crispy pi pa duck served on thousand-layer bread/pancake
This restaurant opened just down the street from where I live about 6 months ago and somehow I never made my way even though I had heard pretty good things about it. Finally went today with 2 friends (one who's been before so he had a pretty good idea of what to order) and have to say - it's pretty good!
Shanghai Blues has drawn a lot of comparisons with hakkasan, and not just because the interior is fairly similar - dark walls, dark wood in a plush china club (hk)-style - but also because there are significant similarities in the menus.
Like hakkasan, Shanghai Blues serves dim sum as well as Chinese cuisine that is different from the standard fare in Chinatown. Besides focusing on perfecting some usual dishes (like the pi pa duck above and shanghainese soup dumplings (xiaolongbao)), the restaurant also has an interesting repertoire of nouvelle Chinese dishes, such as an excellent Fish wrapped in radish pastry (the pastry is similar to that in yam puffs), lo hon zai (vegetarian) cheung fun and green tea pudding (which was actually a Japanese matcha-flavoured pannacotta of sorts).
There's a lot of variety at Shanghai Blues, with something to please everyone, whether you're trying out Chinese as a foreign admirer or whether you're Chinese (like myself) - especially since the menu also has quite a few dishes with very traditionally prestigious (and weirder) ingredients like abalone, shark's fin and the like.
Pricing is slightly cheaper than hakkasan for yum cha (dim sum) but there quite a few special expensive items like the snow crab (which I've been told by friends is ridiculously overpriced at £30+ for a small portion) so care does need to be taken when ordering. Quality was also good on my visit. Since I had friends who had told me what to order beforehand, I thought the food was pretty delicious, and didn't have to deal with any of the misses they apparently had to before. Service is good, and the ambience is quite relaxing and a little less of an IT or "to be seen at" place like hakkasan.
My lunch came up to £60 for 3 persons (including tea and service) - and while not as cheap as my usual yum cha sessions in Chinatown (around £10-12 pp) or in Royal China (around £15 pp), which all serve pretty good even if not particularly inspiring dim sum, nor was I knocked off my chair - I think it's definitely good enough to give hakkasan a run for it's money.
Other notes: Just like hakkasan, you can have whatever's on the dinner menu during lunch time as well but not vice versa. However, almost all my friends who have been here agree that this place is much better for dim sum/yum cha than for dinner, and that hakkasan is definitely better for dinner. I might just try Shanghai Blues again for dinner just to find out!
__________________
Shanghai Blues
193-197 High Holborn
London WC1V 7BD
+44 (0)20 7404 1668
__________________
