Kagen

As thick as thieves or perhaps the Three Musketeers, Japanese mainstay Hatsune stands guard over twin sister restaurants Kagen and Kagen Teppanyaki located directly below in He Qiao Mansion's basement. With just a discreetly-lit Kagen symbol out on the street and no signs on the stairwell, first-time diners are easily identified by their puzzled glances and furtive whispers. Impress your date or new business partner with a smoother entrance; simple swipe your hand over the red laser lights to one side of the door and it will magically open, 007-style. You’re in.

Follow the winding corridor and head left for Kagen, self-proclaimed specialist in Japanese yaki niku (BBQ) and shabu shabu (hot pot). In terms of décor, industrial chic is the name of the game; the exposed red pipes, stainless steel tables and a black granite floor make the restaurant look rather like a trendy war bunker. It is pleasantly unfussy and modern, although like traveling on the subway, perhaps not necessarily your first choice on a sunny afternoon.

The centre of each table contains a hole all ready to receive a steaming bowl of hot pot soup or toasty coals and a silver grill rack depending on your choice of dinner. We opted for the latter, and the table was quickly covered with an appetising-looking spread of raw veg and seaweed slices (for wrapping), strips of tender beef rib ‘kal-bi’ (RMB 88) miso marinated steak (RMB 55), and skillfully executed prawn skewers wrapped in chicken skin (RMB 55). Each table is assigned its own BBQ-er, and while I can’t speak for the whole team, our waitress was wonderful – every morsel was cooked efficiently and to absolute perfection, and she couldn’t have been more helpful in advising us on the best spices and sauces to use from the provided selection for maximum gastronomic pleasure.

There is also a decent selection of separate dishes for those not tempted by the BBQ or hot pot options. Shredded tuna salad (RMB 38) is a generous portion of softened kidney beans, cabbage strips, sliced tomato and marinated tuna fillet – healthy and satisfying. Kagen’s most popular dish, deep fried bacon & cheese roll (RMB 45) is as comforting and tasty as it sounds and the golden pin mushrooms in cream centre, while certainly not elegant to eat, is an ingenious touch for all-out indulgence. More delicate is duck breast rolled with gobo root (RMB 48), whose smoky taste and tender texture had my Chinese colleague swooning.

To turn your night from gastronomic blow-out to full-on party try one of Kagen’s six signature cocktails. The Long Island Iced Tea (RMB 45) has a nice twist of freshly squeezed lemon that cuts through the plethora of alcohol, while the fruity red Cosmo (RMB 38), which comes garnished with a maraschino cherry, is somehow both sexy and cute. For ‘designated drivers’, there is an extensive section of delicious fruity concoctions including Pussy Foot (RMB 28) – a delectable mix of apple, orange, grapefruit and pineapple juice with egg white and grenadine.

Kagen is one of those rare restaurants that live up to its PR hype; as promised it delivers an eclectic menu of well cooked and exquisitely presented food in a clean, modern environment. It is a rare customer that leaves disappointed.

Location

B1/F, Tower C, Heqiao Mansion, A8 Guanghua East Road, Chaoyang District, // 北京朝陽(yáng)區(qū)光華東路甲8號(hào)和喬大廈C座地下1層

Service quality:

very good

Food quality:

very good

Price per head (RMB):

100-300

Environment:

very good

Feature dish or menu:

Deep fried bacon & cheese roll，Duck breast rolled with gobo root

This article is brought to you by Best Food in China (www.bestfoodinchina.net ). Best Food in China is the first and leading English-medium website featuring reviews on food, cuisine and restaurants in China. For more information, please visit www.bestfoodinchina.net.