Walking into the Green T House restaurant-past a wide expanse of white pebbles, beyond the lake-our hearts stopped. The faint melody of traditional guqin music floats through the air. A large shallow pool scented with green tea is off to one side, in the shadow of a twisted branch hanging from the ceiling. In the centre of the room is a statue of a horse with a lamp growing out of its head. The effect is so overwhelming, we didn’t know how to react.

Our first scene, a mushroom broth and a minced pork consommé were beautiful, but both tasted and felt almost exactly alike in their creamy heaviness. The biggest clue between them was the inexplicable tiny deer figurine served beside the consommé. Our ‘curly chicken’arrived far too soon, forcing us to merely watch the uncomfortably salty chicken cooling on the plate beneath a decorative pine branch while we finished our soup. The lemongrass duck gree is a powerfully sour and spicy concoction-take any more than a nibble and it’s like being kicked in the mouth.

The scale only gets grander in the main courses. A long half-tube of bamboo houses a tossing of chilli, crunchy cashews and tangy, tender chicken that provides a variety of textures from bite to bite. Broad slices of parmesan lie over the bamboo, melding perfectly with the volcanic, numbing dish beneath. Yet the wasabi prawns have only a slight hint of the nose-blasting root hidden within them.

At Green T House, presentation is everything, and for some this theatrical atmosphere may be enough. It’s certainly worth at least one peek: take your friends here for a pot of tea, away from the city’s grind. It will surely impress them – as long as they aren’t foodies.

Address: 318 Cuigezhuangxiang, Hegezhuangcun, Chaoyang District 朝阳区崔各庄乡何各庄318号

Source: timeoutbeijing.com