restaurant news with Anna Karmanova

Spicy Asian dishes are a cure for autumn grayness and blues? From the beginning of October to the end of November, the Chinatown restaurant will host days of Szechuan cuisine, the spiciest in China. The appetizer section opens with “Eggplant Suan” (145 rubles) - this is a moderately spicy cold appetizer of eggplant with garlic, steamed and seasoned with spicy ginger-soy sauce. There are also more fiery dishes in this section: beef gizzards “Nui Du”, cut into thin slices, seasoned with chili oil and green onions (185 rubles), and green beans “Xi Ji Dou” (160 rubles), fried with pepper chili and pork. And the most harmless appetizer in terms of spiciness is pieces of carp fried with ginger, soy sauce and Chinese spices (190 rubles). There are two items in the soup section. The most interesting option is a soup made from deer ham, dates and lotus root, prepared with cinnamon and star anise (170 rubles). For those who like light dishes, a clear soup with a wok-fried egg and green onions for flavor (RUB 115) is more suitable. In the hot dishes section you can find meat, poultry, and fish. The least spicy here is carp again: the whole fish is stewed in a special soy sauce with garlic and ginger (430 rubles). Dumplings with pork and ginger have a piquant taste; the spiciness of this dish lies in a special soy sauce (185 rubles). Spicy duck "Badjiao" (395 rubles) consists of tender pieces of meat stewed with ginger and star anise, served with cilantro, pieces of chicken are fried with sesame seeds, chili pepper and peanuts (290 rubles), and its wings are stewed with chestnuts and ginger and leeks (255 rub.). As an addition to any dish, you can order very hot bamboo shoots (75 rubles) and equally spicy pickled cabbage (65 rubles). For dessert, only two Szechuan desserts will be offered. Hawthorn pastille is prepared in the traditional way in golden caramel with sesame seeds (185 rubles), and the Shin En dessert (120 rubles) is prepared with the addition of fresh fruit.

Being impressed by a gastronomic tour of Asian countries, the chef of the Casa del Vino restaurant, Georgy Gerasimov, decided to diversify his European menu by including several oriental-style dishes. You can try shrimp curry with young bamboo shoots and coconut sauce (530 rubles) - this dish is spicy. The spicy dish “Tataki” (RUB 1,250) is prepared from Yellowfin tuna; the name comes from the Japanese word “tataku” - “to hit”: the fish is seasoned with vinegar using blows. Eel baked in soy-honey glaze and caramel-balsamic sauce has a sweetish taste (RUB 1,100). For those with a sweet tooth, an original chocolate dessert in a sphere made from Isomalt sugar awaits (RUB 400). The restaurant's sommelier, Alexey Basov, decided to keep up with the chef and expanded the wine list with items that, in his opinion, fit perfectly with Asian cuisine. The wine list is now topped by three new items: the Austrian Grauburgunder Pluris, Franz Hitzberger 2002 (RUB 3,360), the Alsatian Riesling Rot-Murle, Pierre Frick 2003 (RUB 2,970) and the Italian Amphora, Castello di Lispida 2003 (RUB 5,870).

The Baltschug Kempinski Moscow hotel offers its own way of combating autumn melancholy - drinking tea. The correctness of this path is confirmed by the words of the famous tea lover Sir William Gladstone: “If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are hot, it will cool you. If you are in a depressed mood, it will cheer you up; if you are excited, it will calm you down.” Three tea drinking programs are offered to guests: “Traditional Tea Party”, “Russian Tea Party” and “Kranzler Tea Party”. The ceremonies are united by attention to the surroundings: there are several types of tea to choose from in silver boxes, an elegant teapot, a jug of boiling water, a traditional milk jug, a strainer, and cups of almost transparent porcelain. Small sandwiches and cakes are laid out on multi-tiered silver “shelves”. In addition, a feature of all three ceremonies can be called close attention to tea snacks; it is they, and not the choice of tea, that give one ceremony a Russian spirit, and the other an English one. So, every day, except Sunday, from 15.30 to 18.00 in the Balchug restaurant you can choose a tea ceremony. For fans of the traditional "5 o'clock" we offer a classic tea party in English, which will be accompanied by scones (shortbreads with raisins), apricot and raspberry jams, honey, small sandwiches with tuna, salmon, cucumber and ham, as well as cakes and tartlets, and, of course, tea (or coffee) of your choice. The cost of such a tea party is 1300 rubles. The Russian tea ceremony (RUB 2,950) involves preheating with a shot of vodka, after which you can proceed to appetizers: beluga, sturgeon and chum salmon caviar (10 g each), hot and cold smoked sturgeon, pancakes with sour cream and small pies with cabbage and meat and mushrooms. "Tea drinking Kranzler" - know-how of "Balchuga". Tea will be served with blueberry pie and a piece of Balchug cake “15th anniversary”, beef tartare with quail egg, cookies and praline (RUB 1,500). To experience the sophistication of the process even more acutely, we suggest ordering a glass of Moet&Chandon Brut Imperial (600 rubles) or Moet&Chandon Nectar Imperial (900 rubles) with your tea.

Eat in Chinese, drink in Russian