So average. So overpriced.

We recently went to Fiume for the Restaurant Week deal. The meal was 258 rmb without drinks. At 50 to 60 for a glass of wine or beer and no reasonably priced bottles of wine, it worked out to 800 rmb for the two of us.

I don’t like restaurant week, I have never felt that the restaurants provide deals good enough to justify the price tags. However, we decided to give it another try. That will be the last time though. For sure.

Just imagine the incredible meal you would get in New York or Paris or Sydney if you forked over US$60 per person. Yeah, Beijing, you are not those places, and the totally average food and drinks you are providing with that fat price tag on them…. Not worth it. Just stop.

30 minutes from ordering to seeing our starters on the table was ridiculous. The foie gras ravioli was dry. No sauce at all. The skimpiest dribble of oil alone accompanied a plate of ravioli with pasta skins too thick to be enjoyable and a pittance of flavorless filling. The faintest fragrance of truffle was present, but absolutely none of the richness, which one would expect from foie gras, it tasted just like ground beef. Bland, cold and clumsy.

The main was only slightly better, rare beef fillet banged out super thin and rolled up with prosciutto and cheese. The cheese ruined it, overpowered the delicate meat, and left a half melted gritty paste in your mouth. The fact that this was accompanied by a single raw cherry tomato and 4 chunks of deep fried zucchini was just lazy.

The tiramisu was plain whipped cream with dry sponge cake. More cake than cream. Real tiramisu should be decadent, thick mascarpone with delicate finger biscuits drenched in coffee or wine or both. This was none of that. The cheese plate was abysmal. It said it came with honey… it did not. It came with literally a quarter teaspoon of jam. It had 4 of the most ridiculously tiny crumbs of cheese and one of those cheeses was ricotta. RICOTTA on a cheese plate. What is this? Prison?

The atmosphere is terrible. The riverside location is ruined by the fact that you are sitting on the most uncomfortable, flimsy, folding lawn furniture on a public strip with about 9 other restaurants surrounding you, including incredibly loud, chain-smoking drunk Chinese bro groups 2 feet away. Bike riders and ayis walking dogs are brushing your table as you eat. Squealing children running about. This is the atmosphere I enjoy while eating roadside chuanr, not paying 400 per person. The inside was hot and dank and unappealing so we sat out in the public space but don’t be fooled by the photos on their website, they are creatively framed to make it look glam. It is not.

This meal was so average. I can’t understand the prices they charge. I can’t understand why they pretend to be high end. This was not the fancy dinner we were hoping for. Just so very “Meh”.