For years, the Kempinski’s Trattoriala Gondola watched Beijing’s food scene develop. Now playing catch-up, the restaurant has been renovated and rebranded as Via Roma, a spacious, open-all-day affair. But not all culinary roads lead to Rome.

The décor is like a mock-up of an Italian bistro without any of the rustic charm – the lighting’s so bright it’ll seriously dent your dinner companion’s attractiveness. Unfortunately, this clinical lack of authenticity extends to the cuisine as well. Beef carpaccio uses decent-quality slivers of meat, but lacks any flavour – even a hint of salt would be a boon. Supposedly there are some truffles in there, which would justify the cost. You’d have to be Sherlock Holmes to find them, though.

At least our veal osso buco was cooked properly. The fork-tender meat – its glorious marrowbone intact – is bathed in a rich, spiced gravy just waiting to be mopped up with a piece of bread. We chose to ignore the tasteless saffron risotto it came with, a paltry pile of soggy Chinese white rice. Sadly, the desserts couldn’t bring smiles back to our faces. Olive oil panna cotta might sound interesting, but the stiff, savory reality had our forks down after one bite.

Once upon a time, such limp offerings might have been acceptable. But Beijing now has a surfeit of decent Italian eateries. Via Roma tries to market itself as down-to-earth, but they’re not fooling anyone. This is overpriced, underworked bistro food with fine-dining prices

Address: Kempinski Hotel Lufthansa Centre, 50 Liangmaqiao Lu, Chaoyang District 朝阳区亮马桥路50号

Source: timeoutbeijing.com