By Ye Jun (Beijing Weekend)
Updated: 2007-11-26 10:42

With so many top chefs working at Beijing's many good restaurants, broadening the local culinary horizon even further would seem a tough ask. But Wish Restaurant and Lounge has managed to infuse its food with fresh creativity, thanks to a Chinese chef who is also experienced with Western cuisine.

The chef at this fusion restaurant utilizes ingredients from both sides of the culinary divide to create new dishes. Spicy and sour soup , a very common Chinese soup, is varied with the inclusion of fresh lemon juice, amplifying its taste. Fresh walnut kernel salad, an increasingly popular Chinese appetizer, is served with vegetables and salad dressing in Western style.

Home-style eggplant chunks are filled with crispy fried dry bean curd, forming a sharp contrast with the outside soft eggplant. Sauted scallop with cheese and ground preserved egg yolk is a typical mixture of Chinese and Western ingredients, with tea tree mushrooms.

The restaurant serves a grilled calf rib with beautiful pieces of garlic bolt as a side dish . A personal favorite is fried crispy-shelled bean curd rolls with fragrant toon tree flavor .

The restaurant has a glass room at one side that is ideal for a daytime meal. It has comfortable vine sofas and plenty of greenery. The other side of the restaurant has a bar and dance floor on the 1st floor, and tables and chairs on the 2nd, which have a good view of the 1st floor stage. The restaurant has a good view of the neighboring Lido garden. Average spending is 150 yuan per person. Menu is in both Chinese and English.

Location: 6 Fangyuan Xilu, east of Xiaoyunqiao, Chaoyang District.
Opening hours: 11-2pm, 5-9pm. Serves afternoon tea, bar open after 9pm. 
Tel: 010- 6438-1118