Shang Palace
Why did I go here? Parn, you tried to warn me. But I thought it would be cool to try upscale, 1* Michelin versions of standard Chinese takeout favorites. While the food was admittedly very good, the restaurant was as dour as a tomb. I was going to cancel it, but decided to keep it because we weren’t overly hungry and we could just share a couple small plates.
Shang Palace at the Shangri La Hotel is split into two rooms, a seemingly nice one and what I would call the runover room, which is where we were seated. Tables are spacious and ours was nowhere near anyone else. It was incredibly silent for those who like to eat that way. Our server was a perfunctory lead-faced gentleman who looked like he was in pain for having to waddle over to us. We had to ask for a wine/drink list. After we ordered cocktails, we were never asked again if we wanted anything else to drink. I asked if they served tea, and was summarily brought the tea menu. Our gentleman brought the tea and plunked down a bowl of red sauce, never explaining what it was. My husband whispered to me, as to not break the silence barrier, “Let’s eat and go.” I mouthed “yes” and nodded in agreement.
-We ordered three plates. The first was the 56 euro “Barbecued Meat Combination,” a small plate of roast duck, barbecue pork and crispy pork brisket. The duck was ok, the pork was good, but the crispy pork brisket was a big WOW! Cut into little cubes, our server brought a plate of mustard and sugar and instructed us to put mustard on the cube and sprinkle it with sugar. It was delicious! Super crunchy top and full of flavor. Totally memorable.
- Our second dish was 48 euros, Poulet au Citron, lemon chicken, my favorite takeout dish at home. This indeed was as upscale a version of fried chicken and lemon sauce as you can get. The chicken was top quality, very tender, the breading was perfectly crisp, and the lemon sauce (served on the side) was just out of this world. They topped the chicken with little bits of very tart lemon which I could have done without. But very satisfying.
- Our third dish was Porc francilin à la sauce aigre-douce, sweet and sour pork for 58 euros. (No picture of it for some reason.) It was a very good version of this ubiquitous, usually cloying dish.
This was the most expensive Chinese food I’ve ever had, but it was delicious. Too bad it was such a muted, humorless place.
On the way out, my husband suggested we chat for a moment in one of the rooms in the empty hotel lobby. So we sat on a couch and discussed our activities for the following day. A worker at the hotel entered the room and asked if we were guests at the hotel. I looked at her… and said no. Pause. She looked at me. Pause. I then said we had just had dinner at Shang Palace was it ok if we sat for a minute. Yes, she said. So she kindly kept us company in the room, looking at us. We left.
That’s all I want to say, except, again, Parn you were right.
