First-Rate Italian Hits Gongti: Matta

It can be hard to take anything in Gongti seriously when inundated with the deluge of Vics and Mix, adolescents tottering around in short sequined skirts and towering heels, and million-dollar sports cars squealing through the parking lot. But Matta is not something to be dismissed, as oddly placed for a good Western meal as it may seem.

Tucked just inside the west gate of Gongti behind a grove of pines, the space is startlingly tranquil. In the tradition of a Southern California beach mansion, it is sprawling and low-slung with floor-to-ceiling glass windows and ample patio seating just in time for Beijing’s brief spring and lolling summer.

The menu is expansive, leaning heavily on the ocean, but with other land creatures and fowl well-represented. The tender roast veal with saffron tuna sauce and black truffle flavor (RMB 98) arrives a jumble of field and forest drizzled with the sea. Crisp, young leaves of arugula tangle with thinly sliced veal and a showering of black pepper and black olives. It seems cruel to eat something one might speak with, but you’ll lose all misgivings when your fork pierces the slow-cooked ox tongue (RMB 48) and it falls apart.

But the ocean is what you should come for. Tender French blue mussels (RMB 138) are served with “croutons” – thin rounds of butter-soaked toast to dip in the olive oil and parsley broth. The showstopper is the Acqua Pazza (market price). For a restaurant whose name means “crazy kitchen,” it is right that the crown jewel of the menu be a dish called “crazy water.”

The exceptional Sicilian-style braised fish is exactly that: chaos. It’s the seas dismantled and then reconstructed by the chef tableside. “Mussels, squid, crab, scallops, octopus, clams,” he calls out as he adds each alongside the fish into an olive oil broth seasoned with capers, olives and tomatoes. It is extravagance in its truest form and you’d be crazy to leave any remaining.

Matta Italian Restaurant
Mon-Fri 6pm-2am, Sat-Sun 11am-2am. Gongti Xilu (inside Gongti West Gate), Chaoyang District (6553 9949)
朝阳区工体西路 (工体西门院内北侧)
1.2km southeast of Dongsishitiao station (Line 2)

Also try: Sureno, Cepe

Photos: Ken