Bloc

I went for another restaurant during restaurant week, this time it was recommended on a magazine and it was new in the dining scene so I wanted to see if BLOC was an underdog.

First up was the usual: Bread with garlic butter
It was okay, not as freshly baked but the garlic butter was worth highlighting which complemented very well with the bread. The bread were in small sizes so that you won't be full from too much bread.

Fresh fruit salad with goat cheese
A refreshing start to the meal, I love the fresh salad that has blueberries and raspberries, rockets etc. The berries added crunchiness and a little sweet touch to the salad. I'm not sure for others, but the fried goat cheese was too overwhelming for me. The smell overpowered the rest of the fruits and vegetables. Or maybe I'm just not used to goat cheese

Salmon loaf
At first I thought it would come as a piece of salmon fillet but it was like a bread with salmon bits. For many years, my mum used to cook for lunch and put the food into the fridge so that I can heat it up in the microwave for dinner. I know how microwaved food taste like. Enuff said. The loaf was rather disappointing, not only it is microwaved but it was too much for one to eat. The mashed potato was okay, nothing bad about it but sun-dried tomatos is a refreshing touch to the loaf, which has too much flour.

Only for restaurant week, they were giving patrons a free shot of honey infused vodka from a nitros can

It was unexpected because it is in a form of foam and served fresh on your table.
I love it because of its acquired taste of honey and ginger and mixed very well with vodka.
One shot is definitely not enough.

Molten chilli chocolate cake with ice cream
I didn't taste any chilli though. The cake was average, perhaps overbaked because my cake was burnt on the bottom and the chocolate lava didn't flow out when i half-ed it. I am an ice-cream person, and I hate ice cream with shards of ice in them, it only means that they did not prepare the ice cream fresh but they scooped the ice cream into the cup and put it in the freezer.

For 168, the meal was worth it but I won't go for its regular menu. The best part of the meal was probably the shot of honey vodka. The service was very good, waiters could converse very well in English and very friendly with introduction of the food and checking with you occasionally.

Nougatine by Jean Georges

It was restaurant week in August!!

Just a brief introduction, Restaurant Week is a cool concept of introducing up class restaurants with an affordable menu, compared to their regular menu.
Initially we wanted to go for Jean Georges but it was fully booked a few days after reservations open.
One fine day I decided to revisit the reservation website again and found a few slots opened up so we were up for a Tuesday dinner.

Nougatine was at 3 on the Bund, opposite M on the bund. A restaurant with dim light, even at the restrooms, the atmosphere were nice and cosy.

We were sitted by the side of the restaurant with a view of M on the bund,not facing the river.
 The waiters carefully placed our fork and knife on our tables with a slab of butter. We were wondering what the butter was for without bread.

Our appetisers came first, Foie Gras Brûlé, Cherry-Yuzu Compote and Crispy Crab Beignets, Black Pepper Sauce and Pear Salad.

Foie Gras was quite good, melts in your month and I particularly love the Cherry-Yuzu compote which is full of flavours and the cherry tasted of a few months of soaking in Yuzu juice. The cripsy crab beignets were too small and forgetable.

The waiter then carried a basket of bread for us to choose from so we took sour dough and rasin and walnut bread. I love the way its bite-size, just enough for one person as compared to a whole bread (Mr. and Mrs. Bund). Both were absolutely delicious. When my friend tore the Sour Dough into half, the cracking of the shell of the bread so perfectly reflected the crispy outside and soft chewy inside of the bread with a hint of warm moisture in the air. Listening to that sound can make me so satisfied. I took a bit of butter with my warm raisin walnut bread. The raisins were not from those sunrise packet of raisin but it was so full and juicy. The lightly toasted walnut complemented the raisins with a crunchy bite. It was probably the best raisin walnut bread I've ever had.

The sour dough didn't fall behind too, paired with butter - sweet, salty, sour all in one bread.
Eating bread was good enough for this meal. But it wasn't the end!

Carmelised Onion soup was next. Dipped with melted cheese breadstick, it was just alright, not as good as we've expected it to be.

The patron at table right beside us had a cod fish. Being a lover of fish and not having good ocean fish for a while, I quickly changed my main to cod fish. Another added point for the restaurant for being able to adapt to my order change promptly.

Grilled Beef Striploin, 11 Flavor Condiment, Potato Purée and Herbal Spinach

The beef was medium cooked, a little bit overcooked for a few seconds (a little difference in texture for beef) I've had china beef for a while so I was so relieved having good quality imported grass-fed beef. The flavour of the steak proved to be grass-fed, but I can't tell which part of the cow it was. The best steak I had was Morton's in San Francisco, nothing could beat that but this was very close. The steak was seated in a bed of spinach and mashed potato by the side.

Slowly Cooked Cod with Aromatic Black Beans and Truffle Juice

The cod fish was well cooked, soft tender, just the right texture for the fish. Fish is one of the more difficult things to cook because of its exact timing - too short, raw; too long, too hard. The essence is beneath the fish, a sea of black beans with truffle juice. Like lemon to oysters, it perfectly complimented the cod fish. I particularly liked the bits of avocado.

Desserts were the famous Jean Georges Molten Cake with vanilla ice cream, which was kind of average. The best was, again, at Morton's, the heavenly molten chocolate cake which was the unbeatable best dessert I've ever had.

The waiter offered us coffee or tea after the meal but we were too full to take in anything. My friend asked for the regular menu and it was at least 800rmb so it was a real steal in restaurant week!

The service is excellent, the waiters were very attentive and professional. Water was filled regularly and our glasses were never empty. When a waitress broke a wine glass near our table, they offered to change our plates and water because there might be bits of broken glass. They even managed to change my main course one course before it was served.

I've planned to go for one more before the week ends!

Mr and Mrs Bund

Somebody came to visit me in Shanghai and I wanted to bring him to one of the best and famous restaurants in Shanghai: Mr and Mrs Bund. I had always wanted to eat there so this gives me the perfect opportunity!

Some reviews online said that reservations for dinner were extremely difficult, sometimes 2 months full so I decided to have lunch and managed to make a reservation a week before.

The place was well decorated and we were seated just beside the window by the river. The view of Pudong would be spectacular if not for the rain.

The bread is good, but too large for a person's portion. A good suggestion would be to cut into a smaller size so we could eat easily and try more bread.

Foie Gras Light Crumble was quite good with the lightly toasted bread. Smooth on the tongue with a little bit of spices and crunchiness

The steak came in a clean white plate, no blood and I thought it was just average. Nothing to pick about, its just a normal ribeye.

Black Cod in Bag

It is cod fish boiled in a bag of herbs and beans. The piece of fillet was in the bag of sauces and the server cut it in front of us like a performance. The server placed the fish on a bed of jasmine rice and poured the sauce all over it. Very Chinese. The two sides that we ordered, spinach and mashed potato was just average.

Desserts were spectacular.

Lemon and Lemon Tart

The inside of the most famous Lemon tart

The lemon skin was exceptionally delicious, I have no idea how they made that thing. It contained blood orange, a little bit of fresh cream and other citrus mix.

"A lemon is hollowed out until the skin is translucent, then poached and candied in sugar syrup. As each order is placed, the lemon skin is filled with lemon sorbet, lemon curd, fresh orange and grapefruit slices, and vanilla Chantilly cream. The result of this 3-day process is a simply presented lemon with a delicate stick of sablé balanced dandily on top. Slice open the candied yet bitter lemon rind and out oozes the sweet-tangy blend of sorbet, curd, and Chantilly. It’s no wonder that this has been garnering oohs and ahhs from the patrons of Mr and Mrs Bund."

Molten chocolate cake in a sea of raspberry sauce. It was really really good. See how the lava just flow out of the cake. I have an urge to have molten cake whenever I see this picture.

The mains were just okay, but I would particularly go there for desserts.

Mr and Mrs Bund serves a late night Menu, which is exactly the same as the Lunch set Menu from Tuesday to Saturday, 10.30pm to 4am.
The price is the same, 200RMB for an appetizer and main or a main and a dessert; 250RMB for all 3 courses.

Red Ruby

Have you heard of Red Ruby?

If you were not local, you would probably not. Me neither.

One fine day when my colleague brought this cake back and somebody asked if it was 红宝石 (Red Ruby). My colleague explained to me that Red Ruby is a famous old-school Shanghai bakery, very popular among the locals.

My first thought was, the cake looks very average and normal. It should be like those traditional cake, dry and oily.

I didn't expect it when I took the first bite.
The freshness of the butter and milk filled my mouth instantly, first layer was the milk from the cream, secondly the butter from the sponge cake. The sponge was very moist and not overly sweet and the cream was just nice, not too oily or sweet or thick. There were bits of crunchy and chewy bits (Nata de Coco, i think) in between the sponge cake layers which added extra surprise for me.
Overall, the cake looks ancient but the taste was very modern.

It was so good I finished it instantly, indulging in my wonderful world of cows, milk and butter and forgetting my belly woes.

2 pieces of goodness for 13RMB!
Red Ruby outlets can be found all around Shanghai. Exact locations can be found in dianping.com