Tavola

First things first - check out this motorbike that we spotted last night.  Isn't it hilarious?  There's even a 2-seater in the back.  Would you want to drive this around?

This car was parked outside the restaurant we ate at last night. For my birthday dinner this year, Mike brought me to Tavola, one of the many Italian restaurants here in Beijing.  It's located in the Grand Summit Mall, where apartments were supposedly renting at $8K USD/month at one point (pre-Olympics).  It's suppose to be a diplomatic compound, and apparently the security is top notch.  Anyway, the compound is fairly empty these days (like Beijing's many luxury apartment buildings), but the good things about the Grand Summit Mall are Fatburger, City Shop (the one and only in the Jing!), and Tavola.

Upon walking in, Mike and I were impressed with the restaurant's tasteful interiors and the open kitchen concept.  There's nothing better than watching your meal being prepped in front of you.  Sadly, like many other high-end restaurants in Beijing, Tavola didn't have a lot of patrons on a Saturday night, and unfortunately, it was fairly empty.  I wasn't sure why Tavola needed 6 chefs behind the counter when there weren't that many customers, and there were times when we caught the chefs fooling around and punching each other.  However, I was quite pleased to see an immaculately clean kitchen, and the chefs did look like they knew what they were doing when they were working.

For starters, Mike and I decided to split a home made pappardelle pasta dish cooked in a creamy tomato sauce with eggplant, prosciutto and parmesan cheese.  I love fresh pappardelle pasta - it always pairs well with hearty sauces, and I love how the width of the pasta catches the sauce.  This one did not disappoint, and it was our favorite dish of the night.

For our entrees, Mike ordered a sirloin steak topped with greens (what are these?) and parmesan cheese shavings.  I thought the steak was a bit too chewy, but it tasted delicious when paired with the cheese and the greens.

As for my entree, I ordered pan seared red snapper from the Sea of Japan with roasted cherry tomatoes, potatoes and olives.  I thought the olives were a bit too salty, but the snapper was delicious.

Dinner was paired with a bottle of pinot noir from Erath, a winery in Oregon.  We finished our meal by sharing a piece of tiramisu.  The tiramisu was delicious - light, slightly fluffy without being heavily drenched in alcohol. 

Our entire meal came out to roughly 600 rmb - less than $100 USD!  Quite a steal if you ask me!  I will definitely return to Tavola to try their other dishes!  :)