CITY LIVING
DINING OUT
New & Noted Butao Ramen
Nyima Pratten
ramen are limited throughout the day. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
What: Fantastically fresh ramen from famed Hong Kongese brand Where: 1/F, 88 Tongren Lu, near Yan’an Lu. Web: www.butaoramen.com Why: To try out the new soup base specially designed for Mainland China
L
uckily for Shanghai, Butao Ramen has arrived just in time for the city’s residents to slurp up steaming bowls of the award winning ramen during the colder months. Offering authentic and traditional Japanese Hakata ramen, this is the first Mainland store to be opened.
Light & Salt Daily What: A tranquil new restaurant, in the heart of the city, from the Light Salt team Where: 407 Shanxi Bei Lu, near Beijing Xi Lu. Tel: 5266 0930. Web: www.light-n-salt.com Why: For alfresco dining on the oasis inspired patio – even during the winter months
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estled in a three-storey villa on historic Shanxi Lu, and surrounded by global fashion brands from Jing’an’s art and fashion district, the restaurant sits impressively, overlooking the bustle of the main road. With a raised garden and patio wrapping its way around the villa, and the front section of open dining area, guests are treated to a view of home grown fresh herbs, flowers and greenery. Beautiful outdoor furniture enhances the outdoor area, where diners can eat, even during the winter months, thanks to the addition of outdoor heaters. The first floor of the restaurant has a casual lounge-dining vibe, whereas the second floor compromises of cosy and intimate private dining. Creative space, Garden 27, is on the top floor. Light & Salt Daily serves up fresh, organic food from farm to table, and currently offers a seasonal lunch set menu (RMB 157 for two courses or RMB 187 for three courses). They also have lunch, dinner and brunch à la carte menus. We sampled dishes from both the lunch and the dinner menus and started our meal with the foie gras crème brulee, poppy seeds and smoked brioche
The recipe for the brand’s signature bowl, tonkotsu ramen, comes from Kyushu, in Japan’s southern-most island, and is a creamy pork bone soup. Japanese staff members from the Butao Ramen brand have been flown over to Shanghai to ensure the quality of the ramen bowls, and they make new pork soup stock every day – even using specially treated water, rather than Shanghai tap water – to ensure the authentic taste. It takes 12 hours of tender loving care (as well as top quality secret ingredients) to produce one vat of soup, which can serve up to 280 people, and as a result, bowls of
There are currently six different bowls of ramen on the menu, and there will be limited edition bowls brought out in the near future. Diners can customise their bowls by choosing the cooking time of the noodles, toppings and spice levels. Each variety uses the fullbodied tonkotsu soup as the base and adds different layers of textures and flavours. We tried the Butao Original (RMB 62), squid flavoured Black King (RMB 65), hot and spicy Red King (RMB 65) and the East-meets-West Green King (65). Starting with the original flavour, we began to appreciate the rich and creamy taste of the pork-bone broth before moving on to the Black King. With the addition of “black sauce”, made with squid ink flavouring, and a “black ball”, made from minced pork, squid ink and vegetables, it is a thick, garlicky and nourishing bowl, which one must be careful not to spill. The Red King was
specially developed for the Mainland market and boasts three types of chilli toppings; vinegary Guilin chilli with minced pork, mouth numbing Sichuan pepper along with garlic and chilli paste. Finally, although initially apprehensive about the Green King and its addition of olive oil, basil leaves and Parmesan to the original tonkotsu base, it turned out to be a favourite of the table, with the Parmesan topping oozing perfectly into the creamy broth. Side dishes, such as secretly marinated eggs (RMB 13), BBQ pork (RMB 22), marinated cuttlefish with taro (RMB 22) and marinated white radish with pork (RMB 22) are also extremely flavourful and round out the soup bowls. We just advise glugging up the tonkotsu soup quickly before it gets too cold and thick.
Nyima Pratten (RMB 107). The delicious combination of the rich, savoury foie and the sweet, hard glaze of the crème brulee spread over the brioche whetted our appetites for more. The next dish to arrive was the beautifully plated sweet and sour seared scallops with cabbage, edamame, bacon and lemon vinaigrette (RMB 77). The scallops were large and meaty and the seafood flavour was perfectly balanced with the sharp vinaigrette. For the main course, we tried the famous cheese pasta with parmigiano-reggiano, wagyu
beef fillet, wild mushrooms and fresh black truffle (RMB 256). This dish was served table-side by a chef who combined the ingredients inside a scooped-out wheel of parmigiano-reggiano. The dish had substance as well as style, with the opulent taste of the fresh black truffle cutting through the rich and creamy sauce. We also tried the soyglazed Angus beef oyster blade with caramelised onion and wasabi ginger dressing (RMB 217), which was cooked to perfection and beautifully plated with the tender, red meat taking pride of place. To round out
our extravagant meal, we tried the lime custard with chocolate crumbs as well as mango and passion fruit ice cream (RMB 47). This deliciously tart dessert was light and sweet, the perfect note to end on. Executive Chefs Rafael Qing and Samuel Albert, from the Light & Salt group, designed Light & Salt Daily’s menu, so diners can be sure of their experience and excellence. Favourite dishes from Light & Salt On The Bund’s menu, such as the miso cod, have been revitalised for the new location. We are sure that this new restaurant, hidden in plain sight on Shanxi Lu, will enjoy just as much success as its sister restaurant, and we will be back again soon to sample the brunch menu. November15 TalkMagazine
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CITY LIVING
LIVE TALK
Whisper What: The final concept in Three On The Bund’s renovation of the seventh floor Why: Three On The Bund, 7/F, 17 Guangdong Lu, near Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu. Tel: 6321 0909. Web: www.threeonthebund.com Where: To see if the “Bund’s Boudoir” can live up to the hype
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his is a bar for select guests and members, and with its exclusivity comes peace and quiet – a rarity at Bund-side venues. Taking inspiration from an old-fashioned French boudoir, the bar reassembles an anti chamber, restricted to
intimate friends, and conjures images of classical New Orleans. The final addition to Three On The Bund’s seventh floor trilogy, which also including POP American Brasserie and POP Bar, the floor is now a destination that offers exciting experiences for all times of day; lunch, dinner, cocktails and night caps. Bedecked in vivid red fabrics, brassware lighting fixtures, timber floor pattern and hand painted walls, the elegant space serves historical cocktails that honour New Orleans and its French heritage. Go for the classic Sazerac and French 75, or try a fresher, craft cocktail such as Dita’s Kiss or Fleur de Lys. Naturally, there is also a vast selection of top shelf liquors and fine champagne. The bespoke music selection will showcase the evolution of music, from jazz to
swing, funk and disco, all of which can be listened to whilst reclining in antiquestyle French furniture and looking out over sweeping views of the majestic Bund architecture. A quaint and private location to meet with small groups, Whisper is a “by invitation only” club with access restricted to Whisper cardholders and their party.
November15 TalkMagazine
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