Country Kitchen

Rosewood Beijing, Jing Guang Centre, Hujialou, Chaoyang District, Beijing

It’s a good sign when a hotel restaurant is frequented by locals. When Food and Travel visited Country Kitchen at Rosewood Beijing, our fellow diners were all Chinese – some hotel guests and the rest well-heeled suits from the surrounding CBD. While the menu focuses on traditional Northern Chinese cuisine, the restaurant is suspended in a gleaming skyscraper and has a tactile, contemporary interior divided by intricately carved screens.

Chef Leo Chai masterminds a series of sleek small plates from the open kitchen. Within minutes the table is groaning with fascinating tastes and textures such as chewy cloud ear fungus and smoky tofu. Spinach with sesame sauce was expertly balanced by a dash of rice vinegar. Every mouthful reveals something new. The experience is enhanced by the theatre behind each plate. Chefs hand-pull noodles with an almost ceremonial rhythm before serving them swimming in chilli oil with delicious braised pork. However, the standout dish here is classic Beijing duck, roasted in sugar until its skin is as brittle as the shell of a quail’s egg then expertly dismantled in just a few seconds at your table.