Ok, corny attempt to pun... We went to Ristorante Sadler last weekend with my uncle & family to try a 2 Michelin star meal. Located in Beijing's Legation Quarter ( No. 23 Qianmen), this is one of those glam places the snotty types would like to see and be seen. We were just there for the food. 2 star chef wor! I've always wondered what was the big deal about the Michelin stars. Apparently, chefs have gone into depression and even attempt suicide after losing a star!!
So off we went to satisfy our curiosity and our rumbling tummys.
On the decor - it was elegant and chic. A great place to relax but not the kind
for a boisterous party!
On the service: Attentive and they served iced water. Unlike some places in Beijing that insist you have to buy mineral water that costs as much as a starter! The staff also made an effort to take our order in English when they realised our conversation was in English. So I give them points for effort.
On the food:
The bread basket was fantastic. They were very generous with the bread which were served warm. The cheese flavored bread tasted the best. My cousin quietly polished off all three in the basket he was sharing with his parents. Bread was served with pesto, olive oil and salt. My cousin asked for butter but apparently there's none to be had. No big deal since I like bread with olive oil anyway. It dawned upon me much later in the meal, why they gave so much bread...
My cousin ordered a lobster consomme ( i vaguely remember this being 150RMB). He didn't like it. I ended up having most of it. It' nothing like a creamy lobster bisque. This is a brown broth that's poured over grilled veggies and I think morel mushroom. On first taste, you'd think you just drank perfumed water. It tasted very floral. The taste grew on me. Takes a while to realise it's not flowers you're tasting but lobster roe. But there's not a hint of lobster flesh anywhere in the serving. So this was one really expensive soup.
We also had squid- balls. Kinda like bouncy sotong balls bac
k in Singapore, without the bounce. There were only 4 balls. The sering was small but the plus point was, each ball was pure unadulterated minced squid. No flour. The best starter was the Risotto cooked with Prosecco ( bubbly wine). it was cheesy sweet and oh so good!
My Aunt had the blue fin tuna, daniel had the slow cooked lamb, my uncle had the wagyu beef, my cousin the lobster ravioli and myself, the sea urchin roe pasta. The ravioli and pasta servings were super duper tiny. My cousin, a growing teenage boy was disappointed to count only 5 pieces of ravioli on his plate.
My pasta had quite a generous serving of sea urchin but the overall serving was so small that I finished my pasta in 4 bites.
I guess the pasta isn't supposed to be a main course. I believe pasta is kind of like a 2nd starter in real Italian meals. ( Lightbulb went off in my head here... so that's why there's so much bread!)
Serving size aside, my sea urchin roe pasta was delicious. It had an interesting flavor reminiscent of seafood marinara... just with a more premium type of seafood I guess. My cousin did not enjoy his lobster ravioli as much because it had that same perfumed taste of his consomme. Poor boy just ate more bread. As did I.
The beef and lamb came in much bigger servings. My uncle proclaimed the beef to be yummy (it better be at over 300RMB!!) and Dan's lamb was good too - tender with a mild gamey taste and coated in a delicious pastry with crushed nuts. The blue fin tuna was also nice ( again... better be at that price!)
We shared 2 desserts - one of Tiramisu which was really yummy, and the second was Tete de Moine( cheese) with a glass of port. Dessert ranged form 70 - 150RMB. The restaurant also served us a plate of complimentary after dinner sweets. That was really nice of them! There were 3 varieties and enough for each of us to try all three sweets.
At the end of the meal, our curiosity ad rumbling tummys were satisfied though the servings were small. I suspect I was stuffed from all that bread. I enjoyed the food and the wine immensely but I'm not sure if I'll be coming back again soon at these exorbitant prices and tiny servings.
But would I recommend the restaurant? Sure! If you want to expose your palette to something different, and if you need to impress a client or a date. And if you want to experience the creativity of a 2 michelin star chef.
