Beijing

Enjoy the tender meat with a healthy, natural flavor. Ye Jun savors a pleasant meal.

Beijing does not lack steakhouses and grill restaurants, but it is not very often you find good veal. There is a chance to do so, though, as Hilton Beijing cooperates with Shines Group to offer exactly that at two of its restaurants - One East American cuisine restaurant and Elements buffet restaurant.

A four-course veal meal impressed attendants at a tasting recently at One East. The starter was a veal loin carpaccio. Although it looked very pink and rare, it was tastier than most carpaccio I've tasted in the past years. Chef Christian Bruhns sided it with roasted pistachio, which enhances its flavor, and marinated fig, a nice sweet contrast with the meat. Veal tail consomm with veal liver dumpling tasted savory, but lighter than ordinary oxtail soup.

There are three choices for the main course: "filet Rossini" prepared at your table with pan seared veal tenderloin, foie gras and truffle; combination of veal shank and kidney en croute with cod fish, and sauted veal sweetbreads and Cajun-spiced chicken liver.

I ordered the filet, to find the medium-cooked beef seared just right - tender with a healthy, natural flavor. The foie gras was also prepared medium, and tasted very pleasant.

The veal shank and kidney tasted much stronger, and will please those who like to eat kidney, while the codfish had fantastic elastic texture. The meal was finished with a very tempting pecan praline tart with caramel ice cream, which is likely to make you feel guilty but eat on.

The veal is supplied by the Shine's Group, which is based in Tianjin. The company cooperates with VanDrie in the Netherlands. The UK-bred Holstein calf is milk-fed for 6 to 8 months.

Veal set meals are available at One East for 128 yuan (two courses, $19) or 138 yuan (three courses) a person for lunch, and 388 yuan (three courses), or 458 yuan (four courses) a person for dinner. Elements buffet will feature a variety of veal dishes, with lunch costing 198 yuan a person, and dinner 258 yuan a person. Prices are subject to 15 percent surcharge. Valid through March 31.