall Dutch boy!

Old China Hands Lunch 2 August 2024

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Summer time

Our Old China Hands Lunch 2 August 2024 had 22 participants, many away from Beijing and last-minute cancellations. Special guest was Nelson from Brazil who is the correspondent of Folha de São Paulo, a newspaper I read when I was in Brazil.

The menu (see the pics):
– sliced smoked salmon stuffed with seafood and garden greens OR poached eggs with wine merchant sauce OR Morel’s chef salad (ham, blue cheese, pan-fried chicken, beef on lettuce) OR cream of tomato soup
– fricandeau of beef served with hot cherry and mashed potatoes OR beef tenderloin Stroganoff served with market vegetables and steamed rice  OR red snapper Provençale style served with daily vegetables and mashed potatoes
– daily dessert

Raja in the news

Our friend Raja was again in the news, see the BRTV clip of 25 July 2024 here.

Raja speaks Chinese as a native and beats us all as the “oldest” Old China Hand!

Hong Kong pub

In March 2020 I had reported in this post “RIP Old China Hand” that a famous little bar in Hong Kong disappeared.
Well, it is back as reported in LinkedIn by Sanjeev Aaron Williams on 27 May 2024:“I maintain that Hong Kong will never be “back to normal” because the paradigms on which it was established, are collapsing in a changing and disruptive world.
That said, the return of the pub “The Old China Hand” is to be welcomed. Long term residents will recall its original location in Wanchai pre-1997. It moved to Kennedy Town until the building was demolished and recently re-surfaced in Sheung Wan, on the corner of Hollywood Road and Po Yan Street. They kept some of the original pre-97 decor including its red neon sign.

Old China Hands Lunch 5 July 2024

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Summer is here

We were worried about a low turnout for the Old China Hands Lunch 5 July 2024 but we still had 31 participants, Many people start leaving Beijing for their holidays, next lunch 2 August might be a challenge, also being the hottest week normally…
Renaat was away but still kept an eye on us through the CCTV system… Susan made sure all went well.

The menu was great as usual. See some pics of the dishes. The choice:

  • pancake stuffed with ham & mushroom in cheese sauce OR Monaco eggs salad OR Morel’s chef salad (ham, blue cheese, pan-fried chicken, beef on lettuce OR fresh daily soup
  • veal sausage with curry sauce served with salad and Belgian frites OR sliced cold roast beef served with potatoes and mixed salad OR red snapper Provençale style served with daily vegetables and mashed potatoes
  • fresh daily dessert

A great loss

One of our regular OCH has passed away. Peter Hogg was a real gentleman and loved by all. We often talked about the Aussie Bar he supported, later closed due to COVID. RIP my friend, we are so saddened by the loss.

See two pictures of Peter attending our OCH, June and September 2023.
Read more on this Facebook page. You can leave there your condolences.
Camilla Adele wrote:

“On Wednesday 26th June, Daddy died. We have few words to describe the last six months since his fall in Beijing although have so much gratitude and love for all who supported him and us through those dark days. Through it all he showed such tenacity. Since his return in April to the UK whilst he remained in hospital, he regained his twinkling smile, love of puddings, reuniting with friends & spending time with family, and most importantly in spite of everything he was content.
Daddy was easily spotted in a crowd due to his love of colourful clothes, flamboyant eyebrows, loud hearty laugh and ability to respond to any situation with a silly face. He was often the first on a dance floor, generous to a fault with a wry sarcastic sense of humour! With friends from around the world he was as international as he was a true English gentleman.
A supporter and confidant to us and so many others and in turn an amazing father, friend, colleague, manager, and mentor.  He is so very loved, and so very missed. We are so thankful for all the many adventures we had together. He is reunited with his parents and friends who have gone before and we hope he is up there dancing away.”

Luxembourg National Day in Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Many memories

On 27 June 2024 I had the pleasure to attend the Luxembourg National Day in Beijing, in the garden of the ambassador’s residence. Always special for me as I have many souvenirs of the early eighties when I was a close friend of the first Luxembourg ambassador, Carlo Ketter, and his lovely wife. We were both living in the Beijing Hotel and we met many times. I also helped a bit with advice when he was dealing with the challenges to fix the old building, said to be the former Pakistan embassy. It is located in a hutong, the only diplomatic building to be in the old city as far as I know. The small buildings at the entrance served as the embassy in the eighties, later the embassy moved to a modern office building on gongti bei lu.
The building is old but charming and has a beautiful garden.
I was also close to the first secretary of the embassy, Dory Schmitz. Many memories of the eighties in Beijing…

A sumptuous buffet

Schindler’s did the catering and offered a wide choice of goodies to the far over 300 invited guests. This time the weather was not that hot and bearable…

Nice to meet some fellow Rotarians as well as our Belgian ambassador. Also met again our Belgian friend from Arcelor Mittal.
A Chinese Vice Minister attended the reception.

The food

You can watch here a short video showing the event with a view on some of the dishes. There were also stands with ice cream and of course drinks. (Need VPN in China)
I have been several times to Schindler’s Tankstelle in Beijing, recommended!

This is the Sanlitun restaurant. Schindler has another new and big location at the south gate of Ritan Park. They do a lot of catering.