The stay-in-Beijing stay-at-home food-and-drink-delivery crowd just got another option to hold them over during the coronavirus crisis as Hulu restaurant announced it will start delivery, including its popular ‘power lunch’, from Wednesday.
Hulu is handling the delivery process from kitchen to customer door, rather than using third-party services, and I got to test out the system yesterday (see below).
For the time being, the service is limited to 25 orders each for lunch and dinner, pre-ordered via Wechat ID account ilovehuluforever, and with a delivery area of within 4 km of Hulu. Besides the set lunch, almost all of the Hulu menu is available, including beer and wine. A few screenshots:
Tip: If you are ordering booze and want a fun China wine, try that Nine Peaks rose.
Anyway, yesterday I placed my test ‘power lunch’ order, which includes appetizer, main and dessert plus soft drink or Tsingtao beer for rmb98. Team Hulu gave a 20-minute heads up and I went downstairs to meet the delivery guy: no door-to-door service is allowed at our building now so I picked up near the gate.
The order came in a nice fancy box–Hulu’s Ignace Lecleir said yesterday they would look at less packaging and it seems that’s already been done–with each dish in a plastic container. Mine came with a Tsingtao plus a bonus Jing-A Flying Fist IPA. As for the food:
The Caesar salad was excellent. Firm cubed chicken, velvety avocado, a rich creamy dressing and the satisfying crunch of croutons. Loved it.
The roasted “French-style” sausages were labeled as spicy and curry, but for fans of, say, Sichuan cooking these aren’t very hot. That’s not bad, as it gave more emphasis to the meat quality, and the seasonings paired well with mild sides like spinach and mashed potatoes. That pickled cabbage delivered a nice tangy edge. The wedge potatoes didn’t really fit IMHO–a bit heavy–but I ate them all anyway.
The Lantern’ dessert was sweet but not decadent. Good for those who’d rather avoid a post-lunch food coma. Why is this dessert called Lantern? Because it looks like a lantern. Duh. (The dessert in the photo is a little crumbly not due to the delivery but because I dropped the box. Double duh.)
Oh, and a handful of mini madelaines, the dessert that became Lecleir’s signature when he first arrived in Beijing to manage Maison Boulud just before the Beijing Olympics.
Overall, a delicious filling meal. Light eaters could have the Caesar salad and madelaines for lunch and sausages and Lantern dessert for dinner.
In any case, I’m just happy this will now be available for delivery. Check it out for yourself.
Hulu restaurant also remains open for business: 11:30 AM to 2 PM and 5:30 PM to close until further notice. and its most excellent happy hour remains in effect, from 5:30 PM to 8 PM, with two Negroni sets priced at just rmb65, a deal I enjoyed last night.
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