This is quite a special hotel in its own rights. Right in the heart of the former French concession with a villa-only setup. Talk about privacy, you will definitely find it right here at Capella.
Le Comptoir de Pierre Gagnaire including a restaurant, bar and bakery is located in a separate building from the hotel. Both have been renovated from historical Shikumen structures.
I was quite tempted to enjoy a few drinks at the bar before dinner but it was getting a little late.
Pierre Gagnaire fans who expect this to be a fine dining experience will be disappointed. As the name "Le Comptoir" already suggests, it's more of a modern French bistro with a relaxing mood.
The 5-course tasting menu (1088 RMB) looks like the perfect way to experience Pierre Gagnaire's modern French cuisine but it's a shame that I had a little too much to eat since I arrived in Shanghai. So, I decided to explore the a la carte menu instead.
The bread was excellent (Given the nice Le Boulangerie et Patisserie downstairs, I'm not a bit surprised) and so was the seaweed butter. Lovely start.
Pan fried Gambero rosso prawns, sweet potato purée and pear (280 RMB) - The red prawns were cooked just right. Perfect bouncy texture with lovely flavors coming from the amontillado and black pimento jam. The sweet potato, celery and pear did well to offset the richness of the marinated prawns.
Snails with black olives, spinach purée, crispy quinoa wafer (128 RMB) - Interesting idea serving snails with black olives. Even more interesting (more like bizarre) was the pool of spinach purée on the bottom, bringing out the "earthy" flavors of the snails even more.
I did enjoy this dish a lot but I don't think it's for everybody (Most people might prefer garlic butter instead of the spinach and black olives).
Fricassée of farmed poultry Arbre Sec corn, celery, barley shaped pasta (208 RMB) - I had Robuchon's chicken fricassée on a number of occasions already and was curious how chef Gagnaire interprets this dish with his cooking style.
It was indeed pretty delicious. The chicken had very nice texture with irresistibly rich flavor so I thought for sure it was French chicken but to my pleasant surprise, I was told it's local corn-fed free range chicken! The only blemish was the fact that a few pieces on the bottom were a little under-cooked.
It was served with a small bowl of barley shaped pasta, green beans, celery and broccoli on the side.
I didn't have room for dessert so I ended the night early.
Getting my reservation done wasn't easy at all as the restaurant did not offer online booking and my email to the hotel never got replied. At the end, I had to ask my hotel concierge to do it (which was another painful experience, more on that later). But all in all, I was glad I went through all those trouble and finally secured a table before leaving Shanghai the next afternoon. It's a shame I didn't get to check out their dessert menu (which I have heard a lot of good things about) but I will jot it down and make sure I come back on my next visit to Shanghai.
Food Rating: 6.7/10
Price: ¥¥¥¥
Address: 2/F Capella Hotel Shanghai, 480 West Jina Guo Road, Shanghai, China
建國西路480號嘉佩樂酒店2樓
Closest Metro Station: N/A
Tel: +86 21 5466-9928
Le Comptoir de Pierre Gagnaire Top French casual fine-dining restaurant Shanghai Capella Jian Ye Li French concession
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