Although it launched one of Beijing’s best brunches just a year ago, the Migas team likes to mix things up and decided on a makeover. The new menu shifts the focus to shared plates (tapas) and snack-sized breads heaped with a wide range of toppings (pintxos) while keeping the salad, tortilla and dessert stations and the carts that deliver food table-side.
“This is northern Spain style,” said chef Aitor Olebagoya before a taste-test of the new menu today. “It’s dim sum, in a Spanish way.”
Here’s how it works. You ‘tick your tapas‘, picking among thirteen options to be delivered to your table, from meatballs to oxtail in red wine sauce to crispy squid strips.* Then you ‘pick your pintxos‘– it’s pronounced pin-cho and means ‘spike’ since these foods often include skewers–by moseying to the bar and taking a gander. You can also still grab salads or tortillas, with the meat carts coming later in the meal.
Let’s start with the best item, the fajitos, which Olebagoya says hail from the Navarra region in north-central Spain. These tasty treats are a battered combo of cheese, bacon and zucchini. That light crispy coating gives way to a juicy flavor explosion that includes savory bacon and tangy manchego cheese. Delicious.
It’s also likely just one of twenty or more items you’ll try during brunch, from potatoes brava with a slightly spicy sauce to croquettes that look plain but reveal complex flavors to a seafood stew (here comes the cart!) that impressed my neighbors–they liked the subtle flavors of the Icelandic haddock in this one. Yes, it’s true, that fish was a nice dish, but if you go, do try the fajito.
Brunch is available on Saturdays and Sunday. It’s rmb268 for the food and rmb138 for two hours of free-flow drinks, including Codorniu Cava, house wine, juice, soft drinks, tea and coffee. You can also order drinks a la carte.
* There might be some fine-tuning of the ‘tick your tapas’ part. I’ll update when I get more details.
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