We were expecting top rate Hunan food from a restaurant owned by the granddaughter of Mao Zedong, but what Jusong offers is a rather timid mishmash of Chinese cuisines in an impeccably designed environment.

The food is nicely presented and inoffensive but lacks a strong concept to hold it together. The Chairman’s famously favorite dish, braised pork (¥168), is soft and melty, extremely fatty but less greasy than at other restaurants, with the faintest tickle of Hunan spice. The braised black carp (¥168) is easy to eat, but not particularly memorable, and the red and green Hunan-style peppers sprinkled on top seem an afterthought rather than an important flavor component. The cold hot and spicy beef (¥48) offers a little more spice, but it’s Sichuan ma rather than Hunan la. The cold seasoned spinach with peanuts (¥28) is healthy and tasty, and the hot sautéed water spinach (¥38) is quite salty but also decent. The menu does offer a number of themed set meals, but they’re very expensive. The “Sino-U.S. 1972 Friendship Banquet Meal” based on the dinner that Mao, Nixon and Kissinger ate together, is ¥800 per person.

Desserts totally fail. The tiramisu (¥48) was freezer burned and too icy to cut through with a knife. The “raspberry desert” (sic) (¥78) is beautiful—a constellation of little pink stars—and the flavor is pleasant, but this was also frozen solid. Perhaps this was really a service issue—the fuwuyuan seemed to know little about what they were serving.

The décor is very redeeming. Red and army green predominate, with a modern communist chic aesthetic and an art museum gift shop feel. The furniture is beautiful, and little screened-off loungey areas with armchairs and sofas are fun to relax in.

Our rating: 3.5/5 stars

DETAILS

What: Jusong

Where: NLG-15, Sanlitun Village North, 三里屯Village北区NLG-15

Tel: 6413-2275

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