Shanhewanduo

Today, I visited Shan He Wan Duo on the first day of their spring menu launch, nearly three years since my last visit. My impression is that they remain at their level from three years ago, equivalent to a one-star or one-diamond rating. In Beijing, not regressing already surpasses many.

First, the positives: The menu is cohesive and clear in style. Considering the high rent in Wangfu Central, the restaurant has done well to express itself within a limited budget, offering 15 dishes of various sizes. Each dish shows effort and time investment, with little repetition in cooking techniques and flavors, reflecting sincerity in their offerings.

However, my dining experience wasn't pleasant. The menu structure included three small appetizers, one soup, six main dishes, one staple, and four desserts. Seated at 7:30 PM on a weekday, it took 100 minutes before the soup was served, leaving me starving and in pain. The waitstaff only offered apologies and excuses, with no real solutions until a Taiwanese manager intervened. The pace of service improved only after other guests had mostly left, highlighting operational issues in the kitchen.

The menu's biggest problem, and the reason Shan He Wan Duo hasn't made a significant breakthrough, is its unclear positioning. The restaurant lacks a unique identity, making it less of a 'must-visit' destination. I believe a Chinese vegetarian restaurant aiming for this status should embrace more 'Chinese' elements, finding inspiration in Eastern philosophy, culture, and aesthetics to reflect the beauty of seasonal landscapes in its dishes. Westernization is not the answer.

Shan He Wan Duo's menu is too Westernized, employing French techniques in vegetarian cuisine, which is apparent in its structure, techniques, and aesthetic expression. It feels overly formulaic and lacks a certain fluid grace. The crowded field of East-West fusion often hits a ceiling, and from a differentiation and storytelling perspective, this Western approach doesn't seem suitable for Shan He Wan Duo or Beijing.

Honestly, I can't say the menu was beautiful. Perhaps due to my personal dislike of leafy greens, the deep green colors in the menu were almost frightening and lacked a diverse color palette. Last year's Fu He Hui's menu, titled "Only This Green," emphasized green but through a combination of elements, not just a heap of green leaves.

Returning to the dishes:

The opening appetizer was a gourd, with two-colored gourd slices arranged in a rose shape, garnished with rapeseed and served on a thick, crispy tart shell. This was tasty and pleasantly oily, not bland at the start.

The second appetizer was a tomato dish, similar to many tomato-centric dishes I've seen in the past year. Layers of tomato broth, tomato jelly, and dried tomato with a hidden slice of tomato inside the jelly. The jelly was almost tasteless, and since it was suggested to eat each layer separately, it lacked a symphony-like feel, though it was still acceptable overall.

The third appetizer was artichoke, a dish I found intimidating. The main plate resembled a chaotic frame with unevenly cut artichoke slices as the canvas, filled with roasted artichokes, apple and walnut dumplings, sweet pea pods, spinach, and loofah tips, accompanied by artichoke sashimi. The artichoke slices were sour, the vegetables bitter, and the sashimi had an indescribable taste, making it difficult for me to swallow.

After the appetizers, the soup course was a red mushroom soup, unoriginal, with morel mushrooms stuffed with water chestnut and kelp wrapped in bamboo fungus. The soup tasted like an ordinary mushroom soup, lacking depth, and the bamboo fungus was too slippery.

The first main dish was a mushroom and water chestnut parcel with taro mash and old vegetable garden hot sauce. The chef has a talent for bringing out the oiliness in vegetarian dishes. This was good.

The second main dish was plum bean, filled with bean paste and topped with kale, accompanied by a small dish of bean paste and crispy sweet pea chips sprinkled with scallion powder. The appearance of the kale immediately gave off a strong salad taste.

The third main dish was potato, lightly roasted with thyme leaves, giving a faint herbal aroma, but the potato was somewhat sour, affecting the taste. Hidden inside were shallots and fried onion oil residue, which were quite fragrant.

The fourth main dish was corn tofu, topped with sweet corn, fried onions, and raw scallions. The tofu itself wasn't great.

The fifth main dish was a spring pancake, thick and soft, filled with morel mushrooms and topped with a small piece of black tiger paw mushroom, accompanied by toon crispy chips. Another dish with a good sense of oiliness, the spring pancake was quite nice.

The sixth main dish was asparagus, white asparagus with green asparagus sauce, surrounded by a lot of lily mash with a small hollow filled with bird's nest, topped with fresh l

ily petals. It felt like a dish made out of a lack of inspiration, merely filling the menu. The white asparagus was both salty and bitter, and the plate lacked harmony.

Then came the staple, kohlrabi dumplings with green curry sauce. The curry sauce was okay, but the dumplings seemed undercooked.

Finally, the desserts had a Taiwanese flavor: a bergamot granita with star-shaped guava, hiding green apple pieces; sticky black rice dumplings topped with fresh lily petals; and a mugwort biscuit crisp topped with ice cream and a small branch.

After this entire menu, I was only about half full and had to find a snack elsewhere.