Article By Stephen Robinson
23F Grand Hyatt Xi’an, No, 12, Jin Ye Road.
锦业路12号西安君悦酒店23层
(029) 6563 5158
Tuesday-Sunday
11:30am – 2:00pm
5:30pm – 10:00pm
Average Price per Person /人均消费: 475RMB
There are times when Western restaurants in Xi’an can feel lackluster. Sure they have many of the classics, with most ‘Western Restaurants’ serving up what can at best be described as a close approximation of the food that we know and love. Finding the real deal can be difficult, especially when many of the best restaurants are hidden away. However, once you find that hidden gem, you’re in for a real treat. This is the case with Allegro at the Grand Hyatt.
For those of you who are not familiar with the Grand Hyatt, it is a hotel located in the south of Gaoxin, near the Greenland area. The hotel boasts several excellent restaurants, including Allegro, their Italian inspired sit down dining option. The menu is loaded with a different options to suite every palette, from the simple to the complex, and everything in between. The staff is very knowledgeable and will help you make selections from the menu should you find the large list of items intimidating.
We started our meal by perusing the wine list, which had a nice selection of different imported wines, mostly from Europe – both by the bottle and by the glass. Our waiter suggested we try a 2015 Bordeaux that they had just opened, so that we could try the wine by the glass and perhaps switch later on in the meal. The wine was quite good and a great way to start the meal.
The first thing to arrive at the table was a small loaf of freshly baked bread with a bit of olive oil. Following this, we received a Caesar salad that was topped with a soft-boiled egg that had been lightly fried on the outside and shrimp. Not long after, an appetizer of steak tartare on toasted bread topped with caviar arrived. The bread was crisped on the outside and soft on the inside, and the tartare was buttery and tender. The caviar added a nice salty pop to accent the dish. Definitely something to try.
After finishing up these appetizers, our pizza arrived. The pizza was listed as a truffle pizza, and it definitely delivered on its name. The pizza was coated with a truffle sauce as the base, cheese, and an over-medium egg at the center. The crust was nice a chewy and if you like the earthy taste of truffles, then this is the pizza for you.
Next up was a simple pasta dish of mushroom ravioli, with topped with mushrooms, parmesan crisps, and black truffle. Each little package of pasta was perfectly cooked and was a nice light addition after the slightly stodgy pizza. Once the pasta was finished, our main courses arrived. One was grilled fish, on a bed of green pea puree topped with a buttery pan sauce with olives.
The other course was an M5 250g aged ribeye steak. Like all good steaks, the presentation was kept simple. A head of roasted garlic, a black pepper sauce, and a few pieces of arugula on the side was all there was, leaving plenty of space for the steak. The meat was some of the most tender that I’ve had here in Xi’an. So tender that the knife was almost unnecessary. Paired with the recommended red wine, it could have been a meal on its own.
At this point in the meal, we were feeling pretty stuffed, so we decided to split just one dessert. Looking for a little extra pep, we opted for the tiramisu. The pairing of coffee and cocoa is always a good one, and the nice creamy texture of the custard helped to balance out the stronger flavors. At the end of the meal, sipping on the last few drops of wine, the overall impression of the meal was one of a satisfying luxury, especially with the heavy use of truffle and high quality ingredients. This is a great restaurant for those special occasions that warrant a nice meal out where you don’t want to worry about the quality of service or the food.
Stephen Robinson is the editor-in-chief at xianease and would love to get your thoughts on everything we are doing. You can contact him at stephen@xianease.com