From the same team behind La Pizza, La Pizza Italian Buffet has redeemed the word “buffet” from the regular association of disappointment. The new venture provides a selection of Western fare guaranteed to please those searching for a taste of the Continent.
Purchase one of several main dishes (RMB 148-218) – a steak-heavy menu should entice meat-lovers – and gain access to a large buffet. The spread includes two central tables well-stocked with fresh salads, ham sliced on request, strong Italian cheeses, and various one-bite desserts. You’ll need multiple trips to laden your plate sufficiently.
Stack the cheeses, meats, and other cold antipasto you’ve collected on the fresh-cut bread that’s brought to the table. At the back, soup stations cater to vegetable and seafood palates, though the curse of the buffet befalls this particular item – soups are too cold to stomach. The main of octopus with cherry tomato (RMB 148) was slightly chewy, but kept warm in an ocean of cherry tomato sauce and delivered with a flourish by the attentive, but not overbearing, waitstaff.
While a true Italian experience it is not, there is no doubt this value buffet is a cut above the average.
La Pizza Italian Buffet
Daily 11am-3pm, 5.30-11pm. 4/F, 3.3 Shopping Center, 33 Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang District (5136 5990)
朝阳区三里屯路33号3.3服装大厦4层
1km northwest of Tuanjiehu station (Line 10)
This post was first posted on thebeijinger.com on June 8, 2014.
Photo by Mitchell Masilun
