What's cooking in Beijing?

According to Lun Yu, when the Duke Ling of Wei asked Confucius about military tactics, the philosopher replied, ``I have indeed heard about matters pertaining to tsu (meat stand) and tou (meat platter), but I have not learned military matters''. (Confucian Analects, chapter "Wei Ling Kung") Do you need more proof of the priority food enjoyed in the Chinese culture? This makes a traditional Chinese meal an embodiment of hundreds of years of evolving cultures, customs and mores.

Now that is a lot more than you bargained for when you buy a plate of noodles and garlic chicken from the Chinese cum tandoori cum Chettinadu fast food joint round the corner. But when you pay on an average Rs.140 a dish excluding taxes, all this extra baggage becomes an essential aspect of the meal.

At Beijing Blues on the Radhakrishna Salai, the red-hot chilli blaze seems to obscure some of these details. To begin with, the name Beijing Blues sounds good, but why a northern name for a restaurant specialising in Szechwan (Western) and Cantonese (Southern) cuisines?

The menu is overwhelmingly embellished with chilli signs indicating the pungency of the item. The Cantonese dishes are too few and far between. The Szechwan style itself doesn't begin and end with chillies. The same cuisine that came up with such fiery classics as Kung Pao Chicken and Ma po tofu is also the home of Tea Smoked Duck - a fascinating dish in which a steamed duck is smoked over green tea leaves.

Yes, the Indian palate is accustomed to the explosive stuff, but we can also appreciate authentic mild flavours. In spite of the heat factor, Beijing Blues has some interesting dishes to offer. After running to beat the rain and the inevitable puddle wading, the typical Szechwan style Hot and Sour chicken soup (Rs.110) made a pleasant starting point.

The Steamed wothib (Rs.90) or vegetable dimsum too was nice.

The pace heightened with the arrival of sliced fish in wine sauce (Rs.145). Though I was cautioned that wine sauce was bland, it too had a fair share of shredded red chillies. Yet the additional bite didn't affect the beauty of the bekhti, flown all the way from Kolkata. It was soft, flaky and literally disintegrated in the mouth.

The best was yet to come. The sliced lamb with honey and pepper (Rs.170) was the belle of the ball. The perfect union of pepper, honey and succulent meat was simply unbeatable. Bean curd home style (Rs.145) didn't have anything going for it. Tofu wasn't soft enough and frying made it even more rubbery.

Desserts do not hold any surprise. From the toffeed banana to Darsaan, all the usual sweets are listed. A word about the decor. Done up tastefully in blues and yellows, the restaurant has a lovely ambience.

MARIEN MATHEW

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