Tag Archives: foie gras

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8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana – Shanghai

26 November 2012

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There aren’t a lot of good Italian places and fine dining in general in Shanghai, so dinner at 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana, the Shanghai offshoot of the Italian original, was an exciting proposition, if only to see what the fuss was all about.  It also was my first time dining with a chef, in this case the former executive chef at one of l’Ateliers de Joel Robuchon.  The experience was interesting, in part to see how one chef cooks for another (that he respects, presumably) and to see what kind of comments our fellow guest had to the food, the service, etc, and our guest certainly did not lack for opinions.  It was illustrative of how nuanced one can be in enjoying and/or evaluating a dining experience, and also things must go right, how many details to which it is important to pay attention, when trying to create a memorable or just good meal for a discerning patron.

8 1/2′s own chef, Allen Yu, customized a tasting menu for us and was kind enough to come by, say hi, and talk a bit of shop.  The first courses were a seared scallop and then a foie gras / terrine combination (with Piedmont hazelnut sauce on the liver and fresh eel on the terrine).  The dishes hinted (strongly) at the French theme that would dominate the meal.  Despite 8 1/2′s Italian menu, Chef Allen’s extended working history had mostly been in French restaurants, and it showed through the selected dishes and their execution, not to any particular negative way, other than that it was a bit at odds with 8 1/2′s stated Italian identity.  Our guest pointed out that foie gras was atypical in traditional Italian cooking, in which fresh liver was more common (sometimes marinated in cream for a day so as let soften as it soaked up all the fat particles).  I’m looking forward to trying that version sometime.

 The next courses were pasta: cavatelli with seafood ragout and (not pictured) vegetable risotto with braised beef tongue.  The seafood broth and the cavatelli pasta were both quite excellent.  I only noticed the overcooked lobster because our dinner guest pointed it out, since the pieces were small, but I tried to think of the point more as a learning exchange, something to notice next time, which is useful to the point that one can imagine how incrementally better the dish would be if the buttery lobster were less chewy.  The risotto, while cooked well, was a bit heavy and uninspiring, although I did uncover my strong preference for beef tongue braised, and not grilled.

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Corton – NYC (Tribeca)

14 November 2012

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In another round of ridiculous October meals in New York, my friend Yang and I dropped by Corton, the two-star French eatery by Paul Liebrandt in Tribeca, that does exclusively tasting menus (of which you’re supposed to choose one of two, the seasonal or the regular one).  Tasting menus (ones as elaborate as Corton’s, anyway) are a marathon, requiring pacing, patience, lots of conversation, and a willingness to be at least a little pretentious about examining the food, which mostly just involves me chewing and nodding my head slower and with more pregnant pauses.  But to be fair to Corton, it’s definitely more approachable and less intimidating than its Michelin stars and creatively austere menus might suggest.

We settled into Corton’s regular tasting menu, which began with a smattering of snacks and amuse-bouches:

One of the amuse-bouche, really just a morsel of (potato) cracker, was filled with a rich Mornay sauce (think Béchamel on crack) with an overwhelming cheesiness.  and the cupcake-like snack was interesting in terms of presentation, with a soft cake set atop a bed of dark powder so that when you pick each one up, it took some of the seasoning powder with it, and as you place it in your mouth the bottom, with the powder, is the first thing that hits your tongue.  A good idea that I hadn’t seen often before, albeit probably pretty narrow in practicality. Continue reading »

Rum Raisin Vanilla Milk Rice Pudding at Mr. and Mrs. Bund

Mr. and Mrs. Bund – Shanghai

6 July 2012

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It’s nice having visitors.  Take that with a grain of salt because I’m very new here (Shanghai) myself, but regardless, out-of-towners tend to lead to worthy, if not extravagant, meals.  We all had to hustle a bit for this one – the kitchen was closing soon, and I had just gotten in from Changsha in Hunan province, and Myra and her sister and brother were heading over from a visit to the fabric market for tailored clothes and to a *ahem* very reputable forum for *ahem* very authentic handbags, sneakers, and the like.  But our collective hunger was probably a good thing, and it’s nice that Myra and her family are fairly adventurous food lovers.

With prime location on the sixth floor of an upscale shopping center in the middle of the Bund, facing out across the river at Pudong’s skyscrapers, the restaurant is home to long-time Shanghai-based French chef Paul Pairet.  I’ve never looked at the regular food menu, but I imagine it can be rather daunting, since the lunch prix fixe listing was already tough to manage (in a good way).  Relative to the a-la-carte menu, Mr. and Mrs. Bund’s lunch set is a deal (200RMB for two courses, 250RMB for three), without sacrificing the a-la-carte menu’s broad selection of appetizers and entrees.

The meal started with an airy, lemony can of tuna mousse and a basket of various warm breads (not pictured), a good initial sign of the restaurant”s sophistication.  We ordered with sharing in mind: beef carpaccio venise, steamed asparagus, arugula mushroom truffle salad, and foie gras mousse with raisin hazelnut crumble (the last one mine).

The mousse was good, rich and flavorful – but the raisin hazelnut crumble was too distracting, almost dessert-like.  Despite its simplicity, the steamed asparagus (with the can of olive oil supplied by the waiter) was my favorite.

For the mains: black cod in a bag (mine), scallops lemon-ginger, and long short rib teriyaki, again all to share.

The black cod was delicious, tender and well-marinated in Cantonese sauce.  I’m not sure how different this “heat-proof bag” the cod was supposedly simmered in was from cooking sous vide, but I’d mainly wanted relatively lighter fare than the short ribs, which Myra and I had really enjoyed the last time we were here.

For dessert, I got the rum raisin vanilla milk rice.  In contrast to the foie gras mousse, I really liked the difference in texture from top to bottom, and also that the dessert wasn’t overly sweet.  I guess rice pudding generally isn’t, but with the toppings, it could’ve been overdone.

Hopefully, we’ll catch the lunch set on a day with better weather.  We agreed to a table indoors and without a view (there are both outdoor seating and window-side tables) mostly because of the dreary rain, but I imagine there are some days when the view can actually be cheerful.

Mr. and Mrs. Bund
Bund 18, 6/F, 18 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu (near Nanjing Dong Lu)
Shanghai 20002

Recommendations:
(1) Asparagus XL Bearnaise, (2)  Black Cod in a Bag, (3) Long Short Rib Teriyaki, and (4) Rum Raisin Vanilla Milk Rice Pudding

Pork Soup Dumpling at Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung – Shanghai

15 June 2012

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As my first dinner after arriving in Shanghai, Myra and I went to an old favorite – Din Tai Fung, the upscale contemporary Chinese concept with Taiwanese roots and famous for its xiaolongbao soup dumplings.  The brand has locations in most large Asian cities, and so far I’d been to a few of their shops in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles (in Chinese-populated Arcadia, just west of Pasadena).

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