We all have that go-to list for reliable Italian cravings. The place for a quick and satisfying slice, the spot for a romantic bowl of pasta, and the hidden gem you only share with your closest friends. But what if you could find all of that – plus one of the most decadent, conversation-sparking dishes imaginable – under one roof and in Tongzhou of all places?
I don’t know how long they’ve been open, but my latest hangout
They don’t just serve Italian food; they serve an experience, and in my case, that experience is nostalgia for my early 20s.
Let’s start with the foundations, because they are rock-solid.
For the purists, the pizza here is a revelation. Each pie is hand-stretched to order and blasted in a searingly hot brick oven. The result? A crust that is a masterpiece in itself – charred, chewy and impossibly light, providing the perfect canvas for tomato sauce, cheese and a whole variety of toppings you can choose from.
Their pasta is equally impressive, but we’re a cheese-obsessed family and our favorite on the menu has got to be their pasta alla ruota (or cheese wheel pasta). It’s exactly what it sounds like. Perfect cooled al dente pasta gets a generous coating of cheese as it’s rolled it in a giant wheel of Parmesan cheese before being served to you.
But wait. Pizza and pasta weren’t why we went to Grande A’moo. I wanted my 5-year-old daughter to have a taste of her first cheese fondue.
I used to live in Switzerland. If there’s one thing that my friends and I did every winter, it was to open up a reasonably priced bottle of wine and eat some homemade cheese fondue.
Now, to be completely fair, the fondue at A’moo is not what I would call authentic, but we had a great time dipping everything in a thick layer of cheese. The bread was great, but the fried chicken (although tasty) was a bit weird.
We spent an amazing afternoon unbuckling our belts at Grande A’moo and even ended the meal with a super-rich vanilla ice cream that my (normally very generous) daughter didn’t want to share.
Find it:
1/F, West Zone, Longhu Beijing Changying Tianjie, 1 Changtong Lu, Chaoyang District (next to Entrance 8)
朝阳区常通路1号龙湖北京长楹天街西区一楼8号门旁
Tel: 8507 4360
If you’re looking for more kid-friendly restaurants, be sure to join the jingkids FamFriendlyEats WeChat group by scanning the QR code below.
Images: jingkids, Freepik, Mina Yan
