Hi All!

First post on this forum! Gonna be flying in next week to Shanghai with my GF and it's also her birthday

week. So was wondering if anyone could recommend any good fancy restaurant (western cruisine) in SH

for us to try? I've tried searching at diningsecretary.com but there are too many to pick from. So any

recommendations would be great.


Thanks all,
Ricky

None at all? Wow. I can't really help because I'm not into the fancy-dress 400 rmb meals. But surely someone can recommend something.

And no, I didn't call you shirley.

Hi Ricky,

Sorry for the late reply. Hope you can still use this information. In terms of fancy restaurants, you are right, Shanghai has a lot!
If you are looking for a bund view, we would recommend Mr. & Mrs. Bund,
http://www.diningsecretary.com/shanghai/restaurant-d/AESH10003508.shtml
although a reservation is HIGHLY recommended. Seems like those guys are almost always full. Across the Street is the 3 on the Bund complex, which has several options available. In a similar price range and cuisine is Jean Georges.
http://www.diningsecretary.com/shanghai/restaurant-d/AESH10002019.shtml
If you prefer Cantonese, the same building has Whampoa Club, although judging from some of our customer feedback, not everyone has a had a great experience there.
http://www.diningsecretary.com/shanghai/restaurant-d/AESH10002022.shtml
Also in the same building is Laris and New Heights, both also worth checking out. Laris is the flagship of popular restaurateur David Laris, and New Heights has breathtaking views of the Shanghai skyline.
Laris: http://www.diningsecretary.com/shanghai/restaurant-d/AESH10002023.shtml
New Heights: http://www.diningsecretary.com/shanghai/restaurant-d/AESH10000820.shtml

Moving away from the Bund, there is a great steakhouse close to Xintiendi called The Strip, with again a great views and great (albeit expensive) steaks.
http://www.diningsecretary.com/shanghai/restaurant-d/C30F09L48070.shtml
Mentioning Xintiendi would take too long for this post, but we definitely suggest you go take a look around there, as you are sure to find something you like. They have a plethora of options available. We recommend T8:
http://www.diningsecretary.com/shanghai/restaurant-d/AESH10001190.shtml

If you want something a little more romantic, we suggest you head to one of the many restaurant-villas of the French Concession. Restaurant Martin or Fu 1039 come to mind for their peaceful, romantic settings.
Restaurant Martin:http://www.diningsecretary.com/shanghai/restaurant-d/B47J26J13380.shtml
Fu 1039:http://www.diningsecretary.com/shanghai/restaurant-d/AESH10011088.shtml

The restaurant at M1nt is actually quite nice and exclusive, and the perfect spot if you are looking to go dancing right after! http://www.diningsecretary.com/shanghai/restaurant-d/B04G28P37437.shtml

There are a lot, and I'm sure we missed many. If none of the above seem fitting, let us know and we'll keep the names coming.

Enjoy your dinner!

rwoo121 wrote:Hi All!

First post on this forum! Gonna be flying in next week to Shanghai with my GF and it's also her birthday

week. So was wondering if anyone could recommend any good fancy restaurant (western cruisine) in SH

for us to try? I've tried searching at diningsecretary.com but there are too many to pick from. So any

recommendations would be great.


Thanks all,
Ricky

What's your budget for "fancy"?
Give a figure and I will give you the best suggestions accordingly.

Fancy Restaurant + Fancy budget, my picks:

Sir Ellys at Peninsula Hotel on the bund , you can have also a pre/after dinner drink on the terrace. Last time I was there there were at least 3 couples celebrating birthdays...they were served a small birthday cake for two, it looked lovely!
Stiller's @ Cool Docks, german modern cuisine, it is very good. You can book a table with a view, they have table on the terrace, I think it is heated but those are smoking tables...

You may try the grill at Park Hyatt hotel, great view.

Went to Maison Pourcel a few days ago and would recommend.

My husband and I had a very lovely 10th anniversary dinner at Cristal.

Cristal is delicious! Underrated I feel given most expats I know never mention this place, but great food and good service. Been there for dinner and brunch and wish I would think of it more than I do.

cristal's food is good, but the atmosphere, interior design and location is not romantic at all, definetly not a dress up place for girls.

Have learned today that the owners of Cristal have decided they no longer need to keep their executive chef Alex Molina on, and that as of 9 November his contract will end. Apparently they no longer need to keep paying an expat to maintain the 'vision' of the restaurant - they think they can hire someone local for less money, and that will be just fine. Everything will be just the same, they'll just carry on without, you know, the guy who created the menu, brought in the (trained under him) kitchen and wait staff, etc.

Have we heard this song before?

I'm very sad about this news, as it is one of my favourite places and IMO has some of the best food and best service at the best value in town. In the interest of full disclosure, let me say that I am not affiliated with the restaurant, except that I have become somewhat friendly with Alex and his wife Esther as a result of enjoying many good meals there, and I feel terribly for them, as they worked very hard to create a really good place which has been generally quite successful, and it is a complete shame that they are being cast aside by the owners in the interest of saving a few rmb.

brasil wrote:cristal's food is good, but the atmosphere, interior design and location is not romantic at all, definetly not a dress up place for girls.

and that's important. dinning out is a whole experience, seeing and to be seen is part of that

fWerrF wrote:

brasil wrote:cristal's food is good, but the atmosphere, interior design and location is not romantic at all, definetly not a dress up place for girls.

and that's important. dinning out is a whole experience, seeing and to be seen is part of that

and don't forget the part about posting that you ate at an expensive place.

cantcheckemailnopw wrote:

fWerrF wrote:

brasil wrote:cristal's food is good, but the atmosphere, interior design and location is not romantic at all, definetly not a dress up place for girls.

and that's important. dinning out is a whole experience, seeing and to be seen is part of that

and don't forget the part about posting that you ate at an expensive place.

It IS the food section here, isn't it?
It's natural to post about where you eat at, may it be expensive or inexpensive, no?

I think Table no.1 (Cool Docks) is my new fave! But it depends where you are from? It is lovely but you could be in any European city. For something more chinese you could go for Lost Heaven - not super fancy but always has a nice feel? I wouldn't go to Sir Elly's - food is great and the views are nice but the dining room always seems pretty soulless. And I think Mr.and Mrs. Bund is majorly overated!

Frank01 wrote:

fWerrF wrote:

cantcheckemailnopw wrote:

fWerrF wrote:

brasil wrote:cristal's food is good, but the atmosphere, interior design and location is not romantic at all, definetly not a dress up place for girls.

and that's important. dinning out is a whole experience, seeing and to be seen is part of that

and don't forget the part about posting that you ate at an expensive place.

It IS the food section here, isn't it?
It's natural to post about where you eat at, may it be expensive or inexpensive, no?

You are a Snob my friend. One of the worst, or you do not realize it or you are proud of it. Your posts about food and wine are hilarious. A lack of real good taste can not be compensated by bragging about expensive places. You even not seem to know what Alsace grapes are like... Alsace is Alsace......Money can not buy all, so far is clear...again. I will not mention your avatar, poor soul.....

When it comes to food, and several other things in life, I AM a snob. So what??
If you don't like my food posts, do not read it.
If you think I am bragging, that's your rights, I care less.
This freaking post was stared by OP specifically about fancy places, should I f0cking recommend a roadside noodle shack just to act humble?? WTF ...
This is getting wayyyyyyy old ....

The avatar is my favor egg dish, at a Jean George restaurant, I like it, that's what counts, isn't it.

Jean Gorges- great food and service.

Mr & Mrs Bund- Great food, portion sizes can be a problem (I took a heap of people there last week and we had to get second plates for some people). The menu is enormous.

Stillers- Food is pretty good (not as good as the first two). Service has been hit and miss for me.

T8- Great food- the table we got was very low and people kept smashing their knees into it which wasn't fun.

Issimo- Not super high end, but great italian food, fantastic vibe, great service.

fWerrF wrote:

Frank01 wrote:

fWerrF wrote:

cantcheckemailnopw wrote:

fWerrF wrote:

brasil wrote:cristal's food is good, but the atmosphere, interior design and location is not romantic at all, definetly not a dress up place for girls.

and that's important. dinning out is a whole experience, seeing and to be seen is part of that

and don't forget the part about posting that you ate at an expensive place.

It IS the food section here, isn't it?
It's natural to post about where you eat at, may it be expensive or inexpensive, no?

You are a Snob my friend. One of the worst, or you do not realize it or you are proud of it. Your posts about food and wine are hilarious. A lack of real good taste can not be compensated by bragging about expensive places. You even not seem to know what Alsace grapes are like... Alsace is Alsace......Money can not buy all, so far is clear...again. I will not mention your avatar, poor soul.....

When it comes to food, and several other things in life, I AM a snob. So what??
If you don't like my food posts, do not read it.
If you think I am bragging, that's your rights, I care less.
This freaking post was stared by OP specifically about fancy places, should I f0cking recommend a roadside noodle shack just to act humble?? WTF ...
This is getting wayyyyyyy old ....

The avatar is my favor egg dish, at a Jean George restaurant, I like it, that's what counts, isn't it.

Well, this says it all. A rude and tasteless comment.....Money can't buy taste.....

Frank01 wrote:

fWerrF wrote:

Frank01 wrote:

fWerrF wrote:

cantcheckemailnopw wrote:

fWerrF wrote:

brasil wrote:cristal's food is good, but the atmosphere, interior design and location is not romantic at all, definetly not a dress up place for girls.

and that's important. dinning out is a whole experience, seeing and to be seen is part of that

and don't forget the part about posting that you ate at an expensive place.

It IS the food section here, isn't it?
It's natural to post about where you eat at, may it be expensive or inexpensive, no?

You are a Snob my friend. One of the worst, or you do not realize it or you are proud of it. Your posts about food and wine are hilarious. A lack of real good taste can not be compensated by bragging about expensive places. You even not seem to know what Alsace grapes are like... Alsace is Alsace......Money can not buy all, so far is clear...again. I will not mention your avatar, poor soul.....

When it comes to food, and several other things in life, I AM a snob. So what??
If you don't like my food posts, do not read it.
If you think I am bragging, that's your rights, I care less.
This freaking post was stared by OP specifically about fancy places, should I f0cking recommend a roadside noodle shack just to act humble?? WTF ...
This is getting wayyyyyyy old ....

The avatar is my favor egg dish, at a Jean George restaurant, I like it, that's what counts, isn't it.

Well, this says it all. A rude and tasteless comment.....Money can't buy taste.....

Sure it was a rude comment, because it was replying to your personal attack, what do you expect???

Klick wrote:Have learned today that the owners of Cristal have decided they no longer need to keep their executive chef Alex Molina on, and that as of 9 November his contract will end.

That IS a shame. Will he be around until then? May stop by this Sunday for brunch if Molina is still there; if not, well....

Thanks to all of you who have visited Cristal and enjoyed Alex's food, he will be in the kitchen until Tuesday the 9th (except for Friday when he takes a day off, sorry its parents teachers do at our kids school)...so we hope to see some of you before we pack up from Cristal.

We will keep everyone posted of what we do after...anyone interested to have a chat with us, please feel free to PM. Thanks

esther

I'm fond of T8 as well, proposed to my then gf there. She totally knew it was coming and was like "just get it over with" Ha! Not the romantic that one.

The news about Cristal is a real shame. It legitimately is one of the best restaurants in town, and it was finally starting to reach its potential. All of us here at DS thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant, and we will be sad to see Alex and Esther go. I for one will definitely be there on Saturday, and I recommend others to give it a try before its too late. As we all know, especially in Shanghai, a restaurant isn't much without its chef at the helm.
http://www.diningsecretary.com/shanghai ... 9507.shtml

THE most exclusive, romantic,and intimate restaurant is The Bankers Club.....It's expensive and private.....You need a member to make a reservation for you.....You won't be disappointed...The have five or six private rooms....53th floor ......That's it's....

They have 16 hotel rooms....not sure if you stay at the Hotel if you can use the Private Club ...

the strip prime steak house, 7th floor, is nice. it's in hk plaza. although, you don't usually take a girl to get steak...

seachen wrote:the strip prime steak house, 7th floor, is nice. it's in hk plaza. although, you don't usually take a girl to get steak...

It's not in HK plaza.
It's in the Ascott across the street.
It's affiliated with the NY/LV outlets but the steak isn't remotely the same.

fWerrF, I went to China Grill last night to entertain my business clients. Bad news is China Grill no long serves Grade 9 Wagyu beef, it serves Grade 8, and Grade 5-6 instead. Although, I am not a Wagyu beef fan, I did try a bit which my clients ordered. It's different from the one I had in Shanghai. They ordered Grade 8, medium rare, but the meat is kind of tough. Maybe you can find it out when you go to Beijing next time. You know where I tried mine Waigyu beef in Shanghai. I do not give the name this time, as so many people think I work for them.

fWerrF wrote:It's affiliated with the NY/LV outlets but the steak isn't remotely the same.

It's also not affiliated with any NY/LV outlets at all so I imagine the steak would be cooked differently... It's the sister restaurant of the Roosevelt Prime Steakhouse in the French Concession. They use the same marinade on their steaks and serve similar sides