May 17 2007
Moscow Restaurant in Beijing
The Moscow Restaurant in Beijing is an institution since it opened the door in 1954. The outrageous expensive menu made it exclusive; hence few had actually gone, if they dared to go at all. The food was so so, heavily creamed Russian fare hardly fit to a Chinese palate..
The Beijing Zoo’s on the left, Lao Mo is on the right at far end. Back to 50s, 60s and 70s. a.k.a. before Deng Xiaoping, it was the only place in town. To start a trend, Xiaoyi missed her sis’ celebration: she’s med student and was too timid by the grandeur, sat on the steps and waited.
But we loved it for the privilege and indulgence not available elsewhere in Beijing, at time. Affectionately, we coined it Lao Mo. Mother had to quit college at end of her junior year due to tuition, but she was able to corral Yeye into paying for her wedding banquet here.
The maître d’s, standard issue nowadays in China. I last heard the job applicants need their portraits and be under 25.. guess Quasimodo would have tough time. … I couldn’t remember exactly how the interior had looked back then, but the ambiance remains pretty much the same, subdued.
The entrance hall. I took kids there in 2003. They had good time spotting the mistakes in the menu. I had coffee, it arrived with reasonable time; but I had to ask for milk twice. And waited for them to milk the cow. When they finally finished, was only able to bring a few drops, guess the cow was on diet.
French maid outfit? Do Russians dress like this? USSR was once the closest big bro to China. Or that’s the way school and media convey to us. But reading Dr. Li’s memoir, did I realize Mao never liked Moscow nor trusted the Northern bears. Instead he loved the Americans. Now that’s a riot!
Although it’s state run and still take break between lunch and dinner, but they know the power of ad: Let the Moscow Restaurant grow with you … lol.