For a Japanese person living in New York City, there are quite a few restaurants that you can be proud of: Nobu, Masa, Kuruma Zushi, Sushi Yasuda, etc. There are also a handful of chefs that have achieved celebrity status, each with a clearly defined personal style. If you ever needed to entertain some guests, your selection are plentiful and classy.

You cannot say the same about Chinese. Despite being one of the most famous cuisines in the world, Chinese food in the United States simply doesn’t convey an upscale feeling. Try picking a restaurant to take your clients, and you’re stuck with a choice: good food in a remote dirty corner of Chinatown, or overpriced and pretentious food in the heart of business districts.

I’m Chinese myself, and that has always been the dilemma. Imagine Joe’s Shanghai soup dumplings served in a room like Asiate AND accepting credit card. Now wouldn’t that be a glorious combination? Sadly, they simply don’t exist. So here’s what I’m looking for, Celebrity Chef who conveys confidence, upscale dining environment, and delicious food.

Now over the years there have been attempts at upscale Chinese food, but honestly I have not been impressed by any of them. Here comes the 15 second review:

• Tao – Tacky night club atmosphere.
• Mr. Chow – Takeout quality at Nobu prices.
• Mr. K – Gimmicks galore, if chopsticks engraved with your name’s your thing……
• P.F Chang’s – I’m not even going to start….

One common factor in all of these restaurants? Unknown chefs. I once interviewed a kid who told me his dad was a chef at Tao. His dad’s previous job? Chinese takeout.

So what is wrong with all these Chinese restaurants? With 5000 years of history, why can’t there be an upscale Chinese restaurant everyone can be proud of? Ironically, in midst of a full on economic recession (when former bankers are eating Chinese takeout), we have a new upscale Chinese restaurant Shang. Here to change our perception of Chinese food, again. This time, however, we have a bona fide Celebrity Chef hailing from Hong Kong via Canada, who has been awarded Restaurant’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants for his efforts in Toronto, who has tied Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America. He’s even got a celebrity-sounding name, Susur Lee.

Celebrity Chef with plenty of street cred – Check!

Sounds promising, so last weekend I arrived at its doors armed with an open mind and a heavy camera.

Situated in the Thompson LES boutique hotel (I sense serious financial backers),the premise has a very minimalistic feel. Perhaps a bit too minimalistic. The walls are gray, the seats are black, and it’s dark. The music was a curious mix of Asian music, with an occasional country western tune that left me bewildered. If you’ve ever seen the PR photos of Shang, don’t be fooled by the fancy lighting and wide-angled lenses. It’s a pretty cozy restaurant. Waiters dressed in black, no bow-ties here.

Stylish Upscale Decor – Check.

The menu showcased ingredients and flavors that span the Asian region. Coconut milk, curry, Mongolian spices quickly attract my attention. Gasp, there’s even a Beijing salad. I’ve always viewed “Asian Salads” as an oxymoron. There were the more traditional dishes, dumpling appetizers, turnip cakes, stir-fried greens, sauteed beef, most with a small twist of “global fusion”.

If Morimoto is allowed to do a tuna pizza (which tastes epic), then I say Mr. Lee is allowed a cheeseburger spring roll.

We tried 3 appetizers. The Crispy Curry Beef Taro Puffs had an excellent grilled taro texture, that many DimSum lovers are familiar with. The curry flavored beef stuffing and the creamy sauce was a bit overpowering to start the meal. My sliced octopus was sliced then pressed into sheets, a very interesting but definitely not appetizing way to present an ingredient that is already horrific to many. The spicy salsa went very well with the dish, and was a refreshing change from the taro.

The final appetizer, one that I saw many table order, was a shrimp and lobster wrap with crusted almonds. This dish definitely had a South East Asia flair, and the taste did not disappoint.

While savoring on the appetizers, I noticed the familiar wok stir fry sound coming from the kitchen. It was just barely audible, and an interesting sound to hear. A plus in my book.

Then came the main courses. Mr. Lee definitely knew how to work with his proteins. The Mongolian lamb chops were so incredibly tender, and the peanut infused Mongolian spices gave the meat a great kick. Dip a bit of the green minty sauce, and it was a completely different flavor.

My fish course was amazingly tender and juicy. The Scottish Salmon was seared on the outside to perfection, and the fatty flavors were absolutely delightful. I also loved the wasabi mashed potatoes, who doesn’t love green mashed potatoes?

At this point we were stuffed, and the waiter came by with the dessert menu. He tried really hard to get us to order a row of tiny steamed dimsum desserts. We declined. As much as I would have loved to photograph such a creation, we were stuffed.

Good food – Check!

So is Shang a good restaurant? Definitely. It’s got all the qualities that I was looking for, and all at a moderate price (about $45 a person). I suppose if you call Morimoto Japanese, then you can call Shang Chinese. I wouldn’t call it the best Chinese restaurant in the city, they still have Joe’s Shanghai and Spicy and Tasty (Flushing) to contend with. However, I’ll call it the best restaurant in New York headed by a Chinese person.

CS

Rating:  

Shang (Make a Reservation)
187 Orchard St. (LES)
Phone: (212) 260 7900

July 21st, 2009 | Tags: 3 Apples, Celebrity Chef, Chinese, Lower East Side, Shang, Thompson Hotel | Category: Chinese | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL