A veal surprise in store

Kunlun Hotel and Shine's Group, an enterprise dealing with veal production, have opened the Western-style Crystal Shine's Veal Restaurant. For starters, diners can try veal carpaccio. Priced at 88 yuan ($13), it's a dish with fine slices of marinated veal, accompanied by slices of Parmesan cheese and fresh pine nut salad.

The main course of veal tongue with lobster bavarois, at 228 yuan, has a chewy texture. Scandinavian salmon is paired with dill and peppers marinade. It goes best with sweet mustard and fresh salad. Each veal cut has a unique identification number, keeping a record of the breeding, slaughtering, packaging and selling process. The restaurant is quiet and romantic and a good place for a date.

Different parts of veal are exhibited in an area with a dim light, so customers are introduced to the dining culture of veal and the advanced technology and food-safety knowledge that goes into making it. Average cost is 600 yuan ($88) per person.

Daily 11:30 am-2 pm, 5:30 pm-10 pm, F2, Kunlun Hotel, 2 Xinyuan Nanlu, Chaoyang district, Beijing. Tel: (010) 6590-3388 ext 5503