Steph's Food Journey: M on the Bund, L7, 5 on the Bund, Shanghai

M on the Bund, L7, 5 on the Bund, Shanghai
Thursday 11 May, 2006

Australian Michelle Garnaut opened M on the Bund in January 1999. This was the first of the high end restaurants in Shanghai and more importantly, the first to make it's mark on the Bund. It is housed in the former Nissin Shipping Building and offers a contemporary Art Deco-inspired interior and sensational views. Within months of opening, M on the Bund was named one of the best restaurants on the planet by the prestigious Conde Nast Traveler magazine, the first of a host of awards and accolades.

You enter No. 5 on the Bund via the side street Guangdong Lu which is directly opposite the entrance to the upmarket No. 3 on the Bund and houses high end shopping stores and other restaurants such as Jean Georges and New Heights. The entry to No. 5 is via circular stairs then you take the lift to the 7th floor - watch the doors they shut very quickly...

When you arrive on the 7th floor you can turn right to the Glamour Bar or left to the restaurant. The staff are warm and inviting and the restaurant was packed with ex-pats, tourists and a few Shanghai locals. The rooftop location is spectacular and offers a different view down the Bund, over the Huangpu River and across to the Pudong district. Quite a contrast from last night's experience at Jade on 36 (which was in the Pudong district looking back across the Huangpu River to the Bund).

Michelle Garnaut has surrounded herself with a host of Australian and international employees. Chefs Michael and Julie Roper (English and Australian respectively) serve a menu of modern European food, a collection of classics, nostalgic favourites and dishes from the Middle East and North Africa, too. There is something for everyone on the menu but the menus themselves were looking very tired and tattered with rips on the pages and discoloured covers. There was also a specials menu on the table along with all the monogrammed plates, cutlery with the signature 'M'. Decisions, decisions...for entrees we chose to share twice baked crab souffle served with avocado, prawn and crab salad and the charcuterie and terrines - torchen of foie gras, pork rillettes, hot salami's and air-dried meats served with all the accoutrements. A great start to the meal, the souffle was light and the charcuterie and terrines offered many different flavours and it's own personal side dish of pickles, olives, baby onions and hot mustard.

For mains I couldn't go past M's crispy suckling pig with colcannon - an irish classic of potatoes mashed with cabbage and leeks (I could have done without the colcannon - it was hard to eat and the suckling pig was riddled with small bones that you had to pick out) and the Pan fried fillet of snapper with a rich seafood sauce and portobello mushrooms sauteed and herb & spinach mash.

I couldn't get over how busy the restaurant was and many tables took several sittings over the courses of the evening - we, however, stayed put and took in the great views and chose dessert - baked nectarines stuffed with an almond paste topped with mascarpone and 3 scoops of ice cream made on the premises - chocolate, vanilla and passionfruit which was absolutely delicious.

As an Australian visiting M on the Bund it is a pleasant surprise to experience the relaxed, warm manner of the staff. They were very efficient and only made one small error of delivering the incorrect dessert to the table, apart from this they were hard to fault. After dinner we joined the hordes of dinner/ bar guests taking in the view from the terrace.