Batong Ristorante 八筒 — Restaurant in Milan

After almost 3 weeks in Europe, we were craving for Asian food. We just got into Milan and started walking around our neighbourhood and we chanced upon Ristorante Batong.

It was not opened yet but as they were a small outlet with probably about 30 seats, we just wanted to check if there were any seats available. They were booked solid! However, they were very kind to squeeze us in for the earliest seating, 6:30pm and we just had to vacate before the next seating at 8pm, which was very fair.

Katherine (I’m not sure if I got her name right) was our server and she was great with her recommendations and we thoroughly enjoyed ALL of them.

The fresh kiwi and lime juice was a refreshing start to the dinner. It had actual kiwi fruits in the drink!

Signature dish and an absolute must try is the Pangasius fish with tofu and vegetables in sour broth made with tomato, maracuja and spices. It was comforting and it had a zesty zing to it attributed to the lime slices and it was so surprising to a passion fruit incorporated in as well. Biting into bits of the passion fruit seeds added a nice twist!

The aubergines with soya beans (actually, the beans looked more like edamame!) was absolutely delicious, sweet with a light crisp texture on the outside and soft, melt in your mouth texture on the inside.

The gong bao chicken dish didn’t have the usual dried chilli that we were used to and it was a little sweeter than usual but it was still very tasty nonetheless.

The sliced beef with pepper sauce was very tender and like most things here, a little sweeter than usual but it was cooked very well.

Rice noodle in chicken broth was thick bee hoon noodles with chicken pieces in a thick tasty broth. It was very clear, light and it was very comforting. Especially since it was a cold, dreary rainy day.

Their steamed rice was fluffy and warm, just what we needed to satisfy our craving.

We learnt some interesting tidbits about the place as well, such as the boss who is also the chef lived in Yunan for 20 years before bringing the specialities to Milan.

All in all, the portions, quality and service were great and we would have loved to try more dishes on the menu! In fact, we wanted to come back the next day but just to take note that they’re closed mid week Wednesday and we were leaving the day after. But we will be back, the next time...

Randomly stumbled on the restaurant but was told they were fully booked. Even from the beginning the waiter seemed genuinly disappointed that he could not accomodate us. The fact that the restaurant was full of chinese people indicated to me that it must be good, so I promptly made a reservation for the next day. The service was incredibly responsive and I think because we were non-chinese they seemed even more enthusiastic and excited to have us.

The food itself was delicious. We ordered, shrimp, steamed dumplings, Sautéed sliced pork belly with pepper and chili of Sichuan. We were also recommended Sautéed beef with black pepper sauce (combo meal with rice and a fried egg) which apparently was the most popular dish. All that and 4 coke bottles cost 56 Euros which I think was relatively cheap

The waiter was incredibly friendly and was so happy to see us enjoy the food. I told him that they should open a restaurant in London!

Definately a hidden...

After 4 days of Italian food, we need some Asian food with steam rice to rejuvenate our taste buds. Within 5min walking from the hotel we stayed, we tried luck to walked in w/o reservation on Sunday evening 6:30p, fully booked, but service staff ask for my WeChat while we returned to our hotel room. Next 50min they called me back that a table for 2 seat was available. Service was fast food standard were consistent (I visited this restaurant 3yr ago after Italy re-opened its border after COVID). Love the egg plant in sweet sauce & the fried garlic pork. Authenticity remain, very delicious. Very satisfied!! And I do realize WeChat is pretty useful and glad that I...