LOCATION: at 789 Nanjing Dong Lu (Click on LOCATION to go to full City Weekend Listing)

CITY WEEKEND GOURMET WEEK MENU

available april 16-23

Menu A

PRICE: RMB99/person

TIMES: All Day

• Ai Mei Cold Dishes
• Double Boiled Mushroom with Heart of Green and Ham in Soup
• Sautéed Fillet of Beef with XO Sauce
• Steamed Mandarin Fish Fillet
• Steamed Boneless Chicken with Jinhua Ham and Mushroom
• Stewed Egg Noodle with Ginger and Spring Onion in Abalone Sauce
• Sweetened Freshly Grind Walnut Cream
• Cantonese Petits Fours

Menu B

PRICE: RMB199/per person

TIMES: All Day

• Assorted Barbecued Meat
• Braised Conpoy and Shredded Chicken Soup
• Stir-fried Prawns Coated with Salted Egg Yolk
• Oven Baked Fillet of Garoupa in Thai Sauce
• Sauteed Fillet of Beef and Asparagus
• Steamed Vegetable Dumpling / Pan-fried Minced Pork Dumpling
• Chinese Petits Fours
• Seasonal Fresh Fruit Platter

GOURMET WEEK EDITORIAL REVIEW

YOU CAN'T miss Ai Mei even if you wanted to. As we stepped out of the elevator on the eighth floor of Le Royal Meridien hotel towards our dining destination, we were welcome by an aquarium in the shape of arches. Colorful fish swam overhead, zig-zagging through the water. Little did we know, this zig-zag would become prelude to our delicious lunch. In this elegant and stylish dining room, you'll find decor atypical to those you would find in traditional Cantonese restaurants. The menu here is the same. Chef Law Yip Lam holds experience from Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Singapore, and often melds his Southeast Asian experience to bring new flavors to the traditional Cantonese dishes that he prepares. For the CW special menu (RMB199, no service charge), this was such the case.

Between sips of piping hot Pu’er tea (the teacup/saucer set is stylish and practical, by the way), we took in bites of the Cantonese staple appetizer: barbecued meats. Paired with a spoonful of jellyfish, it was a perfect header to our meal. Next up was a delicious soup of braised conpoy (dried scallop) and shredded chicken, a perfect combination, taste and consistency to whet the appetite for more. We had heard raves about the dish that came next, the stir-fried prawns coated with salted egg yolk, and couldn’t wait to try it for ourselves. The combination of the salty golden egg yolk and fresh prawns was simple, but why was the end result so delightfully complicated? Chef Law showed off his Southeast Asian prowess with the next dish—the baked garoupa was tender and flaky, and the tangy Thai sauce gave it an appetizing kick. Dishes weaved in and out in front of us, and they were more than welcomed.

Our stomachs warned us to pace ourselves, but we well right ahead onto the next dish. Although not sounding very Cantonese, the sautéed beef and asparagus captured the essence of simple Cantonese cuisine: crisp veggies stir-fried with marinated meat, seasoned with a perfect sauce to bring out the flavors of both. We noshed away happily at the stems as dumplings were set on the table. We loved the vegetable dumpling, a nice taper to our decadent lunch, and the pork dumpling were well-received, too. With a satisfied stomach, this could have been the end of the meal and we would have been satisfied. But, of course, the feast wouldn’t be complete without dessert. We nibbled sweet pastries and finished off our meal with a fruit platter offering seven kinds of fruit. Reminding ourselves that Gourmet Week is fast approaching, we glanced out the window at bustling Nanjing Dong Lu below and thought, Hey, there’s that other menu (RMB99) that we have yet to try…