(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-06 10:42

There are a number of grill restaurants in the capital but not all of them are as creative as they could be.

The Texan Bar and Grill, however, is an innovative and interesting addition to the grill scene. Heated stone tablets are placed on customers tables so they can do their own grilling.

"The stone tablet is from Shandong," said executive chef Hennequin Frederic. "We pre-heat the tablet so that it's 270 degrees when it's taken to the table."

The Shandong stone retains the heat for a long time. At an average meal it will be changed once.

The chef recommends grilling the meat first, followed by seafood and vegetables.

A small menu for the stone grill includes seafood and fish, such as jumbo prawns, cuttle fish, salmon steak and snapper fillet. The meat dishes include marinated chicken breast, beef tenderloin, sirloin, rib eye, and goose liver escalope. There are also vegetables such as onion, bell pepper, eggplant and zucchini.

Each helping of seafood, fish, or meat comes in 200-gram helpings. There is a green salad served first, as well as a portion of French fries included in the price of the meal.

Four different sauces are served to each customer: Bearnaise sauce, chili sauce, barbeque sauce, and seafood sauce.

Wearing an apron and cooking your own food is a lot of fun. It really livens up the atmosphere and would be a great thing to do for a party.

Grilling meat and vegetables on a stone tablet is not only tasty but also very healthy. The heat of the stone gives the food a golden brown color, which prevents the water from being lost and keeps the meat soft. This cooking process is also smoke free.

Average spending is 200 yuan per person. This offer is available throughout March.

The Texan Bar and Grill 
Location: 1/F Holiday Inn Lido Beijing, 6 Jiangtai Lu, Chaoyang District.
Tel: 010-64376688 ext 1849