Opened last September, Old Tower is arguably the most ambitious fine-dining pescatarian restaurant in mainland China. It brings a warm yet minimalist vibe to the trendy Taikoo Li Sanlitun shopping district , very much thanks to chef Talib Hudda’s touch. Born in Canada and classically trained in French cuisine, Hudda has spent the past decade immersing himself in Chinese culture—yes, he speaks fluent Mandarin—which allows every dish to feel borderless in the ways he blends ingredients and techniques. The menu at Old Tower, guided by the seasons, spotlights Chinese and Thai ingredients (pristine seafood like black abalone, sting ray, and Mantis shrimp) and rural food traditions alike. The bread service is de rigueur French fine dining but gets a Tibetan twist, courtesy of elements like warm highland barley sourdough served with clotted yak milk. More standout dishes to look out for? A spicy razor clam chili crisp tempered with sweet yellow corn chawanmushi, and blue lobster with sticky rice and Northeast Chinese sauerkraut. Hudda's twists on both Kao Lao Lao, a rustic buckwheat pasta from the Shanxi province, and a delicately earthy mung bean vanilla cream dessert demonstrate innovative finesse and a deep respect for Chinese foodways. (Make sure to look around too: Hudda personally designed all the cabinets, tables, trolleys, and trays, and even sketched the brass detailing of ingredients like eggs, morels, and chestnuts that you see embedded into the floor.) Old Tower is the latest jewel in the crown of Hudda’s budding culinary empire: His previous restaurant, Refer, was the first in Beijing to secure a spot on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list, and somehow this eponymous endeavor (老塔, meaning “Old Tower” in English, is Talib’s Chinese nickname) is even more refined. ––Amber Gibson
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Opened last September, Old Tower is arguably the most ambitious fine-dining pescatarian restaurant in mainland China. It brings a warm yet minimalist vibe to the trendy Taikoo Li Sanlitun shopping district , very much thanks to chef Talib Hudda’s touch. Born in Canada and classically trained in French cuisine, Hudda has spent the past decade immersing himself in Chinese culture—yes, he speaks fluent Mandarin—which allows every dish to feel borderless in the ways he blends ingredients and techniques. The menu at Old Tower, guided by the seasons, spotlights Chinese and Thai ingredients (pristine seafood like black abalone, sting ray, and Mantis shrimp) and rural food traditions alike.
The bread service is de rigueur French fine dining but gets a Tibetan twist, courtesy of elements like warm highland barley sourdough served with clotted yak milk. More standout dishes to look out for? A spicy razor clam chili crisp tempered with sweet yellow corn chawanmushi, and blue lobster with sticky rice and Northeast Chinese sauerkraut. Hudda's twists on both Kao Lao Lao, a rustic buckwheat pasta from the Shanxi province, and a delicately earthy mung bean vanilla cream dessert demonstrate innovative finesse and a deep respect for Chinese foodways.
(Make sure to look around too: Hudda personally designed all the cabinets, tables, trolleys, and trays, and even sketched the brass detailing of ingredients like eggs, morels, and chestnuts that you see embedded into the floor.) Old Tower is the latest jewel in the crown of Hudda’s budding culinary empire: His previous restaurant, Refer, was the first in Beijing to secure a spot on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list, and somehow this eponymous endeavor (老塔, meaning “Old Tower” in English, is Talib’s Chinese nickname) is even more refined.
