TRB Bites won That's Beijing's Editors' Choice award for Best New Restaurant. See here for the rest of the results.
"Could you slow down a little bit?” asks our photographer, Holly.
“Sure,” says TRB Bites’ Head Chef Sidney De Hart as he fiddles with a veal dish in his kitchen.
The shutter of Holly’s camera whirrs and snaps for the next minute. Then De Hart, who helms the kitchen alongside chefs Niels Desnouck and Arnaud Guilloux, appears to subconsciously speed up. “Could you slow down again?” Holly gently reminds him.
“Sorry,” he says, smiling.
De Hart’s serious, fast-paced demeanor in the kitchen is in contrast with the De Hart we’d just spoken with outside of it – remarkably laid back, soft-spoken, tattoos poking out from beneath his chef’s uniform as he describes to us how “casual” and “fun” TRB Bites is.
Casual and fun it is indeed. And yet with very serious cuisine.
As our initial magazine preview of TRB Bites was written during its soft opening period, we are yet to run a full review. So let us take a moment to evaluate the place: it’s great. It is Beijing’s ‘Best New Restaurant.’
TRB Bites is the fun little sister of TRB (Temple Restaurant Beijing), a restaurant so elegant it seems like the kind of place people might get engaged in. If TRB is a regal dame, then TRB Bites is a professional 30-something – young enough to appreciate a good deal; established enough to enjoy a splurge. Classy enough to desire white tablecloths and exquisite service; relaxed enough to pump upbeat music overhead. We’d continue with this analogy, but you get the idea.
The food on offer is European fare that balances creative mixtures of flavors. We especially love the bone marrow with snails, garlic and parsley; the veal tenderloin with crayfish (De Hart’s favorite dish on the menu – “a little bit of surf and turf”); and the decadent chocolate and milk textures. But we love pretty much everything else available, too.
While we tend to save visits to TRB for special occasions, we can picture ourselves frequenting Bites with alarming regularity. The reason for this is also a major reason why we selected it for ‘Best New Restaurant’: value for money. You can get in and out of Bites for less than RMB200 (it’s RMB188 for three courses). This opens the culinary world of TRB up to students, underpaid creative types, diners who have no clue what half the words on the menu mean… the people, damn it. And the people will be welcomed warmly, given TRB Bites’ fantastic service.
In short, that’s why TRB Bites feels relaxed, because the staff does all the hard work for you. Kind of like De Hart says: “Everything here is fast and fun. But I don’t want to say we’re relaxed. We keep the pressure on in the kitchen.”
Photo by Holly Li. For more info on TRB Bites, see listing for details.
0 User Comments