Upscale Spanish restaurant Mare Nostrum will close as early as tonight. I talked to someone at the restaurant, which opened only last year, who cited problems with the landlord. It is unclear if the place will re-open elsewhere in Beijing.
(A hat tip to The Cellar Rat for the heads up.)
My office is just a few floors above Mare Nostrum, so I can empathise with their concerns about the landlord. This is a B class building, though I would put the management company a few pegs below that.
But the restaurant’s real problem is its pricing. They charge RMB250 for a set business lunch. Not even restaurants in 5-star hotels charge that much. Restaurants who are serious about business lunches such as W Wine and Dine charge RMB88.
I ate at Mare Nostrum a few weeks after it opened. For a meal for two people, two courses, we said goodbye to RMB1000. While the service was excellent (a rarity as discussed in your blogs in the past), the ambience and the food simply do not demand such a premium.
I hope that if they re-open elsewhere, they do so with a new price list.
Cheers,
Sorry man but the business lunch it’s 188rmb+12service charge,250rmb.
Are you eat there?
MMMMMMMMM Maybe you are a little Pinochio.
As far as I know, they will not re-open else where in Beijing. But the chef team and the floor manage right now are working in Tao Dine & Bar on luncky street. So the quality and standard are sustained in centain level. But the prices a big way drop. With economic set lunch starts @ 78 and set dinner @ 168. Why I know so much, ’cause I’m the owner of Tao. So if you somewhat miss mare nostrum, you are welcome to try Tao.