Unbelievable food, not cheap but not overly expensive either

Joined: Aug 29, 2008
Posts: 29
Review of Domus
5

I had never heard of Domus before but my buddy Chef Dan Segall was brought in to design a menu for the new management group. They invited my wife, daughter, sister-in-law and me to come in and try out the food before they re-open this week. They wanted to give the staff on the floor and in the kitchen more real situation practice.. and who am I to say no to a free meal.

We started off with soups and salads. I had the French Onion soup, wife had the seafood soup and daughter had the vegetable soup. All were amazing but the French Onion was to die for. They bring 4 different types of bread rolls to the table to choose from and I am not kidding when I say it was the best bread I have had in Asia. I got to meet the pastry chef and saw where she bakes her bread and it is mouth watering. After that we had a tuna salad that was very nice. Very cool presentation. A pork pate and a confee(sp?) that we slathered on the bread.

They started to pile on the food from there.. we had mouth watering steaks, insanely tender beer ribs, massive scallops with lemon capers on top, pork belly which is a bit too fatty for my tastes but if you like that sort of thing... my wife also had a trout salad that was very good. We were at this point too stuffed to eat the roasted chicken but it was so good that we took it home. I hope we didn't look like peasents by doing so but it was just too tasty to leave. I couldn't do dessert (way too full) but wife and sister had espresso. I think I might be forgetting a few dishes we had, there was so much food. They also gave us a couple bottles of lovely Italian wine.

The restaurant is beautiful and sophisticated but still very chill. The lounge was empty because they are still not open yet so it looked a little like a museum but I can see how it would be cool once its full. This is a wonderful place to bring a date or have a business meal, or if you can afford it a nice family meal like we had.

As to the price... I would say you are going to spend about 400 per person if you order the wine, which I strongly suggest you do. That is going all out for 400 each. This is real food for real people and the portions are more than ample. I am biased for sure as I am a good friend of Chef Dan's but if I was not impressed I would have just told him and the management team that it was great and left it at that and not written a review. It really was that good. It is a little tough to get to as it is right next to the Forbidden City but well worth the effort. Great food and a great atmosphere. This is the highend western restaurant at reasonable prices that Beijing has been missing.

Finally I want to mention the service. They were on their best behavior for sure with us and management looking on but they were all friendly and attentive. I hope this restaurant gets the attention it deserves as it really is a wonderful experience.