3 New Restaurants: Sage, Alors, Black Salt

Sage is at the top of my list for best new openings of the year—you should be eating here. Neo-Chinese wine bistro Alors opens in Tianzifang, and Black Salt for Indian in K11. 

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New & Hot

Sage

📍  1407 Nan Suzhou Lu 南苏州路1407号
📞 18917043962
💬 WeChat: sage_gastro
🕒  Tue-Sat, 6pm-midnight; closed Mon & Sun

Singaporean chef Jun Nishiyama, previously senior sous chef at Ultraviolet, has joined up with Alan Grillo (Cometa) to open Sage, his first independent project in Shanghai.

Sage dishes up borderless cuisine in the style of casual fine dining; it’s wholly casual and fine dining aspects are only found in the food and technique. It’s the most interesting and exciting new restaurant I’ve seen this year; brazen flavors with eyebrow-raising accents, and memorable one-two punches is what you’ll find at Sage. 

Located along Suzhou Creek right next to Cometa, Sage is a small space with about 22 seats, a galley dining room and a large table facing the open kitchen. It’s intimate, unstuffy, and comfortable. 

There’s a tiny wine room, too.

The food at Sage isn’t limited to one cuisine; influences span the globe and are married with techniques usually found in fine dining kitchens. The result is one that’s unique and creative, yet playful and easy to enjoy. 

Kingfish Crudo (¥138) – Cubed kingfish in a zingy tomato and pineapple water with pickled pineapple and horseradish. Ultra-fresh velvety fish in a bright marinade.  

Tomatoes & Gooseberries (¥78) – A medley of sweet tomatoes, cured and fresh, in a refreshing gooseberry dressing with walnuts and walnut oil. Layers of acidity, tartness, and fragrance that opens up the appetite.

Grilled Duck Hearts (¥58) – Duck hearts kissed with char, dusted with burnt lemon powder and served with spicy homemade mustard. 

Thrice Fried Chicken (¥88) with tamarind kosho glaze and house pickles. The most perfect piece of fried chicken ever with crispy brittle skin coated in a sweet and tangy glaze. Biting into this is like a cross between Peking duck skin and chicharron but airier, which gives way to tender and juicy dark meat. 

Highly recommend to NOT share this unless you must.

Charred Hispi Cabbage (¥98) – Cabbage in a buttery fermented mushroom cream with parsley and roasted buckwheat. Simple in form but delicious. 

Soft Shell Crab (¥168) – Drawing on his Singaporean roots, Jun serves up his version of chili crab. Big flavors of fruitiness and tartness from the passionfruit dressing and spicy accents from the marinated green papaya. A very special dish. 

Cauliflower Mushroom (¥108) – Cauliflower mushroom, a type of meaty, spongy mushroom, cooked in the style of a carbonara. Tossed with pancetta lardons, dusted with cured egg yolk, and served with walnuts. 

Crunchy mushroom in a creamy sauce with salty bacon. Yum!

Duck Breast (¥158) – Five-day dry-aged duck breast seared to a rosy finish served with grilled Brussels sprouts and shallots, topped with duck jus. You can really taste that dry-aged funkiness of the duck, a fantastically intense flavor that goes long.  

Lamb Rump (¥188) – High quality Te Mana lamb served with grilled zucchini and lashings of velvety lamb jus. Tender lamb and a jus that makes you want to lick the plate clean. 

Parisienne Gnocchi (¥128) – The humble gnocchi is elevated with braised pork shoulder, a crown of grilled Swiss chard, hazelnuts, and chili oil. An absolute comfort. A hint of spice and flavors that grow with each bite.

P125 Chocolate (¥98) – A very dark chocolate dessert contrasted with crunchy beetroot leaves and raspberry granite. My favorite dessert of the three. 

Macadamia (¥98) – House-made macadamia milk ice cream with brown butter biscuits and sweet and mellow pickled apricot jam. 

Burnt Cream (¥98) – Cream scorched over charcoal, served with vinegar berry coulis and kelp oil. A divisive dish permeated with smokiness; one that’s love or hate. 

All three desserts → →

For drinks, wines by the glass start from ¥88, simple house cocktails from ¥88, Peroni beer ¥38.  

Sage is exciting. Flavors are big! No hiding that. Diners looking for a meal that’s experiential will likely find plenty of conversation starters here. While it is a dining experience that’s great for discovery, it is also very approachable in form—I believe anyone would find it enjoyable. Very looking forward to more development at Sage. 

Currently a la carte. Later, Sage aims to switch to a set menu with supplemental dishes. 

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Neo Chinese Bistro

Alors

📍  No. 1-1, Bldg 3, Tianzifang, 200 Taikang Lu 泰康路200弄3号楼120号-1-1室
📞 18810171238
🕒  Tue-Sun, 5:30pm-midnight; closed Monday

Alors is a contemporary Chinese restaurant and wine bar located in Tianzifang, serving up modern Chinese plates with French wines. 

The casual wine bistro is located within Tianzifang, a tourist trap that’s hoping for a revival. It’s not a destination us residents tend to venture into, but Alors is worth a casual evening. It’s a simple corner space; a dining room for 30 with a large communal table facing the open kitchen and a few al fresco tables. It’s also dog-friendly indoors. The vibe is chill. 

The food is enjoyable, not overly fusion, and has quite a few impressive moments. First impressions are that the menu is still in its early stages of development, and some tweaks are in order. However, some dishes like the roasted pigeon and Xinjiang gnocchi are remarkable, complete, and worth every bite.

Hummus (¥58) with fried kale and cubed Sichuan sausage, served with taro crisps. Well-spiced hummus, fragrant with Sichuan pepper and chilies. 

Fig Salad (¥58) with sesame oil vinegar and moringa sprouts, which is an uncommon choice for a salad. Moringa sprouts are spinachy, peanuty, and herbal; an excellent vegetable. The salad could have used more than just a couple tiny cubes of goat cheese, though. 

Squid (¥78) – Perfectly cooked squid that's lightly charred and well-salted, served over a fermented green pepper and century egg sauce. Complex funky aromas with zing and spice. Not sure what the jellies were, as the sauce overpowered whatever flavors those cubed pieces held. Otherwise delicious. 

Duck Confit Spring Rolls (¥68/two) – I believe that if you’re going to do sticker shock spring rolls, it better be a darn good spring roll. This tasted just FINE—flavorful with reduced citrus sauce—but certainly disappointing for ¥34 per whole spring roll. 

Spicy Fried Chicken (¥68) with spicy mayo. Hard to fault! Great snack with wine. 

Roasted Pigeon (¥108) – Deliciously tender pigeon with a luscious beef glaze topped mustard seeds. Absolutely fantastic and a must-order. 

Xinjiang Gnocchi (¥68) – A twist on the Xinjiang dish Ge Da Mian (疙瘩面). Chewy tubes cooked to a firm finish like you would pasta, drenched in a creamy potato sauce, topped with spicy fermented bean paste and charred maitake mushrooms. Another must-order dish. 

Grilled Mackerel (¥78/three) – Grilled mackerel atop tomato toast with sweet-sour wampee jam. 

Black Sesame Ice Cream (¥58) with fresh strawberries, mascarpone cream, pistacchios, and parmesan crisp. 

Good for date night or casual evening meal for those living in the area. An especially convenient option for dinner when you’re bringing visitors through to Tianzifang. 

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Indian

Black Salt

📍  4/F, K11, 300 Huaihai Zhong Lu 淮海中路300号K11购物艺术中心4楼403B
📞 13571690629
🕒  Daily, 11am-9:30pm

Located in K11 is Black Salt, a casual Indian restaurant by the group behind Lotus Land and Currify. 

The space is simple enough; open plan that’s accommodating for groups. It’s casual mall dining. However, the dining experience isn’t great due to the lack of air circulation and air-conditioning. Late summertime proved quite stuffy, and hopefully mall management can fix that stat. Note: there is a lunchtime rush.

Food-wise, it’s slightly different and more upmarket than the dishes available at the other affiliate restaurants. A couple dishes like the curries do seem familiar, and there are a few fusion dishes. 

Pork Ribs (¥138) – Fleshy ribs coated in an assortment of fragrant spices, served with a tart sauce. 

Fried Chicken Wings with Curry Sauce (¥68/two) – Pretty darned good fried chicken. 

Chicken Tikka (¥58) – Large juicy chunks of chicken marinated in tikka spices. 

Indian Fried Onion (¥39) – Crispy bhaji, wafers of thinly sliced and onion, fried in a spiced batter. 

Butter Chicken (¥75) – Similar to that of Currify. 

Puff Pastry Chicken Biryani (¥50) – Too much cardamom for my liking in this biryani; a rice dish that does well with just about anything. 

Chili Chicken Samosa (¥42) – Savory spicy samosas; great consistency in the buttery, flaky pastry and balance of filling. 

Masala Lamb Chops (¥98) – Toasted spices with a smoky finish.

Think of it as an upmarket Currify. It’s affordably priced and food is overall tasty. Extra points for the variety of sauces that comes served with different dishes.
 

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