Tiago Opens Sister Restaurant Combal to Cater Toward a Mediterranean Fine Dining Experience
It wasn't until I went to visit Tiago's new fine dining sister restaurant Combal that I had ever set foot in Jianguomen's COFCO Plaza. Marooned just north of Beijing Train Station, the mall has undergone a major interior facelift courtesy of the designers behind Hong Kong's K11 Mall and Combal is looking to fit right in.
Compared to the rustic Italian offerings found at Tiago, Combal's menu melds fancy Mediterranean dishes with a Chinese twist, the result sometimes finding flavors that fall in a subtle limbo with no hard edges to speak of. Those same elements also make their way into the tea-infused cocktails (RMB 52-59), each with a name taken from archaic Chinese drinking terminology.
Drawn to the 盉 (He) for its mix of whiskey, ginger liqueur, ginger tea, lemon juice, and brown sugar, the concoction turned out so refreshing that any bite from the whiskey was instead replaced with the stronger notes of chrysanthemum, which sat affixed to the submerged ice cube.
The amuse-bouche of sea urchin "mousse air bags" and light potato ice-cream was similarly light but missed the mark with what was basically glorified frozen mashed potato (sans salt). Luckily, that misstep proved a one-off and the remainder of the meal excelled in its balanced execution and presentation.
An early highlight, which admittedly probably won't be for everyone, was the "egg in eggs," an ensemble of no fewer than five different eggs in one dish. The dominant whipped and slightly sweetened egg whites and potato sabayon had a texture not entirely dissimilar to that of marshmallow creme, providing the perfect gooey substance in which to suspend red and black caviar, quail eggs, and finally the base of scrambled yolk. There was something about the combination of all this egg that felt wrong but was at the same time incredibly addictive.
And then the meat started coming.
The trio of foie gras, spicy pigeon leg and breast was perfectly cooked, each variation tender and full of their own individual flavor. The foie gras dodged being too pungent, and was ever so slightly creamy; the squab, buttery and rich. What brought the dish together was the lit and smoldering cassia bark that sits directly on the plate. Once extinguished, it gives a deep cinnamon fragrance that beautifully rounded out the fattiness from the meat.
Again exercising a nuanced use of aromatics, the thick cuts of Australian black Angus filet come on a standalone grill, the herbs underneath smoking and adding flavor to the beef. The filet is sous vide and wrapped in a salty and crunchy chamomile shell, reminding me of my mum's stuffing at Christmas dinners at home. The meat was again superbly cooked and came juicy, bouncy, and a lovely pink color.
Of the two desserts, the "flavor of chocolate" definitely won out for its deconstructed take on a Snickers bar, nicely leveling any perceived snobbishness. The one setback was that it was far too rich and the prospect of eating so much chocolate at the end of a seven-course meal was nigh-impossible. However, that didn't stop the peanut ice cream from being scoffed down in record time.
All in all, Combal's highlights are its middle courses. Whereas the beginning and the end dishes are suitably adventurous, there remain some elements that need to be tied together to be considered great. That being said, the food here is off to a robust start and we can imagine the kitchen doing well once word-of-mouth picks up among nearby offices. Even if you're not in for splashing out on food, the cocktails are well-priced and the restaurant's large sheltered terrace makes for a comfortable destination to while away an evening while the sun's still on our side.
Combal is currently in soft opening with two dinner menus currently on offer: RMB 680 for a six-course meal and RMB 1,080 for nine. There are also several lunch sets to choose from, ranging from RMB 138 (starter and first course) to RMB 298 (starter, first course, main, dessert, and coffee or tea).
Combal
1/F, Tower C, COFCO Plaza, 8 Jianguomen Outer Street, Chaoyang District
朝阳区建国门内大街8号中粮广场C座1层
Photos: Tom Arnstein
