Miss. Delicious #48 :Wild Dining - 'From Farm'
Dear Steemit Friends:
Today i'd like to take everyone to a creative Japanese restaurant in Beijing. In today's world of organic and non-organic food, people are becoming more selective over the sources of the food and whether they are considered to be nutritional and healthy to consume, factors such as whether the food is organic now play an important role in many connoisseurs when they are choosing where to dine. Of course, it isn't just about the natural taste, but also for higher moral standards such as environmental sustainability and protection.
There is a chain of restaurants in Japan who emphasise their quality ingredients -- Tsukada Nojo. In 2016, they opened their first restaurant in China, in Beijing called 'From Farm'. Before I visited the restaurant, I had heard about the restaurant because of it's reputation for high quality organic foods. Now, let's go inside an explore this new, creative, organic, healthy restaurant and see for ourselves.
Outside, there are already a fair number of guests waiting to get seated. Thankfully, a friend has already queued for us and got us seats.
Above their restaurant sign at the entrance, they have the words 'Wild Dining'. I think this is to emphasise their stance on their natural and organic choices of food ingredients which come from the wild.
Me and my friends are already so anxious to taste the food.
The decoration and interior design is some what different from their counterparts in Japan. This is because this restaurant is situated in a district largely populated by younger people. Instead, we see the restaurant make extensive use of wooden sculptures and other farming tools and objects for decoration.
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The restaurant has lots of hanging lamps for the lighting. This creates a very industrial feel which is a popular theme in Asian right now.
On the table, the dining utensils are simple and yet elegant, something that identifies with Japanese style dining very well.
Let's take a quick look at the menu.
Japanese Hotpot is probably this restaurants signature dish.
So many choices of food make it very difficult for me and my friends to make our decision which to eat..
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A very pretty dessert menu.
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Originally, this restaurant was primarily an Izakaya (Japanese style pub), but since it's arrival in Beijing, it has been modified to suit the local preferences so the selection of alcohol has been reduced. In China, most people still prefer Japanese food establishments for their Sushi and not so much their alcohol.
Now that we've ordered the food, it's time to start eating!
【Cheese Rice Balls】
Rice balls are a very common dish in Japan, but this one is something I've never seen before! The Cheese rice ball is sliced up so we can each try a piece. On the outside, there is a layer of cheese, and inside, mixed with the rice are sesame seeds. It tastes as good as it smells (which is very good!).
【Avocado with Seaweed Salad】
The light green avocado combined with seaweed shavings make for a really natural tasting and fresh starter. I love how the seaweed mixes up the texture and adds a new layer of taste to the dish.
【Iron Plate Pork Omelette】
This is popular dish among the Japanese locals, although it is on the greasy side. However, all the ingredients are noticeably very fresh and it is cooked and roasted to order. Wrapped up inside, is the pork. On the outside, sauces similar to that used in Takoyaki Octopus balls are used, and even the dried bonito on top reminds me very much of Takoyaki. It is no surprise then that this actually tastes quite similar to Takoyaki with the exception of the texture.
【Seasonal Salad】
All the vegetables and salads here are organic. Very fresh, and very healthy!
【Carbonated Calpico】
Calpis is a Japanese company that is credited with creating the first lactic acid bacteria soft drink which is now called Calpico. It tastes both sour and sweet. I ordered the original flavour but you can also choose from Strawberry and Aloe Vera.
【Oolong Tea】
Oolong tea, widely known for its healthy side effects. My friend actually works for a health supplement and food company, so of course she enjoys drinking Oolong tea very much!
【Raw Egg and Salmon】
This reminds me a lot of the Korean style beef sushi which is also a mix of raw egg yolk with iced raw beef. The mix includes some little cubes of fruit which definitely adds a bit of zing to the already quite unique taste. It also helps balance out the natural raw stench of uncooked egg and fish. Overall, the dish is actually quite refreshing. As you can see, it is accompanied with some strips of Seaweed which we can either use to wrap the fish and egg mix, or just eat along side it. I guess the only word I can use to describe this dish is 'Fertile'.
【Beef Hotpot】
Finally, we have the main course arrive. I was surprised to find the soup base looking like a large piece of jelly. Of course, once the soup water is poured over it and heated, the jelly looking stock will melt into the soup.
This is the hotpots other ingredients, we have various seafood, tofu, sweetcorn and mushrooms. All looking mighty fresh and exceedingly healthy.
Beef slices in we go!
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These are fish balls which also go into the pot. It's covered in scallion.
In our personal bowl, we have an egg yolk which is also used as part of our dipping sauce. The soup is now looking very thick, kind of like milk and the smell is increasingly inviting!
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【Mango Cheese Party】
Last but not least, how could we forget the dessert!? Here we have ice cream and cheese alongside a very soft cake. It seems like a very odd combination having cheese and ice cream together, but it actually works! I guess that's why cheese cakes are so popular! The mango bits taste superb and really go well with the ice cream and cake. It's a lovely refreshing conclusion to a really fantastic hotpot meal. I could probably eat several more servings of this dessert, but alas, I am very content with it all nevertheless.
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Hope you enjoyed this visit to the little Japanese gem in Beijing. Stay tuned for more exciting and delicious food blogs and much more!
今天我想带大家去北京的一家创意日式餐厅。近些年大家在饮食方面越来越追求健康的食材,便有了从农场到餐桌的餐饮模式,大家都希望能尽可能与农场亲密接触,减少中间环节,让食物以更加优质新鲜的面貌抵达餐桌。
在日本就有一家坚持优质食材的连锁餐厅——塚田农场,2016年它们来到中国,在北京开了第一家分店——八亩农场。在去之前,我就对这家餐厅有所了解,听说他们食物的味道非常新鲜安全,都是高标准的有机健康食材。下面就请大家和我一起去探索创意料理里的新鲜味道吧!餐厅门口还有很多人在等位,还好我有朋友已经提前去占下了位置。门口写的wild dinning,好像更加体现了这家餐厅的定位,食材是自然野生的。我和我的朋友们,迫不及待想尝尝鲜了。这家店的装修听说和日本店里非常不一样,因为这家店开在北京的年轻人聚集地,所以餐厅改用大量木质材料代替原本的乡村风格。餐厅屋顶简约抽象的吊灯,依然运用了在亚洲非常流行的工业风格。包括餐桌上的餐具也是设计干净的日式风格。下面赶快来看看菜单吧。日式火锅当然就是这家餐厅最大的亮点啦。点餐之后,就一起来尝尝新式的日本料理吧。
【芝士饭团】饭团算是日本最常见的食物了,但是这个芝士饭团却非常特别。餐厅很贴心的把一大块饭团切成多人份,外层是一层芝士,里面饭团加芝麻,吃起来非常香。【牛油果配紫菜沙拉】青绿色的半个牛油果,上面配了一些紫菜丝,味道非常新鲜。牛油果成熟度刚好,配上紫菜,味道丰富很有层次。【猪肉通平烧】这是日本的一个民间美食,口味偏重有些油腻。不过食物非常新鲜,都是料理师傅现场烤得,鸡蛋里包着猪肉,淋上一层酱料。因为我个人非常喜欢章鱼小丸子的味道,而这个正好很相似,甚至比章鱼小丸子更嫩滑。【时蔬沙拉】这里的蔬菜都是有机的,非常健康,新鲜2个字最适合形容这盘沙拉了。【碳酸可尔必思】据说这个日本特色饮料的公司,生产了全世界第一瓶乳酸菌饮料,就是可尔必思了。喝起来酸甜的,我点的是原味的,当然还有草莓,芦荟等其他口味。【乌龙茶】健康养生的乌龙茶,点这杯的我的朋友是在营养健康所工作的,所以更是喜欢养生的食物。【生拌三文鱼】很象韩国料理里的生拌牛肉,搭配的水果有助于提升鲜味,去除腥味,中间得生鸡蛋,口感清新,非常爽口,绿色蔬菜的吃起来脆嫩,三文鱼上带着芝麻,吃起来好肥美。【牛肉片火锅】主角上来了,锅底象果冻一样,好可爱,浇上汤汁之后就溶化了。这是锅的食材,有海鲜,豆腐,玉米蘑菇等等各种健康的蔬菜。这个是将要进过得鱼丸,上面盖了一层葱。【芒果芝士派对】最后是好吃的冰激淋甜品,冰激凌与芝士蛋糕混搭,芝士的香滑和蛋糕的松软,还有雪糕的清凉完美结合,让我吃了一个还想再吃。今天的美食旅程就到这里吧,之后还有更多好吃的食物要和大家分享。
Wow..lots of delicious food, very interesting poting, hopefully one day I can go to china 😁
Thanks harferri,I think you will find that China has many interesting and diverse choices of food. You will definitely love it : )
When are you @sweetsssj coming to the States or have you already done an American travel, restaurant, blog? You can show us Westerners how it's done! Anyways, keep up the QUALITY blogs...
We ALL enjoy them!
See thanks cassidy I haven't actually been to America in such a long time and I would really love to! For sure, there would be so many wonderful things to blog about. I will make it a goal for the near future!
美人锅?新加坡见过家餐厅叫这。可能要去研究研究。
嗯嗯,应该是类似的吃法:)
应该是吧。要找机会求证。:-)
Wowwwww amazingggg food....give me little to taste..upvoteeee
Haha thanks! Steem-feast is due!
That all looks magnificent @sweetsssj. I wish I could've tasted that food too. Very nice restaurant, I hope you and your friends all had a delicious time :)
Hey sandstorm !! I hope you do get the chance to taste this one day, if hot pot is something that interests you then put it on the list for when you visit Beijing!
Yes, I love hot pot @sweetsssj! I will have a whole list of excellent places to visit thanks to you :)
Great photos. Looks like a really nice place. That cheese cake in the end looks really delicious!!
Thanks! I guess for a branch to open in Beijing it's gotta be pretty popular! From the looks of things, people in Beijing love it too! Cheese cake mmm I make myself hungry looking back!