Shanghai Streetz and The Ritz: Cuisine
This dining experience was absolutely unbelievable. As one of only 26 Michelin-starred restaurants in China, Jin Xuan does not disappoint. Set 53 stories above Shanghai, Chef Daniel Wong has curated one of the most amazing dining experiences not only within Shanghai, but anywhere in the world. But Shanghai has a street food culture which won't disappoint either.
The beautiful interior decor of Jin Xuan
Michelle Tang may be the best PR Director of any hotel out there. She is incredible gracious (enough so to host me at yoga and this meal), with a potent combination of beautiful class and forward-thinking motivation. I was lucky enough to enjoy a beautiful seven-course meal of fantastic, authentic Chinese food with her. Chef Wong, head chef at Jin Xuan, made sure that every dish was entirely edible, ensuring that nothing on your plate would distract you from glory of Chinese flavors. So please, allow me to go through each course, if I may (warning, you will get hungry).
Not a bad view to go along with your Michelin-starred meal
Lovely sweet and sour Chinese tea with licorice and fruity flavors combined to be a refreshing accompaniment to the meal
1st course:
Chinese people love fruits, much more than I had anticipated actually. This spoonful of lychee, dragon fruit, and a few other types of fruit was incredibly fresh, and was fantastic as a palate cleanser to begin the meal.
A cute bite to prepare my taste buds
2nd course:
A plate with a trio of amazing bites included fried duck (a Chinese specialty), BBQ Pork and cucumber and ginger. The fried duck was amazing, the skin as crispy as a light potato chip covering super tender meat. Safe to say, I savored each bite as much as possible. The BBQ Pork was a cut from just above the spine of the pig and was prepared for eight hours. Each juicy bite was better than the last, and I was frankly so disappointed they could only serve so much of it per day because even thinking about it right now is making my mouth water. And to have the cucumber and ginger, which was prepared with rice vinegar, after the savory flavors of the duck and pork, makes your mouth feel clean and prepares your palate for the next course.
Only complaint was that there was two of each instead of two dozen!
3rd course:
Scallop soup with tofu and bamboo shoots had a bit of a kick which was a perfect response to the savory bites from the previous course. Michelle and I were so caught up in our conversation that we entirely forgot to have our soup while it was hot, but regardless it was absolutely fantastic. A somewhat viscous broth with shoots of traditional Chinese vegetables was paired with a perfectly cooked scallop in the center, and was divine (cold or hot).
Scallop soup, brilliant no matter what temperature!
4th course:
Honey seared codfish on a bed a beautifully cooked baby onions again proved to be a great course to follow the previous, a spicier soup. When using a fork to cut this piece of fish, perfect, bite-size slices would fall off without leaving even the slightest remnant of fish meat. The sweet flavor of the honey was not too overpowering and allowed the flavor of the fresh fish to shine bright, but still provided a perfect contrast to the previous course, a theme that Chef Wong repeated several times.
Perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, perfectly fresh!
5th course:
As a meat lover myself, the highlight of this meal was the A9 Wagyu Beef. Wagyu Beef is already a tender beef, especially A9 Wagyu Beef, but this one seriously cut like butter and was beyond easy to chew, which sucked because I seriously was not looking forward to finishing every bite. I tried to savor each second of this dish as much as I could before I had no choice but to swallow. A truly perfectly cooked cut of meat, served with a simple sauce to allow the meat to be the main attraction of this dish, alongside small, non-distracting cuts of vegetables, made this dish perfect.
Wagyu beef is the best no matter where you eat it, but it was just on another level at Jin Xuan
6th course:
Simple yet beautiful
We were served a small plate of asparagus following the meat, which felt right given that asparagus is a commonly associated dish with beef. As a simple flavor, it allowed the cacophony of flavors to party longer in my mouth, while still being a satisfying course. Afterwards, we were given a bowl of simple scallop fried rice, and even though this was considered to be a dish to close out your taste buds, it was the best fried rice I had while in Shanghai, hands down. Not greasy, not too sticky, perfect ratio of scallop to vegetables and a sufficient amount served.
I use a lot of complimentary adjectives in this post, but this was seriously perfect fried rice in every way!
7th course:
I have quite the sweet tooth, and was surprised that a Pomelo Soup was sweet enough to do the job. Topped with chia seeds (LA basic girls rejoice), oranges and mixed with other fruits, this was absolutely the most perfect way to finish the meal. Both sweet and refreshing, Chef Wong concluded this meal in fantastic fashion, leaving me perfectly full and vastly more knowledgeable towards Chinese cuisine after this over two hour meal.
By the time this dessert came around, the sun was long gone and the city lights were shining bright.
The flavors brought out the best of each ingredient and never overpowered any of the dishes. The presentation was consistency colorful with a great spectrum of scents and flavors to accompany the vibrant aesthetic Chef Wong created on each plate. The idea of making everything edible on your plate is not necessarily unique to Jin Xuan, but it is done so in a way that stays true to the flavors of the country, and the chefs here actually visit local farmers for all their ingredients to ensure the dishes stay true to the cultural background of their homeland. Cooking is an artistic outlet to represent their culture, and Jin Xuan stays true to their roots, which is clearly shown in every course we were given. An absolute must on your visit to Shanghai!
Unfortunately, not everyone can eat with Chef Wong and Michelle Tan at a Michelin-starred restaurant. But frankly, they're not in a bad situation themselves. Shanghai, generally speaking, is super cheap, and when it comes to street food, you can get skewers of fantastic meats, seafood, and vegetables for no more than three yuan per stick (roughly $0.40). The food isn't as good as other Asian cities, namely Tokyo and Singapore, mostly because the variety is not up to par (same types of meats at all skewer stands, same corn and eggs everywhere, same fruit stands, etc.). Regardless, street food garners a culture on its own and it makes for the best midnight (drunk) snack imaginable. Add some spice to the meat for a perfect kick and go to town on however many skewers your stomach can handle.
I mean come on, I'll take them all please!
Don't judge a book by its cover, especially when it comes to the street food in Shanghai
When it comes to which type of specific street food you should get, that is entirely subjective. Personally, I go after whatever looks good, which lead me to having a skewer of chicken hearts. I had no idea what I was eating and all I knew was that it tasted fantastic until my professor tried a bite and informed me that it was in fact the heart of a chicken. Additionally, I had squid skewers, which are sold at most stands in tourist areas, and it was seriously incredible. Eating this makes you somewhat of a site to see, as many people were taking photographs of me devouring the alien-looking stick of tentacles. Don't be turned off by its appearance, the squid stick was fantastic.
That mindset applies to everything in China, the weirder it looks and sound, the better it tastes. When it comes to the streets, you'll experience a culturally monogamous brand of Shanghai food, where spices and grease and grilled meats are abundant around every corner. But for the ultimate in Shanghai and Chinese cuisine, do not miss an experience at Jin Xuan, where the flavors are picked from hand-selected farms around the country and prepared in a perfectly coherent, informative and engaging way, providing a truly authentic Chinese experience. Plus, the views from the top aren't bad either.