Hairy crab banquet, Yunnan coffee, Cantonese delights and more
The ultimate hairy crab sensation
The Hut, a restaurant franchise specializing in Huaiyang cuisine, is celebrating this year's hairy crab season with a grand menu.
The crab banquet starts with a cold dish trio, which includes an interesting yet brilliant creation of avocado and special crab meat floss. A hot bowl of rich and mildly sweet crab porridge is then served to warm the appetite and stomach.
A definite highlight of the crab banquet is the crab and sea urchin dish. This signature meal involves removing all flesh from the hairy crab, including the tiny tips, and cooking and seasoning it to deliver an ultimate experience.
The larger legs are seasoned with Sichuan peppercorns, while the smaller ones are accented with marinated mushrooms. The sea urchin and caviar on top further enhances the umami flavor of the hairy crab.
Crab and sea urchin
The deep-fried crab meat is presented in the shape of a large crab claw, the crab meat and roe with rosemary is presented in an elegant dressing case, and the rich blend of creamy crab meat and roe is served in crab shells.
After nine courses of hairy crab meat dishes, not counting the whole steamed hairy crab, the scrumptious meal is finished with a jujube ice cream.
Price: 1,580 and 1,880 yuan (US$247.06-293.98) per person; minimum booking of four people with advance reservation required
Address: L603, North Block, The Place, 150 Zunyi Rd (6273-3085)
L503, Bauhinia Square, 1628 Kongjiang Rd (5596-9606)
L230b, Kerry Parkside, 1378 Huamu Rd (3880-5057)
L612, South Block, Grand Gateway 66, 1 Hongqiao Rd (6418-1077)
Hairy crab meat and roe
An artistic and aesthetic afternoon
Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai has joined hands with Wedgewood to present a new afternoon tea inspired by modern art and British aesthetics.
The special service is available until November 30 in the hotel's Riviera Lounge. All of the sweets, savories, scones and beverages are served in fine bone Wedgewood chinaware.
The afternoon tea is artistically designed, crafted and presented.
The blueberry cheesecake, for example, is inspired by the painting "Marie Antoinette in Versailles" and features handmade cream petals on the purple blueberry mousse, capturing the soft texture and liveliness of the open roses on the portrait.
The cherry chocolate tart, on the other hand, is inspired by "Elizabeth I of England" and her pink-purple dress with elaborate ruffs.
In addition, the mini red velvet cake, lemon basil and mint tart, smoked salmon mille feuille and warm scones served with Devonshire cream and strawberry jam are highly recommended.
The beverage choices include varieties of coffee (espresso, black coffee, cappuccino and latte) and tea (jasmine dragon ball, Longjing, tangerine Pu'er and more). For an extra 300 yuan, two glasses of Perrier-Jouët Champagne can be added.
Price: 688 yuan per set, plus 15 percent service charge
Tel: 2082-9928
Address: 111 Pudong Rd S.
New artistic afternoon tea with Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai and Wedgewood
New a la carte menu at Summer Palace
The Cantonese establishment Summer Palace, on the third floor of Jing An Shangri-La, Shanghai, has launched a new a la carte menu that features more than 100 delicacies ranging from cold dishes, soups and seafood to dim sum.
The menu, specially crafted by Chinese executive chef David Lui, highlights fresh ingredients and innovative cooking techniques and, while retaining classic Cantonese flavors, also integrates the flavors of Shanghai and Huaiyang cuisines.
A few highlights of the new menu include marinated Chinese yam, presented as square marbles with squid ink adding an elegant gray hue; Shanghai-style salted chicken, a popular local cold dish; and the truffle eight-treasure chicken which stuffs glutinous rice, goose liver, shitake mushrooms, pork, truffle and more into a chicken that's roasted in traditional Cantonese crispy style.
Truffle eight-treasure chicken
The spicy noodle with shrimp is a generous staple that seasons the huge prawn with fresh peppercorn and the noodle with shrimp oil made from shrimp heads. It tantalisingly offers the textural contrast of al dente noodles and tender shrimp meat.
Address: 1218 Yan'an Rd M.
Tel: 2203-8889
Spicy noodle with shrimp
New Yunnan coffee at Starbucks
Leading coffeehouse Starbucks has launched two new reserve coffees produced in Yunnan Province, one from Tianyu and Zuo Farm and another from Hong Feng Farm. They are now available at Starbucks Reserve stores nationwide.
The Tianyu and Zuo Farm blend features balanced notes of cocoa peel and soft herbs with a sweet spiced chestnut finish.
Marking the fifth year of developing and launching high-quality coffee from local Yunnan farms, Starbucks has invested hugely in China's largest coffee-growing province.
The Starbucks Yunnan Star project launched in 2012 is now an all-around supply chain covering planting, processing, roasting and retail of coffee. It has also helped to improve the local coffee farmers' incomes and livelihoods.
By the end of August, the center in Yunnan had trained 27,249 coffee growers and certified a total of 2,383 farms through Starbucks Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E) Practices, the company's sustainability guidelines for growing and processing quality coffee.
Starbucks Reserve has launched two new coffee products from Yunnan this fall.
Honoring Traditional Chinese gourmet culture
The Jiangan Suhe Feast, the third of Caesar Liu's Jiang Banquet series, continues the concept of taking high-quality ingredients from nature to the dining table.
It also honors the essence and meaning of Chinese culinary culture through traditional and innovative cooking techniques.
The kitchen is headed by chef Han Wei who has launched a unique new menu to explore the authentic tastes of Huaiyang and Cantonese cuisines.
The banquet venue is the transformed old residence and factory of Zhujia (house of Zhu) and combines Chinese and Western elements in interior design.
Included in Jiangan Suhe Feast is a whisky and cigar lounge led by bar manager Jacky Ying. It features an extensive wine and liquor list of more than 80 labels, including niche Japanese whisky and single malts.
Address: 900 Changde Rd
Tel: 6227-1396
Jiangan Suhe Feast
Chua Lam's Dim Sum opens new outlet in Changning
Chua Lam's Dim Sum, one of the city's most popular Cantonese restaurants, has opened a new outlet in Raffles City Changning.
The brand has expanded quickly in three years to open more than 30 outlets across China, serving fresh, handmade dim sum with creative twists that appeal to the younger generation.
The brand's signature dishes include barbequed pork buns, steamed rice rolls, fried spring rolls, sponge cake and more.
Chua Lam's Dim Sum sells more than 3.5 million of its barbeque pork buns every year, a creative combination of the traditional bun and pineapple bread.
Address: 3/F, East Block, Raffles City Changning, 1123 Changning Rd
Tel: 6227-7896
Chua Lam's Dim Sum opens new outlet in Changning.
