1602st dining

CITY LIVING

DINING

New & Noted Pie Society

Nyima Pratten

What: Great British Pies Where: Rm 102, Bldg 5, 67 Xingfu Lu, near Fahuazhen Lu. Tel: 6214 6992. Web: www.piesociety.co Why: Because, up until now, the UK didn’t have many culinary offerings to boast about in the city

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alk Magazine first featured Pie Society almost two years ago, in our “Alternative Eats” section,

and we are delighted this month to note that the company has a fully-fledged F&B venue. Pie Society first made their debut onto the Shanghai foodie scene by hosting pop-up events around the city, and ever since then, Jane Siesta has been working hard to make her dream of opening her very owe pie shop in Shanghai a reality.

We were already taken with the flaky, crispy, baked pastry and rich flavours a few years ago, and Siesta has continued

to produce scrumptious pies, using high quality flours and fats, as well as adding a variety of flavours, including seasonal offerings over the festive period, which we hope to see more of in the future.

There are currently eight different pie varieties on offer in store, and available for take away, including two vegetarian options, priced at a very reasonable RMB 48 per pie. There are also five classic sides available at RMB 12 each, or four super sides, including the quintessentially British chips with curry sauce, for RMB 25 each.

We suggest going for a “Bee Cheese” minced beef with cheddar, mozzarella, carrots and peas pie, accompanied by minty mushy peas, or “HenHao” chicken, leek and mushroom, with cream and wine pie, accompanied by sweet potato mash. Alternatively, if you really can’t make up your mind, ask Siesta for a suggestion, or get her to surprise you with a combination.

Also available in store, and for delivery, are “bangers”, or sausages for those not familiar with the UK’s gastronomic vocabulary. Served with gravy and shallots, the sausages (RMB

From A Chinese Cookbook

20 for one or RMB 38 for two) can be paired with the various sides to round out a plate. Muffinwiches are also on the menu, and are Siesta’s take on the infamous McDonald’s breakfast offering (from RMB 18 and served until 5pm).

Located in the heartland of the Jiaotong University area, this place is a little out of the way for some, but in our opinion well worth a visit. The cosy store is bright and airy, and set in an up-and-coming commercial area. Although the store is small, Siesta’s warmth and personality shines through and makes it a very comfortable place to spend time digging into a variety of pies. Builder’s Tea, coffee and craft beers are also available. In the springtime, it will be possible to eat out on the small patio in front of the store, but for now, we will make do with huddling indoors.

Nyima Pratten

What: A new Chinese dining concept from VOL Group, in partnership with celebrity chef, Jereme Leung Where: 25/F, Wharf Warehouse. 579 Waima Lu, near Fuxing Dong Lu. Tel: 6339 1188.

Web: www.fromachinesecookbook.com Why: For fine dining inspired by the best tastes and dishes from around China

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fter closing its previous Chinese concept, Y2C2, at the same location, VOL Group have reworked their Chinese dining concept and have come back stronger than ever with the influence of Jereme Leung. For those who are not familiar with Chef Leung, he was the chief judge on Shanghai Dragon TV’s Master Chef Season Two, and as such, has quite a following in the city. After starting his career in Hong Kong, working around the world, and eventually moving to Mainland China in 2003, he is respected for being an expert in all four schools of Chinese cooking; dim sum, barbecue, wok cooking and knife work.

Chef Leung is said to carry his secrets and techniques in a mysterious, wellworn cookbook that he has taken with him as he travelled through China for the past 30 years, which inspired the VOL Group’s restaurant name and choice of dishes from across the country.

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high-end Chinese dining locations.

With the interior designed by Kookai, the decoration and ambience of the restaurant is sophisticatedchic, but not pretentious, and even though the restaurant is still only in soft opening mode, it was already packed with local diners on our visit. With floor-to-ceiling windows lining one side of the venue, looking out towards Lujiazui, we were immediately impressed upon entrance.

Service was also faultless throughout dinner, with English speaking staff and a foolproof English iPad menu, which is sometime lacking when visiting other

We started our meal with osmanthus, rose petals and slow-cooked lotus root filled with purple rice (RMB 58). It was a fragrantly flavoured dish that didn’t go overboard on sweetness. Next, brought to our table with much panache, was the house specialty, an array of Chinese cold dishes (RMB 478), served on ice included drunken live shrimps in a savoury garlic soy sauce (you can’t get fresher than that), raw roe crab marinated in the chef 's secret recipe (spoiler alert: baijiu – and we loved it), Teochew style chilled flower crab and imported oysters with Oriental inspired sauces.

We then moved on to slow-cooked beef short ribs with a tangy orange marmalade (RMB 368). Beautifully plated, this tender dish stole the show for us. We also sampled the rose apple and pork duo of

sweet sour spicy sauce (RMB 88), which was cooked in the Cantonese style, with a crispy batter, and reminded us of a very sophisticated version of sweet and sour pork slung in the West. Next up was the seared highland cold-water bass and pickled vegetables (RMB 188), an unadulterated way to eat the pure fish, which was said to come from Xinjiang.

We ended our meal with lemongrass jelly, peach jelly and aloe vera (RMB 38), which played on textures and subtly sweet tastes. The house specialty, black gold egg custard buns (RMB 38) were crafted to perfection and are absolutely not to be missed. Worth a trip down to Cool Docks on their merit alone.

Although the price tag may seem a little steep for some dishes, the restaurant is bang for your buck in terms of service standard, location and the wide range of Chinese dishes on offer from around the country. It is convenient to order and a classy venue to sample Chinese food and impress your friends, a date or out-oftown visitors.

CITY LIVING

Second Helping

What: A restaurant chain that focuses on using seasonal ingredients to create a menu solely focused around a plant-based diet Where: 392 Tianping Lu, near Hengshan Lu. Tel: 3469 2857. Web: www.wujieglobal.com Why: For creative, Chinese and international vegetarian dishes

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Wujie

s one of our New Year’s resolutions, we decided to commit to reducing our red meat intake and cut down on our carbon footprint.

As such, we decided it was time to revisit one of our favourite vegetarian restaurants in the city, which places a high emphasis on promoting a plantbased lifestyle, whilst working with local farmers and producers to source the best, most environmentally friendly produce from around the country.

We visited the beautifully designed restaurant in Xuhui, opposite the park, where the natural muted colour palette, with wooden accents, reflects the adjacent scenery, and offers a tranquil start to dinner.

We selected a variety of cold dishes from the interactive iPad menu, including our favourite dish of the evening, golden oyster mushroom and king oyster mushroom with peanut chilli sauce (RMB 56), which packed the punch of any good Sichuan dish. We also enjoyed the creatively served

lentillifera seaweed with a vinaigrette dressing (RMB 78), where the strands of seaweed were hung over a fork, dangling into the vinaigrette below. The braised organic lotus seed and ginger paste (RMB 78), was also a sweet and interesting palate cleanser.

For the main dishes, we enjoyed deepfried lotus root with soya bean sauce (RMB 58), and stir-fried apricot abalone mushroom with spicy vegetarian seafood sauce (RMB 58), which both proved hearty replacements to the typical meat dishes

Beef & Liberty

Nyima Pratten

Nyima Pratten

What: HoneyAGstalwart harib steakhouse offering classy, Bund-side dining, with tremendous views towards the Lujiazui skyline

What: A homage to hamburgers Where: Rm 111, 1/F, Shanghai Centre, 1376 Nanjing Xi Lu, near Xikang Lu. Tel: 6289 5733. Web: www.beef-liberty.com

Where: 29-31/F, Hotel Indigo, 585 Zhongshan Dong Er Lu, near Dongmen Lu. Tel: 3302 9995. Web: www.char-thebund.com

Why: To sample the new beetroot and goat’s cheese patty

Why: For the Jack’s Creek grain fed Black Angus sirloin, every time

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normally ordered at this point.

For dessert, we couldn’t resist the restaurant’s molten chocolate cake (RMB 52), which we felt we deserved after such a healthy meal. We also selected a few winter flavours from the company’s Miss Ma vegetable coloured macaron brand (RMB 15 each). The interesting combinations, such as beetroot and sea salt, spinach and wheatgrass or our favourite, purple cabbage and dark chocolate, ended the alternative meal on a high.

If the Xuhui location is not convenient for you, the company now has two other venues in Shanghai, on the Bund and in Lujiazui, as well as restaurants in Nanjing, Hangzhou and a brand new venue in Suzhou, making it that much easier to be environmentally aware.

Nyima Pratten

CHAR

his restaurant really needs no introduction, being recognised internationally as one of the best steakhouses in Shanghai, so we were more than eager to sample the new menu, and seasonal specialities, from new Head Chef Willmer Colmenares.

The supreme quality and authenticity of the meat is what sets this steakhouse apart from the rest, and it takes pride in serving Wagyu, Black Angus and grass-fed beef from some of the world's most renowned cattle ranches, with the restaurant boasting 11 different steak offerings. We were lucky enough to be able to appreciate the beautiful marbling, colour and texture of our cuts when Chef Colmenares brought them to be inspected by the table before grilling.

Latin American Chef Colmenares has taken inspiration from the cuisine of Asia, the Mediterranean as well as his native homeland when rounding out his menu to complement the steaks. These innovative dishes, with their multitude of tastes and textures, add depth to the meaty menu, and showcase seasonal, as well as imported, produce.

We began our meal with a selection of indulgent “accompaniments” to our main fare.

The smoked Wagyu beef carpaccio (RMB 158) was a melt-in-the-mouth affair, complimented by freshly flaked Parmesan, rocket and black garlic puree. Moving from turf to surf for a few dishes, we also sampled Chef Colmenares new, innovative lobster and salmon ceviche (RMB 188), with the seafood being cured

DINING

by a coconut and lime emulsion and served with an avocado sorbet. The smoked octopus salad (RMB 138) followed. Smoked at a low temperature, the octopus meat was cooked to perfection. Seared scallops (RMB 188), which were fresh and sweet with a slight kick from ginger and chilli notes, finished our sojourn from beef. The roasted bone marrow (RMB 178) was brought to the table just before the showstopper of the evening. Served with the bone shooting skywards, apparently in homage to the Shanghai skyline, the rich flavour whetted our appetite for more.

Naturally, steak must be ordered when visiting CHAR, and diners are given a wide variety of options from the type of meat, to the cut and then the cooking style. We shared a selection of imported cuts from the menu, but our standout dish was the ever-so-tender Australian Jack’s Creek grain fed Black Angus sirloin marble score 3+ (RMB 438 for 250g eye fillet or 300g sirloin). This beef had been grain fed for 150 to 170 days on a specifically formulated high energy grain diet, before being cooked medium rare and delivered to our table by knowledgeable wait staff. We could actually taste the attention to detail paid at every step of the process, which made each bite all the more enjoyable.

To end the meal on a sweet note, we sampled the apple tarte tatin (RMB 98), flambéed tableside, the new spicy hot chocolate fondant (RMB 78) and the berries and apple crumble (RMB 78), which all come highly recommended.

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fter being rebranded from the much-loved Gourmet Café, the restaurant made its mark on the Shanghai F&B scene in 2013 for beef patties hailing from Australia, where they is certified 100% Black Angus, which are ground in-house twice a day. Now, almost three years on, we went back for second helpings and found that if the concept ain’t broke, there is no need to fix it.

Beef & Liberty continue to grill their hefty, medium rare burgers and pack them with a variety of different toppings before placing them between custombaked white rolls (from RMB 75). Their mouthwatering burgers are some of the best, and juiciest we have tasted in the city.

Along with the standard burger order, we also sampled the restaurant’s new sticky BBQ pork ribs (RMB 68), made from USA pork, slow braised in the oven and slathered in house BBQ sauce. The meat fell away from the bones as we ate, and we dipped every remaining morsel of meat in the excess BBQ sauce.

The standout burger for us on this trip was the seasonal beetroot and goat’s cheese burger (RMB 72), which is unfortunately only available until the end of February. This 100% vegetarian burger is made from shredded beetroot,

brown rice, kidney beans, cumin, chilli and coriander and topped with goat’s cheese.

The moist patty is rich in flavour, you could almost believe that it was meat, and helped us stick to our healthy living New Year’s resolution. Although this particular patty’s swan song is brief, the seasonal menu is changed every six weeks, so we hope to see some other strong vegetarian offerings in the future.

We finished off our meal on a high, a sugar high to be exact, with a warm skillet cookie and cream (RMB 58). The cookie comes to the table steaming hot, and served in a skillet, before cream is generously poured on top. The cookie doubled in size as the cream was absorbed, and almost reached the brim of the pan, as we worked to quickly heap spoonfuls of the sinful treat into our mouths to avoid a cookie breach.

This is one dessert that is not to be missed.

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