Food and Wine...Lunar 8

Ever since we came back from Maui, Mike and I have been craving good wine. After living in China for almost 3 years now (can you believe it?), I almost forgot that feeling when you take your first sip of good wine. Wine is a luxury in China - there's a lot of crappy wines produced here, and all of the foreign-imported wines are heavily taxed. Last week we were at the wine bar Enoteca, where they had a 200 rmb free flowing tapas special including a bottle of wine. We thought this was a pretty good deal, and selected a Malbec-Merlot blend from Argentina. I thought the wine was pretty decent and we were happy with our choice, until I googled the name of the winery later on and found out you can get the same bottle in the US for $5. Not that there aren't any good $5 wines, but you get the point.

Anyway, last night we decided to check-out the newly opened Fairmont Beijing and its restaurant Lunar 8. Lunar 8 was running a buy one get one free promotion.

Just like any other luxury hotel in Beijing, the Fairmont was empty when we walked in. Understandably, it had only recently opened, but when you hear and see luxury hotels running at 20-30% occupancy rates (average is usually 65 - 70%) in Beijing, it makes you wonder how all of these hotels are going to survive. Lunar 8 was empty too - there was only one other table besides us.

The menu was fickle and all over the place - the restaurant offered sushi, Thai, Chinese and Indian food (hmm...makes you think about how Gordon Ramsay always stresses simple menus in Kitchen Nightmares).

Fairmont was running a seafood special in celebration of its Vancouver properties, so we ordered the sea scallops.

The sea scallops were disappointing - they were tiny and overcooked. I think Mike and I were hoping for big, fresh scallops with tender centers, but oh well. Beijing isn't exactly a seafood haven so maybe that's the best we can get.

We ordered Indian food for our entrees. Mike ordered the chicken tikka and I ordered lamb chops with mango butter and mint chutney.

Luckily our entrees were delicious. My lamb chops were cooked perfectly, and they weren't gamey. My naan was pretty non-conventional - it had dried fruits in it, so the naan tasted like fruitcake. A little different, but it was yummy. Mike's chicken tikka was pretty good too - the meat was tender and not too dry.

For our wine, we ordered a 2007 Louis Jadot Chardonnay. The wine was good - it was medium-full bodied and had a slight nutty flavor. Sadly though, the wine was 600 RMB - almost $100 USD, and you can buy it online in the US for less than $20.

Our dinner at Lunar 8 was good minus the scallops and given the fact that one of us ate for free. However, I don't think I will return, unless there's something that really differentiates the restaurant from the rest of Beijing's eateries..