A Roof Terrace and a Refreshed Menu Make Eatalia One of Summer's Top Dining Spots

There’s isn’t one single factor that defines a great restaurant; rather, it is a balanced combination of food, ambiance, and service. Now six years old, Eatalia Italian restaurant in Di’anmen has all three in spades, serving authentic Italian food in a three-story hutong setting complete with a terrace with views over the surrounding rooftops, presided over by talkative manager Gian Luca Torcoli. Gian Luca has recently overseen an overhaul of the menu, which aims to extend his passion for Italian food and engaging with customers onto the page.

When guests open the menu, Gian Luca wants them to feel like he is there presenting the menu. As such, each section of the menu, from soup to pasta to pizza, has a brief description of the techniques and ingredients used – handy for those that aren’t that familiar with the Italian names for dishes! Most dishes on the menu are also offered with optional extras, which allows guests to customize dishes according to their tastes and also keeps costs down for those who are happy to go with the original version. 

The physical menu may be a new concept but the food itself does not reinvent the wheel, instead focusing on properly executed classic dishes made with good quality ingredients. Take, for example, the four cheese gnocchi (RMB 78), a study in the simple pleasure of eating loads of cheese. The gnocchi is homemade several times a week, as are the other fresh pasta dishes on the menu. 

Eatalia’s thin, crisp pizzas have already got plenty of fans in Beijing, earning them third place in the 2017 Pizza Cup. There are four basic pizzas on the menu, from a basic Margherita to a spicy diavola topped with salami and Gorgonzola, all of which can be customized by adding toppings (RMB 10-30) such as grilled vegetables, anchovies, ham or double mozzarella. A new addition to the menu is the happy hour pizza (RMB 35), a smaller pizza available during their daily buy-one-drink-get-one-drink-free happy hour. 

The menu holds surprises outside of the expected pizza and pasta. The braised pork shank (RMB 168) is a mighty portion for the price, easily enough for three people. The meat yields at the mere touch of a knife, all the better to mop up the accompanying tomato and white wine sauce and scoop of truffled mashed potatoes. While perhaps a bit wintery for the stunning spring day we visited, we nevertheless couldn’t resist finishing it off. 

Another hearty option is the vellutata ai funghi (RMB 38), a creamy mushroom soup that can be enhanced with a portion of diced chestnuts (RMB 10) sourced from neighboring chestnut specialist Qiulixiang. Those in search of something a little lighter can choose the insalata mista (RMB 38), a basic mixed salad that, like all the dishes on the menu, can be augmented with toppings such as grilled chicken breast with bacon, bocconcini, avocado, and homemade Caesar dressing (RMB 30). 

With so many hutong restaurants lost to the Great Brickening over the past year or so, it is a delight to find a stalwart of the Beijing dining scene like Eatalia still going strong, especially one with such a lovely terrace. Expect that terrace to be put to good use for all-day barbecue parties and the aforementioned daily happy hour or simply to enjoy some good quality Italian cuisine. 

Eatalia
Daily 11.30am-10pm. 18 Xilou Xiang, Xicheng District (6401 3263)
西城区西楼巷18号 (近秋栗香)

This post is paid for by Eatalia
Photos courtesy of Eatalia, Robynne Tindall, Tracy Wang