[Shanghai] Chi-Q

Chi-Q | Three on the Bund | Dianping
Address: 中山东一路3号外滩3号2楼(近广东路) – Three on the Bund, 3 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu near Guangdong Lu (黄浦区 Huangpu District)
Date visited: 2014.05
Total bill: RMB¥1,379 for three people (including 10% service charge)
Will return: Yes

Located inside the iconic Three on the Bund, or rather the Jean Georges building (Nougatine on the 4th floor, Mercato on the 6th floor), Chi-Q is a Korean concept on the 2nd floor by Jean Georges and chef/wife Marja (who is half Korean). The name “Chi” comes from kimchi and “Q” comes from BBQ. Chi-Q is Korean food topped with foie gras–literally bibimbop with foie gras, foie gras mandoo, and foie gras BBQ. Overpriced of course (we already knew that would be the case), but tastes great. I like this better than his other restaurants in the building.

I recommend this for small groups under 4 people; with larger groups, you will not get more than a bite of anything on an already-hefty bill. And you have to wait for the BBQ to cook in front of you and watch it get distributed to everyone. The table just ends up being too busy with too many people. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Please note there is a 10% service charge.

Soju Greyhound (RMB¥78) with Jinro 25, fresh grapefruit
Recommend: tastes like I just drank a RMB¥78 grapefruit juice

Small Dishes “Banchan” (Complimentary) including kimchi, radish, potatoes, and other vegetables

Kingfish Sashimi (RMB¥88) with sweet soy, chili oil, avocado, sunflower seeds
Recommend: yes
Almost like a deconstructed sushi roll given the avocado and sweet soy and without the rice. Kingfish sashimi was very fresh. Nice.

Foie Gras Kimchi Mandoo (RMB¥108)
Recommend: no
A large piece of foie gras is wrapped in kimchi and then wrapped into a dumpling known as “mandoo” in Korean. We would have preferred using chopped kimchi rather than an entire leaf of kimchi, because it basically makes it impossible to bite into the mandoo without pulling the fillings out entirely by the one leaf of kimchi. Flavor wise, I don’t think the foie gras works well in this dumpling here. The foie gras is already heavy by itself and then wrapped up in a fried dumpling is overwhelming.

Bi Bim Bop (topped with choice of spring vegetables RMB¥78, roasted foie gras RMB¥118, wagyu beef and egg RMB¥128)
Recommend: yes
This is literally a normal bibimbop… except it is topped with a fat piece of foie gras, which alone justifies getting this dish perfectly. Just look at this fat piece of foie gras and think of it this way: many restaurants in Shanghai charge around this price for this thing alone with some lousy brioche but here you get an entire bibimbop with it, too. Win? Yes.

Breaking the foie gras into smaller pieces and mixing it in gives each bite of rice an extra richness. This foie gras fusion thing works in this bibimbop but not the mandoo.

None of the main entrees really called out to us on paper so we opted for BBQ as our mains and chose two beef baskets to share. In addition to beef, other choices include pork (spare ribs, organic pork belly, iberico secreto for RMB¥188), organic chicken (chicken breast, chicken thigh confit, duck foie gras for RMB¥138), and seafood (sea scallops, prawns, Norwegian salmon, calamari for RMB¥198).

Wagyu Beef BBQ (RMB¥298) with sirloin MBS +6 (120g)
Recommend:  yes
Thin, very marbled, and nicely marinated slices of wagyu beef. Super fatty and melt-in-your-mouth off the grill. Hands down our favorite BBQ basket. This is good beef. Definitely get this.

A nice gentleman who did not have to go to the office today (consultant life), hence the pink t-shirt, at the table grilling for us. You can ask the servers to grill for you if you like.

Grain-Fed Beef BBQ (RMB¥268) with Australian short rib, ground angus beef patties, black angus ribeye
Recommend: no
Between this grain-fed beef and wagyu beef above, the wagyu beef was much better and only RMB¥30 more in price. The cubed meat is the short rib, which was tender and fatty, second to the wagyu beef. It would be great if there was an option to get a basket of only the short rib cubes. The ribeye slices were nowhere as tender as the wagyu slices. The beef patties, I could do for a burger but I don’t want to see in my Korean BBQ.

Market Vegetables (RMB¥88) with peppers, zucchini, asparagus, shiitake, maitake, broccolini, scallion, bamboo shoot
Recommend: yes
I am usually skeptical about vegetables but the vegetable basket was actually came through quite tasty off the grill.

Green Tea Sponge Cake (RMB¥58) with green tea ice cream, lime curd, crystalized wasabi
Recommend: yes
To be honest, Jean Georges’ desserts and I are not friends (except the cheesecake) so I was not expecting anything from the dessert selection, which are made by pastry chef Seani Lin. Here comes the but–the warm green tea cake was ugly but it was so tasty with the tart lime curd. There is also some matcha ice cream with rice crispies. For those who are questioning the wasabi element, the sprinkles of wasabi crystals were not noticeable at all. Very good.

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