I’m close to resuming blogging (I promise) but first, I have something fairly urgent to share with you all – it’s that time again : Shanghai restaurant week is upon us starting from 4th March and ending on 10th March.
You should know the drill by now, but basically there are two pricing tiers and participating restaurants will charge 78 RMB or 118 RMB for lunch and either 168 RMB or 248 RMB for a 3 course dinner.
Some of the popular venues are already fully booked : Sir Elly’s, El Willy, T8, M On The Bund, M1NT, Mr & Mrs Bund and Pelham’s (Waldorf Astoria). Places at the other venues are going fast, so if you’re keen on enjoying some excellent food at bargain prices, go to the site and secure your table now. My personal recommendation based on a lovely meal during the last restaurant week is Jumeirah Himalayas in Pudong. Some places will try to cut corners and make as much as they can from the event while the smarter places will use it as an opportunity to get new customers to try their food and hopefully return regularly.
To give you an idea of what’s on offer, this is the Jumeirah Himalayas dinner menu for next week:
Amuse Bouche - Foie gras lollipop and sweet apple
Appetizer - Antipasto buffet (Cold cuts, antipasti, salads, preserves and pickles) or pan seared scallops, broad beans, wasabi, tobiko, pea shoots or white tomato soup, Parmesan ravioli, dehydrated black olive powder or beef Carpaccio, pickled shimeji mushroom, pink peppercorn emulsion, shaved brie cheese.
Main course - Pan roasted cod, herb crushed potatoes, broccoli, miso, caramelized egg yolk, caviar butter sauce or roast duck breast and confit leg, white bean cassoulet, baby carrots, spiced cherry jus or black truffle gnocchi, goats’ cheese, tomato, zucchini, red pepper and watercress or black Angus Rib Eye, triple cooked chips, green salad served with a choice of peppercorn, red wine, mushroom or béarnaise sauce.
Pre- dessert - Champagne jelly with raspberry sorbet
Dessert - Mandarin orange & chocolate cheese cake or banana and peanut spring rolls served with toasted apricots and warm chocolate sauce or “M&M” Mango & Mint terrine with honey comb crunch or vanilla panna cotta with fruit compote or fresh fruit platter.
Reserved at Restaurant Martin by Martin Berasategui
@T – Heard it was very mediocre, but do let us know how you find it. There’s been an explosion of Spanish restaurants in Shanghai recently, perhaps a result of Europe’s poor economy.
I’m booked in for Pelham’s. Their menu looks amazing:
Appetizers
Alaskan King Crab (Avocado-Crab cannelloni, lemon crème-fraiche, herb salad)
or
Foie Gras (Terrine, cassis gastrique, pear chutney, lavender brioche)
or
Butternut Squash (Creamy butternut squash soup, duck confit, smoked duck breast)
Main Courses
Truffle Tortellini (Truffle, mascarpone, parmesan, truffle jus, chestnut)
or
Red Snapper (Variation of beets, pea puree, cucumber, almonds, mustard-balsamic jus)
or
Lamb (Lamb loin, eggplant-zucchini tian, green tomato-spice bread, eggplant caviar, thyme jus)
or
Chicken two ways (Potato confit and espuma, pearl onion, carrot, onion marmalade, truffle jus)
Dessert
Symphony of Passion fruit, Coconut and Pineapple (Caramelized pineapple, passion fruit mousse, coconut dacquoise, coconut ice-cream, raspberry sauce)
or
Strawberry Lychee Cake (Fresh Strawberry, black pepper strawberry jam, mango coulis, sesame crispy)
or
Hot Chocolate Pudding (Fresh baked chocolate pudding, ginger bread chocolate sorbet, orange cointreau sauce)
Yeah, well, I heard you were mediocre.
@T – Thank you. I strive for mediocrity!
T8 – good name that.
So how much is that menu at Pelham’s? Not sure I’d like the mash up of flavours.
The steak n chips at Himalayas sounds good though. Book me in!
@Lil Bro – Yes, but it’s pronounced “tee eight” and not “Tate”! Pelham’s is 248 RMB per person. 25 squid!