Grand Shanghai Restaurant Reopens in Singapore [Food Review]

After two decades of bringing authentic Shanghainese cuisine to Singapore, the refurbished Grand Shanghai restaurant made its highly anticipated return with a fresh look and unique dining concept paying homage to the ‘Old Shanghai’ of the 1930s, a golden age when Shanghai was known as “The Paris of the East”.

A Feast For The Senses

Promising a feast for the senses, the new restaurant space is set against a backdrop of Old Shanghai – featuring a combination of both iconic art-deco motifs and traditional oriental designs.

Said Andy Wong, Vice President, Food and Beverage, Asia, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, “After 20 years of success, we wanted to rebrand Grand Shanghai with a contemporary look and feel whilst maintaining its original Shanghainese authenticity and heritage.”

Decadent Delights By Master Chef Jacky Tang

Diners can expect to be immersed in a vibrant atmosphere of enchanting live entertainment and an extensive menu of decadent delicacies by the restaurant’s new Master Chef Jacky Tang, that are rooted in Shanghainese cuisine and adapted for Singaporean palettes.

Said Wong, “The refresh of our menu, interiors and dining experience is a seamless blend of traditional Chinese tastes with modern influences, celebrating a period in history where Shanghai was Asia;’s thriving hub of art, design and entertainment.”

Chef Tang brings with him, 28 years of experience working in award-winning restaurants and hotels across Singapore and China and is known for his distinct talent of using innovative new techniques to tease out authentic Shanghainese flavours.

Explained Chef Tang, “The conceptualisation of these dishes was as much as about staying true to Shanghainese cuisine as it was about bringing a superior dining experience to the table.”

He continued, “By using premium ingredients from around the world and employing contemporary techniques, these traditional recipes have been updated and elevated to reflect the extravagance of Grand Shanghai.”

Invited To Official Reopening Event

I had been invited to attend Grand Shanghai’s official reopening celebration last Saturday.

The event had kicked off with a lion dance outside the restaurant and a ribbon-cutting ceremony, with the lion then subsequently leading invited guests into the restaurant.

Decor And Ambience Was Lovely

Stepping into the refurbished 200-seater Grand Shanghai restaurant for the first time, I thought that the decor and ambience had captured the 1930s glamour of Shanghai.

Adorning the mirrored ceilings are crystal chandeliers, which added a soft glow and warmth to the eatery and were also the first thing that had caught my attention. And at the same time, Chinoiserie-inspired vases added colour and vibrancy to the dining area.

A Banquet Style Lunch

We then headed to our respective tables, where we were treated to a delicious banquet-style lunch comprising of several of the restaurant’s new dishes.

Starters

Chilled Lettuce With Spring Onion

Our first dish at the banquet had been the Combination of Shanghainese Six Delicacies, comprising of a “Light & Shadow” Crispy Duck, Drunken Chicken with Chinese Wine, Chinese Yam Osmanthus served with Fermented Chinese Rice Wine, Vegetarian Mushroom, Chilled Lettuce With Spring Onion, and a Vegetarian Beancurd Skin with Mushrooms and Carrots.

Light and Shadow” Crispy Duck

Out of these, the “Light and Shadow” Crispy Duck had been the most intriguing item.

This item is a twist on the more traditional beef version and features paper-thin slices of duck that shatter into delightfully flavourful shards, with a hint of wasabi, deftly placed on an intricate Osmanthus syrup sculpture for a sweet finish.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect out of this when it had arrived, but when I tried some, the first thing that hit me was the crunchiness. In fact, it was so crispy that I had to use the molars at the back of my mouth to bite into the duck – otherwise I thought that might break my teeth!

That aside, the flavour of the Osmanthus syrup had featured quite strongly in the dish, making the dish rather sweet as a result. There was also a faint hint of the duck taste, but this did not come out very much.

Vegetarian Beancurd Skin with Mushrooms and Carrots

I rather enjoyed the Vegetarian Beancurd Skin with Mushrooms and Carrots, though.

The diced mushrooms were juicy and fragrant, blending in well with the soft carrots and combining nicely together with the drier texture of the beancurd skin.

Vegetarian Mushroom

The Vegetarian Mushroom was also yummy. It was battered and fried till crispy. While I admit that I could not pick up a mushroom taste in this dish, I thought that this was fragrant and I enjoyed biting into the crunchy exterior with the warm, soft centre.

Drunken Chicken

Grand Shanghai’s Drunken Chicken was also good. The chicken was succulent, soft and juicy, and with the Chinese Wine flavour coming out quite strongly in the dish.

Chinese Yam Osmanthus

For the Chinese Yam Osmanthus, this dish was pretty unusual because it didn’t actually taste like yam. Instead, the taste had reminded me more of Chinese turnips. And as for the texture, it was soft yet firm enough to offer some bite.

Mains

Signature Shanghainese Seafood Dumpling in Soup

Our second dish was a Signature Shanghainese Seafood Dumpling in Soup. The dumplings comprised of a mixture of Bamboo Shoot and Salted Pork, and I thought that this combination tasted delicious and flavourful, with quite a fair bit of a salty note in the soup.

My only gripe was that the dumpling skin was rather brittle and broke up very easily, so I found that I had to scoop out bits of dumpling from my bowl.

Steamed Silver Cod

We then got a piece of Steamed Silver Cod, which was served with Egg White & Carrot Puree. The fish was really soft and yummy, cooked to perfection, and the flavours all combined really nicely together, when eaten together with a scoop of the puree. It was a simple dish, but worked well.

Grand Shanghai Smoked Duck

Next up was a Grand Shanghai Smoked Duck which was served with steamed buns. I put the duck meat into the bun to eat, with this combination reminding me of the more common pork belly bao that I generally see at other eateries.

The duck meat was soft and there was some duck flavour, but the smokiness did not come out much. When eaten together with the bun, the combination of dry bun and the tender duck meat was good.

Mapo Tofu

Our next dish was Mapo Tofu, which is beancurd and braised sea cucumber served with mince pork and chilli. Grand Shanghai’s version is deliciously tasty and packed with flavour.

As tofu generally does not have a lot of flavour on its own, the taste that I had picked up from this dish had been mainly due to the seasoning used, in addition to salt and soya sauce.

But I have to say that is not as spicy as some other versions of this dish, probably because Singaporeans can’t take as much spice as Sichuan natives, which is where Mapo Tofu originates from.

‘Yuan Yang’ Shanghainese Pork Dumpling

I had been looking particularly forward to the next dish, the ‘Yuan Yang’ Shanghainese Pork Dumpling, also known as Xiao Long Bao, because this is one of my favourite Chinese foods and I am always on the hunt for a well-made version.

We had two types of Xiao Long Bao, the standard version using pork broth as well as a crab one, containing fresh crab meat and crab roe.

I tried the pork version first. Biting into one, the broth immediately oozed out of the bao and straight into my mouth. There is a very generous amount of broth inside their Xiao Long Baos, but I feel that the amount of pork used, had been a bit lacking. The skin was also a tad on the thick side, but at least the dumpling had been nice and warm when it was served.

For the crab version, the skin, broth and meat filling is similar to the pork Xiao Long Bao, but when I bit into one, the crab flavour hit me immediately, but I think that was due to the crab roe, rather than the crab meat.

Personally, I still prefer the pork ones myself, but you are a seafood lover, then I would say that you would enjoy eating these.

Dessert

The dessert provided, was Chilled Hashima with Red Dates & Lotus Seeds, as well as Osmathus Pudding with WolfBerries. I didn’t manage to try this, though, because I had another commitment later on that day – and the Grand Shanghai lunch had already over-run by about an hour and a half.

Stage Area And Musical Performance

Throughout the lunch, there had been musical performances taking place at the main stage area, which aimed to bring guests back in time, to the Old Shanghai of the 1930s.

The stage area, which was one of the main focal points of the restaurant, was adorned against a backdrop of the iconic Bund in Shanghai and decked out with 1930s memorabilia such as a vintage gramophone, standing microphone and grand piano.

Together with the Shanghainese food, I thought that it had provided the perfect setting, for an afternoon of 1930s Shanghainese revelry.

Grand Shanghai is located at 390 Havelock Rd, Level 1 King’s Centre.

Their opening hours are:

Tuesday to Friday – 11.30am to 2.30pm for lunch and 6.00pm to 10.00pm for dinner
Saturday & Sunday – 11.00am to 2.30pm for lunch and 6.00pm to 10.00pm for dinner
The restaurant closes on Mondays