Off the eaten track

If you're looking for a gaming cum eating experience, this restaurant might be the one for you

The World of Warcraft (WoW) themed Blizzard Café opened to geek acclaim last month with many gamers, even from overseas, expressing their desire on forums to make the pilgrimage. They shouldn’t bother.

Sure, the concept is great. In Asia alone, there are about 5.5m subscribers to the online game, and 10m worldwide. Yet what might prove to be the Blizzard Café’s downfall is its failure to create an immersive environment.

That’s not to say they haven’t put the effort in. Life-sized knights stand at corners of the place while smaller-scaled orcs sit on each dining table. Full-length murals of the gamescape run across the walls while an artificial tree is the centrepiece of the dining room.

But they didn’t see it through. Instead of long benches, they put in Chinese high-back chairs; tables with tablecloths in place of gnarled oak and, this cannot be justified, a fish tank for feng shui.

Food-wise, they know their target audience (gamers) well. In so far as they had no qualms about serving anything from the freezer.

Which was probably where its ‘Magic Dumplings’ (15RMB) came from, judging by the frost-bruised dough wrap and watery meat fillings. The sinewy ‘Blizzard Beef Steak’ (28RMB) arrived smothered with black pepper sauce so you couldn’t taste the meat – which in hindsight was a boon. All of which you can’t glean when ordering from the staple-fastened, computer-printed, Chinese-only menu. Not when the dishes are named after WoW’s landscape, with titles such as ‘Lightning Cliff’ or ‘Dark Shore’.

Another issue is that Blizzard Café’s theme is so niche that it alienates visitors unfamiliar with the game. As for its target audience, well, it’s hard enough persuading them to leave their computers long enough to bathe, let alone step out of the house.

Which is probably why there were eight diners that evening in a place built for 240. And if they continue thinking that a shoddily executed theme can override food quality, it’s certain there will be fewer guests in the days to come.

Blizzard Café Chaoyanglu Gaojin Baiyun Shichangnei, Chaoyang district (8576 8949), 朝阳区朝阳路高井白云市场院内