Jade on 36, Fucheng Rd, Shanghai

Jade on 36, Fucheng Rd, Shanghai

Saturday 2 June, 2007

What an incredible night! This is without a doubt the best restaurant I have ever dined in. Words will not come easy to describe this experience other than to say French chef Paul Pairet is a genius.

Jade on 36 screams elegence and offers a spectacular view from Pudong over to The Bund. Last year's experience was fantastic and I was excited to share it with my travel buddies tonight.

Jade on 36 (located at the top of the Pudong Shangri-La), is a superb restaurant with amazing views. Designed by American architect Adam Tihany, who designed Le Cirque in New York, the restaurant offers a futuristic interpretation of Chinese traditions.

Taking the express lift from the hotel foyer to the 36th floor you walk through a dramatic outline of a rice bowl on entry, down a corridor of rice bins that serve as wine storage into the main dining space. Along the rear wall are 5 enormous jade green snuff bottles and the dining area is elegant. We were accompanied on this walk by the Assistant Restaurant Manager who proudly shared the tradition behind the design.

We were seated at a fabulous window table and provided menus. It's fascinating as the menu is all degustation and divided into 3 sections - Small, Medium and Large with four offerings within each section - Mohogany, Rose, Indigo and Jade of Jade. Their signature menu is the Large - Jade of Jade and as it was our last night in Shanghai we decided to go for it.

The table next to us were from the US but living in Shanghai and were celebrating their daughter's 7th birthday. We spent most of the evening speaking with them, learnt about some new restaurants we must try next time and sharing our disgust at a table of Chinese men at the rear of the restaurant who were loud, disrespectful and offensive. Our new friends had already complained to the delightful German Maitre'd so we also expressed our dissapointment. Within 20 minutes they left the restaurant so we could enjoy the rest of the evening.

Our menu comprised:

- Sardine mousse with brioche served from the sardine tin

- Fois gras lollipop with herbal tea, honey & champagne foam shot

- Finely sliced beef tenderloin, tuna & yellowtail with dandelion sashimi and mint leaf topped with champagne foam on a long stick served as 2 flowers sticking out of a florists base

- Fois gras with passionfruit-chocolate and fois gras opera

- Bread - truffle soup infused bread

- Jumbo shrimp in citrus jar

- Black cod from Hong Kong served in the bag and prepared at the table

- Beef short rib - rib terriyaki served on the bone

- Lemon & lemon tart served inside a 3 day slow cooked lemon

- Mango, liquorice and dill

- Toffee shot with green apple foam

We were completely overwhelmed by the food - the presentation was extraordinary and we sat on the edge of our seats as each course was delivered to the table as we just didn't know what to expect. ust when we thought we had seen it all something even more impressive arrived at our table e.g. the jumbo shrimp was served in a large jar infused with orange juice and peel presented on a wooden board with a side dish of soy, corriander and mint.

We asked to meet the chef to thank him for such an incredible evening and he was just lovely. He happily spoke with us and thanked us for enjoying his food - he seemed genuinely impressed that we had loved everything on offer. We shared what other restaurants we had dined in during our time in Shanghai and all agreed hands down that this was the best restaurant experience we had ever had.

Jade on 36 is an absolute must.

Jade on 36 - Shangri-La, L36, 33 Fucheng Road, Pudong, Shanghai - T: (86 21) 6882 3636

http://www.shangri-la.com/shanghai/pudongshangri-la/en/index.aspx