When we first heard about the new fast-casual eatery and bar from the hospitality group behind Wudaoying Hutong mainstay Saffron, all we could glean was that it’s a good ‘hipster hangout’. Our collective palates reeled. After all, when it comes to food, ‘hipster’ is the last thing you want to hear. He Kitchen & Co is undeniably stylish, with exposed brick, polished concrete and stained hardwood galore. But does style come at the cost of substance? In this case, the answer is yes.

The first floor is dominated by the open kitchen and chilled display case. Salads are on show beneath thin veils of cling film, half-bottles of vino poke their heads out of an ice box. Hanging on a back wall is a selection of placards that don’t so much make up a menu, they more allude to the idea of one.

There is nothing good to say about the sloppy jumble of chopped avocado, salmon and cucumber, artlessly wrapped in rice and nori, that the menu lists as sushi. The salads fare much better, however. A light Caesar sports hefty chunks of chicken, quail’s egg, radish and shaved curls of Parmesan; the shrimp and avocado salad suffers from overcooked shrimp and brown avocado, but the mild heat from a Thai chilli dressing moves things along.

The English muffin with braised pork shoulder sports shredded meat that has been properly slow-cooked but is devoid of any of the richness we know, love and apparently take for granted in our 8RMB street-side roujiamo.

Source: timeoutbeijing.com