New Menus: Epices & Fois Gras, Salotto G, XO and More!

After being around for a while in Shanghai you may occasionally get the feeling that you’ve tried most of the best dishes the city can offer. Luckily for us food lovers this is never the case, there are always new seasons that bring us new menus with delicious new dishes. For you dear reader, we have tried them all and selected some of our favorites.

EPICES ET FOIE GRAS

Address: 309 Hankou Lu, near Shandong Zhong Lu

Phone: [phone]

Epice et Foie Gras has some good news from their side. It is a smorgasbord of must-try dishes, all based on the research of the right balance between generosity and lightness, smooth and crisp. They completely redid their lunch set, only the quality remains. 

For the starter they propose an aerial Halibut fish mousse, mixing the fish with smooth potatoes. It comes accompanied with sweet melon and dragon fruit. Higher garlic notes at the end with squid ink sauce.  

Talking about the mains, this new dish is a Grilled Scorpion fish on a bed of tender Madagascar pink rice, with a delightful vanilla sauce enhanced by some anis notes. The comfit onion on the top and the simply baked tomato give to the dish sweet and juicy flavors. 

The a la carte menu has also few changes and these are splendid. Indulge yourself with the Terrine of foie gras marbled with pigeons and truffle for RMB 168. A dish which honors the name of the establishment. Another mouth-watering dish, maybe in the best we tried this month, the roasted lamb rack with crispy Iranian pistachio and a slowly garlic infused cream sauce (RMB 190).   

The tenderness and the melting  of the meat is balanced nicely with the crunch of the pistachio and nutty notes. 

The last main is a real gem: the Argentina’s prawns and scallop pan seared (for RMB 190). The seafood is quickly paned with butter, whereas the rice is slowly cooked with a soft and light lemon butter emulsion.  Garlic, disc of sugar beet and lymph egg are delicately added on the top.  A nutritious dish with iodize and zesty notes. 

For those you want to finish their meal on a sweet touch, two desserts can surely help you with that: The Chocolate medium cooked cake and vanilla ice cream, and the Lime and basil tart with light meringue and white chocolate, both at RMB 58. 

SALOTTO G

Address: 1019 Wuding Lu, near Jiaozhou Lu

Hours: Daily, 11am to 10pm

Tel: [phone]

Salotto G has also a new impressive hairy crab menu for RMB 688 per person with Wine Pairing or RMB 488/per person with Homemade Ginger Drinks. We all know that in Shanghai many places offer a menu with better photos of food than the food itself. Not in Salotto G, the Italian maestro behind the kitchen makes sure of that. 

Salotto G  wisps you through a complete epicurean journey. Every dish, even the dessert, contains hairy crab and is perfectly executed with undeniable know-how. 

The menu starts with light Saffron Risotto Chips and Crab Sal. Then comes some Peperoncini ripieni with adorable tomatos filled Wild Brown Crab, Sweet Chili Pepper and Mozzarella on a Basil pesto bed. Next up is the refreshing Hairy crab cream from the Yangcheng Lake. The crab is grated with puree potato and cream, then chopped with vinegar bubble, dill and crab eggs. This puree is paired with parsley chlorophyll Mayonnaise.

The real action starts with the La Vedova. Black inked Tagliolini in a homardine sauce with Zucchini pearls, covered with grated Hairy Crab. Crunchy iced Celery balances the dish with a fresher note.  

The master piece of this menu is no doubt the Crab Rossini. Unforgettable laminated assembly. First layers are candied Onions marinated with Curry, then Snow Crab with rosemary, heavenly Foie Gras, topped with a generous portion of Italian fresh Black Truffle slice. This tower of savor stands in the middle of Ginger oil and Coconut milk lake. 

Dolce time at the end with creamy and delicate Homemade Crab Ice cream, Dark Chocolate mousse piled with a crunchy cookie in the middle. On the top of it zesty Organic Crystallized ginger. 

As this menu is available until the 11th of November, the season of hairy crab, we recommend you to rush for booking a table. If you don t have the time to drop off before the end, at least try their lunch set. Once again Salotto G proves it’s an indispensible part of Shanghai’s gastronomic gathering.

FUNKADELI

Address: 291 Fumin Lu, Wujin Century Building, near Changle Lu

Phone: [phone]

This month Funkadeli opened their new venue on Fumin Lu. As the place is way bigger than the first one, they chose to offer more dishes. Still Italian cuisine with funky touches! So what is new from their side? 

First they offer more salads than before, and they are gorgeous. The one that rises well above  Shanghai’s standard is the Gorrillabar (RMB 65).  Bulgur and quinoa base tossed with basil-pine nut pesto, beets, sweet potatoes, cherry tomatoes comfit, chickpeas, slivered almonds. As its name suggests, it is a generous portion of healthy ingredients, some are smooth, others are crunchy. It’s easy to digest and full of nutriments, all at a reasonable price. If you were looking for your next delicious bowl of salad, here it is. 

Soups are known for being a perfect way to fill your stomach with an agreeable warmth to combat the autumn chill. Funkadeli’s do the job as well as any, RMB 45 for the huge bowl (on the right) or RMB 25 for the tiny version (on the left). The Green Pea is nourishing and a good health boost. Inside as well you can find quinoa, pecorino and Romano cheese. The Red Gazpacho is refreshing with raw tomatoes, bell pepper, onion and cucumber juice. Here is the perfect balance between the greeneries and the Tabasco. 

Others new dishes are also available. You can taste real pesto pastas with homemade basil pesto and cheery tomatoes confit for RMB 50. Fine cicchetis from RMB 20 a piece and lower price if you get several.   Three kinds of Crostini are available with goat cheese, salmon and  smoked ham. However you should definitely try the Tigelle. It’s homemade and bread-filled with salami, mozzarella or pesto. Tigelle bread is surnamed the Flat Bread from the Mountains and is the quintessential food of Modena, a symbol of pride.

XO

Address: 237 Hengshan Lu, 1/F, near Yongjia Lu

Hours: Daily, 6pm to midnight

Let us introduce you about this delicate gem we found in XO bar. You already know about their wine delivery company: great wine at home within 60 minutes or less. Perfect. However, three months ago they launched their wine bar on Hengshan Lu. They’ve got very reasonable prices for fresh, savory food. No new menu there but plenty new dishes that we warmly recommend you. 

One dish that particularly attracted our attention is the Caprese di Salmone (RMB 98). You know about the tomato/mozzarella Italian  classic. This dish is mostly the same but better, because instead of slices of tomato they put salmon sashimi. Smart isn’t it? The result is light on the palate from the saline fish and the creamy mozzarella. Then some Zesty high notes from the Ikura (Salmon Roe) and lemon olive oil poured on top. We can’t think of a better way to start a dinner.

Oh by the way, they have awesome pizza. There’s a pizza of the day special, ingredients may change however the base remains the same. Their dough is crusty and baked to perfection. No frozen ingredients here, and you can taste the difference. What really sets these pies apart is their homemade tomato sauce. It’s superbly authentic and in balance with the other ingredients. Finding a good tomato sauce in shanghai is challenging and here is one of the best we’ve tried.  Furthermore they chop a generous portion of mozzarella on the top. For RMB 60 it s a great, great deal. 

Related Articles