[Shanghai Girl Eats] Alan Wong’s Shanghai

Alan Wong’s | alanwongs.com | Dianping
Address: 2/F, The Portman Ritz-Carlton, 1376 Nanjing Xi Lu / 南京西路1376号上海商城2层(波特曼丽思卡尔顿酒店)
Date visited: 2016.08 for dinner (open for lunch and dinner)
Price: RMB500-800 per person (+15% service charge)
What to get:
– Soup and sandwich
– Miso Icelandic black cod, foie gras and unagi
– Twice cooked soy braised short ribs

<Please note this venue has closed>

Alan Wong’s is apparently Obama’s favorite restaurant and since the original one in Honolulu is just slightly out of the way, we ventured to Jing’an for Alan Wong’s Shanghai. The menu is a sea of raw and cooked fish (don’t fret, there is also chicken, beef, pork, and foie gras) that showcases the taste of Hawaii. Delicious.

It is quite expensive but if you order right, it can be very satisfying. I dined with a friend who has tried the majority of the menu so luckily she pre-filtered dishes for me. We ordered modestly: a soup, poke, and two mains to share, which left two hungry girls feeling very full. Please note there is a 15% service charge. Private rooms are available.

We started with a foie gras mousse with jelly amuse-bouche.

Next, the complimentary warm bread basket was seriously impressive and consisted of a spicy roll, curry roll, normal rolls, and seaweed sticks. The curry roll and seaweed sticks were my favorites. A thoughtful bread basket is a sign of good things to come.

Soup and sandwich (RMB88) chilled tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich with Kalua pig and foie gras
Recommend: yes
Delicious but this must have been made for ants. Though minuscule, the sandwich is fatty goodness squared with pork and foie gras. Under the sandwich is a cold yin & yang tomato soup.

Japanese kampachi poke (RMB118) with sambal emulsion, pumpkin seeds
Recommend: no
Not a fan of the crispy rice and I felt like it was missing raw vegetables in the mix like diced cucumbers or onions. I’d try a different poke next time.

Miso Icelandic black cod, foie gras and unagi (RM198) with sansho, tsukemono, heirloom baby carrots
Recommend: yes
A surf and… surf? The velvety miso cod was elevated by the spicy sambal sauce. While I am not completely sure where the foie gras fits into this equation, I welcome it with open mouth as it added an element of fat to each bite of eel.

Twice cooked soy braised short ribs (RMB328) with gingered prawns, ko choo jang sauce
Recommend: yes
Definitely the dish to get at Alan Wong’s. One cut was ultra fatty and melted like butter while the other was leaner and pulled apart easily — all sealed with a sweet soy glaze.

Dinner ended with a complimentary red bean and glutinous ball since we didn’t have room for a course of dessert.

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