Feast on love

Qixi Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day, falls on Aug 2 this year, and as Ye Jun reports, many of the capital's top restaurants are offering fantastic deals for couples wanting a special night out.

Restaurants in Beijing are using Qixi Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day, as an opportunity to promote set menus for couples wanting to celebrate the festival with a meal. Steakhouse Flamme has introduced a special Qixi menu at both its Sanlitun and Indigo branches. "There has been a lot more business on the day in Sanlitun," says Lei Yiyang, the restaurant's marketing manager. Last year, Qixi Festival witnessed Sanlitun's restaurants fill up and the streets become noisy, just like they do on Feb 14, Western Valentine's Day, Lei says.

Qixi originates from a Chinese fairy tale. It is a love story between a goddess and a cowherd. They are said to only be able to meet each other on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, which this year falls on Aug 2.

"The occasion gives Chinese people an excuse to spend some happy time with their lovers," Lei says.

The special menu at Flamme features two main dishes - one is the restaurant's specialty steak, the other is a golden crab.

Last year, the restaurant prepared more than 100 set meals at its two branches, all of which sold out. This year, it has prepared 350 chocolate sticks coated with peanut crumbs as a special gift for diners who order a set meal.

"We expect better business this year," says Lei.

French restaurants in the capital are always popular with those who want to impress on a date. Some of them have also prepared for the occasion. Jaan at the Raffles Beijing Hotel, one of the city's best French restaurants, is offering a French seafood feast for diners.

Executive chef Riaan Burger has designed a set menu offering French oyster, slow-braised abalone with ginseng, tuna and a dessert of raspberry with lychee and white chocolate.

"I have based the menu on aphrodisiac ingredients or elements that naturally stimulate endorphins," says the chef from South Africa.