New restaurants offer seasonal dishes for autumn

From Suzhou River patios to Bund views and creative cuisine, a series of new restaurants have opened in Shanghai, offering seasonal dishes for autumn.

Ti Gong

Ti Gong

Chaimen Soup

The new restaurant at the Tian'an 1000 Trees mall, featuring soup and Sichuan cuisine. Its outdoor terrace is the perfect place to catch up with friends while enjoying a seasonal dish.

It seems like the right time to begin preserving yang (warm) energy for winter. Start the meal with its signature soup that has been stewed in a black-earth pot for over six hours. The soup contains the natural flavor of its fresh ingredients, without additives. You can choose from popular dishes like pigeon soup with chenpi (aged tangerine peel) and ginseng, or soft-shelled turtle meat soup with wolfberry. Turtle meat is known for its nutrition and is especially suited for autumn and winter.

For the main dishes, try the fried eels with huajiao (also known as Sichuan peppercorns). The fresh eels are preserved in homemade sauce and fired with spices, and the crispy skin and tender meat provide a welcome combination. The chef also selects the huajiao from trees 40 years or older. It brings a unique vibrancy to the dish. Also high on the menu are the crispy glutinous rice topped with roasted duck, roasted pigeon with spices and grilled abalone.

Of course, no meal is complete without dessert. The restaurant brings you traditional bingfen (iced bean jelly) topped with nuts and berries. A perfect way to end a lovely meal.

Hours: 11am-2pm, 5-9pm

Address: 6/F, 600 Moganshan Rd

Tel: 6209-9986

Ti Gong

Ti Gong

Ti Gong

Dim Dou Duk

The new branch of Dim Dou Duk, a Cantonese dim sum brand, opened at Shanghai Suhewan MIXC World, along the Suzhou Creek. Various handmade dim sum choices, reasonable prices and a relaxing family dining environment have already brought the restaurant great attention.

Besides the signature dishes like shrimp changfen (rice rolls) and chashao (barbecued pork) buns, the restaurant offers new treats like crisp abalone dumplings, beef dumplings and fried black bean tofu.

The roast pigeon is also high on the list. Marinated for half a day in a home-made sauce of over 10 spices including anise, cinnamon and leaves, the pigeons are roasted close to the fire for 30 seconds intervals until richly browned.

"In order to keep the tender and juicy texture of the pigeon, we choose fresh pigeons with a strict standard of weight, shape and age," says the chef.

As for dessert, the new pistachios juice topped with walnuts and fruits is a great choice. The cheese pumpkin tart is also seasonal.

Hours: 11am-10pm

Address: LG257-261, B2, 100 Fujian Rd N.

Tel: 5662-3992

Ti Gong

Ti Gong

Ti Gong

Yuan Lai

At the Laomatou (Old Dock) area, the restaurant offers authentic Zhejiang cuisine with a cozy ambience and nice view of the Bund.

As one of the signature dishes, the Fulu Duck (fulu means "luck and fortune" in Chinese) is kind of a premium version of "Eight Treasures Gourd Duck" which not only includes the eight treasures of Chinese chestnuts, pork, salted egg yolk, abalone, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, ham, ginkgo and glutinous rice, but also seafood like abalone, clam and shrimps.

The chef only uses ducks with flawless skin. First, he separates the duck meat and bones, and keeps it as a whole. Then, the duck has to be marinated with salt, white spirit, scallion and ginger for half an hour. After being stuffed with the "treasures," it's made into the shape of a gourd, coated with a layer of soybean sauce and furu (fermented tofu) and cooked in a pot with taro and seasonings for three and a half hours. When the pot cover is removed, the aroma is astounding.

You can also try the braised pork belly with soft-boiled eggs, sea cucumber topped with homemade abalone sauce and fried crucian carp with scallion.

To end this perfect meal, try the passion fruit with cream and ice cream.

Hours: 11:30am-3:30pm, 5-10pm

Address: Rm 301, 3/F, 601 Waima Rd

Tel: 5308-8526