Lost heaven's mystic touch

A heady mix of ethnic cuisines from Yunnan, along an ancient tea route, makes the Beijing restaurant a go-to place.

My frequent visits to restaurants across Beijing have become boring. For a while now, I've been finding food to be either delicious or simply monotonous.

But a recent late lunch at Lost Heaven helped revive my interest in food. The restaurant's ambiance created by colorful ethnic furniture and artworks thrilled me.

It is a rare restaurant that finely blends Chinese ethnic minority cuisines with Western-style presentation. Small wonder that it boosts an international clientele.

The name, Lost Heaven, was inspired by English writer James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon that's set in fictional Shangri-La, which is also the name of a stunning county in Southwest China's Yunnan province.

The restaurant is hailed for its Yunnan folk cuisines, in particular the ethnic dishes along the Ancient Tea Horse Trail through Yunnan, Myanmar and the Tibet autonomous region, such as those of the Dai, Bai, Yi, Miao, Naxi and Tibetan ethnic groups.

Lost Heaven also features a mix of Chinese, Thai and Myanmarese flavors. I started with the Myanmarese Tea Leaves Salad. It was the first time I was eating tea leaves as a dish. "Unlike the Chinese who like drinking tea, Myanmarese tend to eat tea leaves. We like pickled tea leaves, a common ingredient in Myanmarese appetizers," says restaurant manager Rike Wam.

The salad made of Chinese cabbage, pickled tea leaves, freshly-fried broad beans, tea oil, cherry tomatoes, lemon and chili sauces ignited my taste buds. I recall the typical salad being salty, nutty, with weak spiciness and the fragrance of green tea.

Wam, a Chinese-Myanmarese, says that Myanmarese cuisine is characterized by its salty, spicy flavors and the extensive use of sea fish. "Curry is also a common dish as we were influenced by Indian culture."

The Miao people's "hot and sour prawn" dish also took me by surprise.

The large prawns were in a rich, sweet-and-sour tomato and chili sauce, and came with onions, wild black pepper, and special herbs that are said to be from a mountain revered by the Miao people. The dish has a delicately fragrant taste, somewhat similar to the Thai Tom Yum Goong soup, but a bit stronger.

The "spicy cod steamed in banana leaves" dish, inspired by the Dai ethnic minority cuisine, is another must-have at Lost Heaven. Steamed cod is put out on a plate for us, with banana leaves resting on it. The leaves help to maintain the original flavor of the fish during steaming and add their own subtle aroma.

Dai cuisine is characterized by the generous use of herbs and spices. They tend to be spicy, sour and herbaceous. Some dishes, wrapped in bamboo leaves, are roasted over fire, says Li Zhirui, top chef of Lost Heaven, who is also a native of Yunnan.

"But since using charcoal fire is inconvenient, we choose to steam the fish instead of roasting it," he adds.

The cod I ate was fresh and tender. According to staffers, it is imported from France. But the highlight of the dish lies in the herbs that top the cod.

The use of "Wa coriander" and fragrant willow leaves, among the Dai people's most popular spices, makes the dish an unforgettable dining experience.

Li says that the fragrant willow leaves are resinous spices used in meat dishes by the Dai people, and Lost Heaven grows its own leaves in a boutique garden. The special herb is also employed in other dishes there, such as Huayao Dai-style "sauteed beef tenderloin" and the Wild Vegetable pancake.

If you are a fan of cocktails, Lost Heaven will be your wonderland where astounding and unusual mixed drinks will please you.

Their exclusive cocktail menu says, "If you are a fan of monotonous drinking, or 'the same old thing' please don't read on. The bartenders will be happy to make you a vodka soda."

Inspired by martinis, Lost Heaven came up with their own "Marteanis".

"Martinis are pure and so are our teas, we put them together and came up with the cocktail. All teas are selected and packed by Lost Heaven in Yunnan. You will not find these blends anywhere else," says Wam.

We tried two kinds of "Marteanis": Pure-Tea-Ni, and Zen-Tea-Ni, and they have striking differences. The first is gin and vodka stirred with dry vermouth garnished with mint, orange twist and a "Pu'er tea bag". It tastes very alcoholic and strong, a good one for men.

The second is my type, bittersweet and fruity. Zen-Tea-Ni contains dry apricots infused with vodka that is shaken with "Zen tea", homemade syrup and a vermouth bianco.

There is also a family of East-meets-West drinks called Shangri-la Twist, a specialty line of classic cocktails reflective of Yunnan culture and cuisine.

We didn't try the whole range, but Wam told me that among the Shangri-la Twist, an all-time favorite of customers is the Thai Zeed.

"We can only tell you that there's some great quality vodka blended with coconut, lemon and chilies in our Thai Zeed. The rest is a secret recipe of our boss Yin Weibo, the proprietor of Lost Heaven Group," he says.

dongfangyu@chinadaily.com.cn