One Week in Beijing - Sightseeing 2

The most magnificent sight was to be on top of the famous Great Wall of China. Walking through the steps made me really respect those ancestors who built the walls and the forts. The scenery at the top was just breath-taking.

前门大街

幕田欲长城 Great Wall of China

北京烤鸭真空装 

Glory Mall-国瑞购物中心

SoShow购物中心

崇文门地铁站

新侨诺富特饭店 (Xinqiao Novotel Hotel)

Part 3, Beijing food coming up next...

One Week in Beijing - Sightseeing 1

I spent the whole of last week in the wonderful city of Beijing (北京), China. I tagged along with my spouse when he went there for a business conference. We had a great time visiting their national monuments, shopping and feasting. I simply love their Beijing cuisine, especially their Peking Duck. Had the weather been cooler and less pollution, this would have been a perfect holiday!

天安门(Tiananmen Square)

故宫 (Forbidden City)

胡同

后海

天坛公园 (Temple of Heaven)

北京动物园批发市场

王府井小吃街

三里屯Village

Cuccina, aka our Pantry Magic

Raffles City @ 东直门街

滋味烘焙屋 (www.ziwei365.com)

安定门外大街6号楼底商 安贞桥向南150米, 路东江苏饭店斜对面

¥19 approx. S$4 for the cookie cutters.

My baking accessories from 滋味烘焙屋.

Part 2 coming up next...

Spizzico and Laurent's Cafe

Some weekends back, we had our sisters' lunch. I bought a the voucher from deal.com.sg for Spizzico Ristorante Italiano. It is located in UE Square. We were there earlier than expected for lunch. When we reached the restaurant, it was still empty. The restaurant had a "fine dining" set up, with the usual cockeries and wine glasses. The indoor setting were pretty small. It got filled up rather quickly.

The overall experience at this restaurant was just so-so. We found the food to be overly-priced, for something which were not so authentic or fantastic. The dessert fridge didn't look appetizing, so we decided we to skip it totally. I doubt I will visit this restaurant again.

Appetizers
From top left corner: Mixed Salad ($14), Parmigiana ($14) and Sauteed Wild Mushroom ($18).

Mixed Salad was very ordinary. To pay $14 for a bowl of greens is quite pricey in my view. It was just pure greens.

Parmigiana, which was supposed to be famous in Italian dish was a disappointment. According to my sisters, authentic Parmigiana wasn't supposed to taste like that. It was aubergine with baked cheese and tomato sauce. The taste was quite alright.

The Sauteed Wild Mushroom was the best appetisers amongst them. There was this grilled taste though. I like the it though. However, a bit pricey for the quantity we had. :p

Main Course
Ravioli Crabmeat ($24) was good. Even though the pasta was rather thick, there was enough fillings to complement the texture. Even though there was a hint of fishiness, it still tasted very good. The sauce included sundried tomatoes, which were our favourites.

Pizza Salmone ($20) tasted good with its fresh smoked salmon. The crust was thin and topped with lots of rockets.

After lunch, we felt that we were not satisfied. So we proceeded to Laurent's Cafe at Robertson Quay. I was "wowed" by the specialty chocolate sections and the chocolate desserts on display. The ambience was really country. We loved it. I supposed there is a price to pay for good chocolates. I'm sure this is not the last time I'll be there! The amount I paid for the desserts was almost the same as my lunch! Haha...

Carupano Venezuela Hot Chocolate ($9) was far better than their Classic Hot Chocolate Caraïbe 66% ($8). Venezuela Hot Chocolate has a deeper, richer and more spicy taste than the Classic. Classic tasted a bit too much milk. You can only realised the difference when you tried both. However, if you ordered only Classic, you might also like it. [I had forgotten to take a picture of the hot chocolate.] A fudgey dark chocolate cookie was served with the Hot Chocolate. Double yummy!

Next up, Pleasure ($9.80). Layers of chocolates with whipped chocolate cream and hazelnut praline on a thin vanilla sponge cake. Generous hazelnuts with the praline. I love this to bits!

Chocolate Truffle ($7.80). Nothing to shout about this truffle cake though. I think many of the bloggers can make similar cake. I like that it is not too sweet, it's really something that I can make at home, with dark and good quality chocolates.

Chocolate Tart ($7.80). This was the reason my sister brought us here. According to her, the chocolate tart here is the best. I have to agree. The crust was thin and crispy. There was a layer of hazelnut praline, followed by the chocolate. It's dark chocolate. It's to die for. Goes really well with the whipped cream.  We had chocolate overdose for that day. However, we're happy with that!

Green Tea Fingers

I baked this last week as my fingers were feeling "itchy". This was the simplest baking one could do.
Recipe for Green Tea Fingers, modified from "Cakes & Bakes".
Makes a 8" square pan (possible to bake in a 9" round pan too!)

Ingredients:
175g Cold Butter, plus extra for greasing
225g Plain flour
1 1/4 tsp Green Tea powder
60g Fine sugar

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 8" square pan.
2. Sift the flour, green tea powder into a bowl and stir in the sugar.
3. Rub in the butter until the mixture begins to stick together.
4. Press the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a palette knife.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 40mins, or until browned.
6. Leave it to cool thoroughly before slicing and serve.
7. Stores well in an air-tight container.