Benlai Cookhouse has access to the freshest meats and products sourced at home and abroad. (Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily)
A long open kitchen faces the public area, offering diners a full view of what's going on in the kitchen; they can ask the working chefs any questions they have.
ADVERTISING3 3 There is also a bar－nine seats - just in front of the kitchen, which are usually occupied by regular customers.
"I hope customers will be able to observe how we cook," Guo says proudly. Cooking is not just processing of ingredients, but also a process of creation-a beautiful art, he adds.
The restaurant doesn't have a menu, and requires making a reservation a day before or at least before noon.When customers call, the receptionist will ask what they eat and what they don't, and then the chefs will design courses tailored to requests. There are about five courses for each diner including dessert.
Bread is a delicious surprise: There are four kinds of major breads in the restaurant. The little cheese bun tastes moderately sweet; ball-shaped spinach bread has a strong and pleasant wheat flavor; hemisphere-shaped bread is made with olives, honey and salt, and has very soft texture; a square-shaped bread is made with onion, potato and olive oil, and is very chewy and tasty.
The appetizer on a recent visit was New Zealand scallop salad, which consisted of semi-crystal shrimps and creamy scallops. They were soft and chewy, and so fresh that I could smell the scent of sea as I ate them.
My favorite dish that day was the little yellow pumpkin soup with vegetable crisp-bread. The soup was milky and golden, with a sweet and inviting flavor.
Guo says the soup is made without spices. He chooses a ripe little yellow pumpkin, allowing it to sunbathe for several days to harden it -until he cannot pinch off the skin. He fries the chopped pumpkin with onions, mash-es it all with water and milk, then boils the mixture before serving.
The crispbread had different layers: At first bite, the texture was hard and crisp, and then it quickly melted in the mouth. It was also very tasty when soaked in the soup for a bit.
