Bo Shanghai (Shanghai, CHINA) ★★★★★

It took me a while to decide where to go for my first meal in Shanghai. There were a number of restaurants that made my short list including Stefan Stiller's Taian Table, The Chop Chop Club and Fu He Hui but at the end, I went with Bo Shanghai by self-proclaimed “Demon chef” Alvin Leung. Anyone from Hong Kong who loves to eat won't need any introduction to London-born, Canada-raised chef Alvin who made a name for himself with his unique X-treme Chinese cuisine. Over the years, his blend of modern Chinese cuisine and molecular gastronomy has put him and his flagship restaurant Bo Innovation on the map and his effort was eventually awarded with 3 Michelin stars in 2014 (though with a bit of controversy).



Last year, chef Alvin opened Daimon Bistro and Bo Shanghai on the sixth floor of Bund 5, the same building that also houses one of my all-time favorites in Shanghai, M On the Bund among other casual fine dining restaurants, right by the bund.



After turning myself in at the reception counter, the hostess led me through the dimly lit dining area of Daimon Bistro, the casual sister of Bo Shanghai that focuses on Cantonese street food with a modern twist. I thought the neon light billboards and loud music were a little over the top but the menu looked pretty solid (while the price line a little more down to earth).



I followed the hostess along through a secret door and after a dark and narrow passage, we finally arrived at the 26-seat Bo Shanghai.



The restaurant boasts a nice view of the bund although that's really not the focal point here.



This is the focal point and main attraction here, their 12-course "Deliver" menu drawing inspirations from the traditional cuisine of different regions of China. My server briefly explained how their chefs change up the menu from time to time, marrying their X-treme Chinese cuisine with other cuisine (French, Italian etc). Currently, they're doing a marriage of X-treme Chinese and French, which seems to be right up my alley.



They offered me a seat at the counter table which was exactly what I was hoping for. Working behind the counter was a team led by chef de cuisine Simon Wong who worked at Bo Innovation and MIC Kitchen before arriving in Shanghai.



Starting things off was a pair of small nibbles that included their smart take on Shanghai scallion oil noodle (上海葱油拌面) and.....



.....of course, Chef Alvin's patented "molecular" xiao long bao with spherified meat broth topped by a piece of vinegared ginger.



Dinner got off a flying start with Hunan, a dish inspired by a classic in the Hunan cuisine called double chili fish head (雙椒魚頭/剁椒魚頭). But instead of fish head, the chefs presented this dish with top-notch Japanese kampachi sashimi, nicely complemented by a bit of fermented chili, watercress, radish and coriander purée.



The second course was Fujian, a contemporary take on the province's famous oyster omelette (蚵仔煎/蠔餅).



Butter poached French oysters were neatly placed on top of a flaky filo pastry and paired with Yunnan caviar, lime with a dash of fish sauce and a pretty fulfilling duck egg Hollandaise sauce.



Next up was Guangdong. This dish featured spot prawn from Hokkaido, nicely topped with puff rice and XO sauce powder to create that special texture reminiscing of a woba (or rice crispies/鍋巴). I really like the way they have elevated the sweetness of the spot prawn with the clean flavors of the green peas, peas purée and tomato jelly.



Jiangsu, a dish labeled "Canard" (French for duck) without any sign of duck had me raising my eyebrows at first but turned out the braised duck confit was hidden inside a candied kumquat with chestnut to create an interesting mix of sweetness and acidity. There was a lot of contrasting flavors in there coming from the kumquat, duck confit, chestnut purée, mustard seed and mandarin peel snow, which was a stark contrast comparing to the previous dish (which was mostly clean and fresh).



The fifth course, Anhui was one of my favorite dishes on the night. This looked like a simple French dish with Brittany lobster and spinach at first glance but the chefs have added a local spin by enhancing the broth with a few drops of Gu Jing Gong baijiu (古井貢白酒) making it ever so flavorful. The broth was working wonders with the matsutake mushroom and capsella.



Another nice spin on this dish was the thin slice of Yunnan ham around the lobster. It has quietly taken the flavors of the lobster to another level.



At this point in time, I was offered three kinds of bread - a beetroot bread, an olive bread and the most interesting one of the trio, a green onion bread (上海葱油包), a clever take on the Shanghainese green onion pancake (上海葱油餅).



Sichuan was next. This was the second spicy dish of the night after Hunan. Pan seared foie gras was served with a flavorful (and spicy) confit duck gizzard, an inspiration from Fuqi feipian (夫妻肺片), which is one of the most iconic dishes in Szechuan cuisine. They had a lot of seasoning in this one including a fair bit of spiciness from the fresh Sichuan peppercorn as well as some earthy flavors from the dabs of lavender (purple) and herbal (green) sauce.



Zhejiang was my last starter before I head into the "main course" section of the menu. This is an inspiration from the Lion's head meatball (獅子頭) where the chefs stuffed minced Berkshire pork and water chestnut into a ball of cabbage before serving it with a sauce made with vin jaune and sea urchin.



Before my main dishes were served, I was offered a palate cleanser called Brulee. This had a scoop of olive sorbet, some green plums sprinkled on top and finished with a thin sheet of horseradish over them.



My palate was once again ready for more action after that pretty slick palate cleanser. My meat dish tonight was Anhui, a second dish going by that name on this night. This was a dish that centered around an Australian Shirokin fullblood wagyu (M9 grade). It was served with a few slices of black truffle atop, and a fake stinky tofu (made with French cheese), bamboo shoot and the wagyu's own jus on the side.



Shandong was my last savory dish and it was a dish inspired by Shandong's famous chicken dish (山東黃油雞飯). The risotto was cooked with chicken broth as done traditionally and it's noticeably a little more soupy than usual. The chefs put the finish touch on with some diced abalone, wood ear fungus, seaweed and baby onion.



A pre-dessert in between the last savory dish and dessert was an orange themed one, with mandarin sorbet, orange blossom panna cotta, blood orange purée, shaved orange peel and almond snow. There's a small pool of orange juice on the bottom to give it an extra kick of acidity.



Fin was the last course of the Discovery menu. It's billed as an opéra cake with valrhona 68% dark chocolate, espresso and hazelnut though it's not really your traditional French opéra cake.



A small petite four to wrap up this incredible meal.



I wanted to kick off this Shanghai trip with a bang and this was exactly that. Despite the fact that my wallet was a lot lighter upon my exit (2,000 RMB to be exact), it was well worth the heavy price tag. The execution on most of the dishes was perfecto (My favorites were the spot prawn with XO powdered puff rice, Brittany lobster with the Chinese white wine and the well-marbled wagyu.) and the twist with reference to different cuisines of China had added an interesting spin to the mix. I'm so glad I did it on the first night.




Food Rating: 8.1/10
Price: ¥¥¥¥¥ 
Address: 6/F, Bund No. 5, 20 Guangdong Lu near Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, Shanghai, China
广东路20号外滩5号6楼 (近中山东一路)
Closest Metro Station: Yuyuan Garden
Tel: +86 21 5383-3656



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