[Shanghai Girl Eats] Coquille Seafood Bistro 壳里西餐厅
Coquille Seafood Bistro 壳里西餐厅 | Dianping
Address: 29 Mengzi Lu | 蒙自路29号
Date visited: 2019.12
Price: RMB500-800 per person
Will return: Yes
What to order:
– Beef Wellington
– Traditional smoked salmon
– Foie gras creme brulee
– Scallop tartare
– Grilled black tiger prawns
– Seasonal imported mussels
– Crab roe & green pepper noodles
– Madeleines with strawberry butter
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to gather a small hungry tribe to come here because eating Coquille’s signature Beef Wellington is no easy feat–it’s a baby cow dressed in foie gras, truffle, and mushroom wrapped in ham and a pastry blanket–and we destroyed not one but two of them. It’s ironic that the best Beef Wellington in Shanghai is at a seafood restaurant. Anyway, it’s also time to refresh my recommended dishes here as the menu has changed drastically from my last Coquille review (feel free to read it here).
Coquille is a seafood bistro opened by restauranteur John Liu; the menu is done by chef Patrick Leano. In a nutshell: it’s been around for awhile, it’s consistently good food and service, but it’s also pricey (average price on Dianping is about RMB700+ per person). Look, at this price point it’s not your average everyday meal but it’s definitely worth the visit on a nice occasion. I always have a great time here.
Oysters (market price)
Recommend: yes
Delicious, especially with caviar if you have the extra budget. In general, I am pretty cautious about eating oysters in Shanghai so I only eat them at fancy places like this whereas I swallow them by the dozen in the U.S.
Coquille can put together custom seafood platters so please call ahead if you have specific seafood requests.
Traditional smoked salmon (RMB158) with eggs mimosa
Recommend: yes
These little salmon and ikura bites are so delicious! I almost didn’t order them because the description didn’t sound that appealing on the menu.
Scallop tartare (RMB128)
Recommend: yes
These thinly sliced scallops are laced with truffle oil and truffle shavings. The scallops are super fresh and sweet. I think this is an off-menu item but I’ve had this a few times before so it should be available upon request.
Foie gras creme brulee (RMB158) with bergamot lemon, earl grey, roasted walnuts
Recommend: yes
This is my absolute favorite and must-order dish here. This sounds like a dessert and actually has a light foie gras mousse under the caramelization. A mix of sweet and savory–my favorite flavor combo!
Oven-roasted tomato tart (RMB88) with mascarpone, tomato confit, olive oil, lime, chervil
Recommend: if you like tomatoes
I actually don’t like raw tomatoes that much especially as a main component in a dish (a slice of tomato in a burger is fine) so I don’t have much to say about this. It’s just tomatoes to me.
Fresh clam gougeres (RMB88) with cheese fondue, garlic
Recommend: no
I don’t dislike this as in it doesn’t taste bad but the combination of cheesy and creamy clams in a puff pastry just doesn’t speak to me. I’d be okay with it being just a light cheese puff.
Grilled black tiger prawns (RMB178) with lemon, extra virgin olive oil
Recommend: yes
I can’t say enough that the seafood here is so fresh and high quality and tastes good raw or cooked. Be sure to swirl the shrimp around in the olive oil. Please note the photo shows two orders of the prawns combined.
Seasonal imported mussels (RMB168) with lime, lemongrass, basil, coconut, red chili, ginger
Recommend: yes
These are some huge ass clams and razor clams. Grab some bread and soak it in the sauce.
Beef Wellington (RM888) puff pastry wrapped prosciutto ham, foie gras, black truffle, mushroom duxelles and Australian beef tenderloin
Recommend: yes
Beef Wellington is the star of the menu here but you need to bring a small village to eat it. Dishes like this make me wonder how people order on dates here because every table except for our obnoxious carnivorous group of girls were all couples. Each order is a loaf that can be cut into 4-5 pieces to share. Please pre-order this when you make your reservation or you’ll be sorry. It’s so good.
Once the Beef Wellington is cut, they’ll shave some truffle butter onto it as if it wasn’t already indulgent enough.
Crab roe & green pepper noodles (RMB98)
Recommend: yes
These noodles are really good and best paired with the oven-roasted Dungeness crab (RMB688) with house pepper spices, scallion garlic-parsley butter, which is one of the mains on the menu. Given we were trying to devour two Beef Wellingtons, there was zero probability that we could have eaten the crab.
Oven-baked madeleines (RMB88) with strawberry butter
Recommend: yes
I don’t love desserts in general as I prefer savory things over sweet things most of the time. The small percentage of desserts I do eat tend to be classic stuff like a simple NY style cheesecake, creme brulee, ice cream, a glass of Saunternes, etc, and not desserts that look like Jackson Pollock paintings.
Given what I just said, madeleines do fall into the “classics” category and I have to order these every time no matter how stuffed I am. These are the best madeleines I’ve ever had. Slab some strawberry butter all over that. Game over.
Please note this requires 20 minutes to prepare as the madeleines are baked to order so I suggest ordering this at the beginning of your meal.
