[Shanghai Restaurant Week] Light & Salt
Light & Salt | light-n-salt.com | Dianping
Address: 圆明园路133号女青年会大楼6楼(近北京东路) – 6F, 133 Yuan Ming Yuan Rd near Beijing East Rd (黄浦区 Huangpu District)
Date visited: 2014.03 for Restaurant Week
Total bill: RMB¥258 per person (Restaurant Week set)
Will return: No
What to get:
– Foie gras mousse & pate
– Beef tartare
– Miso cod
The Restaurant Week menu at Light & Salt appealed to me because it offered dishes plucked straight from the regular menu. That’s a Restaurant Week win because it allows me to try the regular food for about RMB¥100 less than the regular price. This is a strategic move by Light & Salt because it is relatively new and this is a good way to get reluctant potential customers through the door. Yes, I did take food from everyone so I could try all the dishes on the Restaurant Week menu.
The regular menu is RMB¥350 for three courses (note: dishes are pre-grouped so you can’t just get three dishes from the entree section) or RMB¥395 for three courses + dessert. This is still the soft opening menu so pricing model could change in the future. A memorable miso cod but desserts were sorely disappointing as two of the three I tried were terrible. The miso cod is perhaps the one dish that I would come back to Light & Salt for but the set course menu makes me reluctant to because I am obligated to select a certain number of dishes. I personally think this place is more appropriate for a la carte ordering.
Light & Salt splits into two sections: the main area for dining and behind the sliding door just beyond the kitchen and restroom is a speakeasy lounge where this roulette wheel is. By the way, the elevator coming up to the restaurant fits four people max; larger parties will have to go up in shifts.
Bread and butter (Complimentary)
The brown bread had a hint of chocolate in it! Sneaky. Points for the ultra soft butter and presentation on this wooden block.
Starters
Foie gras mousse, foie gras pate, Cognac jelly, Armagnac glaze, Calvados chutney, almond & apricot brioche
Recommend: yes
I got someone to get the cherry out of my sight immediately because I hate cherries. Aside from that, the foie gras pate (right) was creamy and the foie gras mousse (left) was even creamier.
I wasn’t a fan of the cognac jelly on top of the pate but the individual foie gras pieces performed on their own.
Beef tartare, butter poached egg yolk, avocado mousse, squid ink aioli
Recommend: yes
This was a good beef tartare in vinegar marinade. The squid ink (black streak across the plate) didn’t have a strong taste and was more for presentation.
Seared scallops, sweet corn puree, candied fennel, grapefruit, truffle creme
Recommend: no
The components of this dish didn’t complement the scallops well. I didn’t like the corn puree paired with the scallop and I think something like sweet potato mash would have balanced it better. I couldn’t taste much truffle in the creme. The scallops were small as well. I didn’t care for this.
Not included in the Restaurant Week set but in the regular menu is the Charcuterie board with duck rillettes, pig trotter terrine, pork and chicken liver pate, iberico ham, chorizo, and morcilla, which we ordered to share. The iberico ham (left) and chorizo (front) were everyone’s favorites. However, this cold cut plate was not outstanding and we didn’t love the other parts of the plate.
Mains
Tenderloin, bone marrow, potato gratin, mustard, beef jus
Recommend: maybe
Light & Salt is not a steakhouse nor known for its steak and I would rate the tenderloin average–good enough but nothing special.
This also came with a hunk of bone marrow.
Roasted miso cod, sweet potato puree, wild mushroom salsa, pomegranate reduction
Recommend: yes
I love this miso cod, which had the desired fatty, buttery, and flakey characteristics. I also loved the purple potato puree but I thought the sour vegetables were a bit odd. The presentation with a brush for the sauce was neat but unnecessary because the miso cod was excellent by itself and did not need any sauce (nor was the sauce good either). I really recommend getting this dish here.
Duck pie, bone marrow, foie gras, crushed green peas, duck jus
Recommend: maybe
While this was good, I don’t think I could eat pie as my entree. Very mushroomy.
Chocolate fondant, salted caramel, white chocolate walnut ice cream
Recommend: no
The chocolate fondant (left) oozed of warm chocolate and caramel and was good alone. The ice cream (right) was rock solid and tasted lemony even though the menu said white chocolate.
Lychee souffle, lychee-champagne “soup,” hibiscus foam, lychee sorbet
Recommend: definitely no
I hate the airy taste of souffles and combined with lychee (which I don’t think is a good flavor for souffle), this was just awful to me.
Rice pudding, rhubarb compote, vanilla crisps, bayberry sorbet
Recommend: definitely no
In the words of my friend, “rice pudding is a sad excuse for dessert” and this particular rice pudding didn’t do much to help rice pudding’s reputation.
