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Went to Hawaii at CNY and met up with Erica's mom and sister! These photos are from the island tour of Oahu we did on the second day. My big camera died by leaky water bottle that morning so these photos are from Erica's camera.

Today’s brunch took place at Portman’s, the main restaurant at the Portman Ritz Carlton at Shanghai Centre. The restaurant is tucked away in the back of the main floor of the hotel; it probably only seats about 100 people, with a lot of luscious dark wood accents and some very cool Edison bulb light fixtures. The centre of the restaurant features couch and frame seating which makes the party sitting in there feel like they have some privacy, and if I go back with more than one person I’ll probably ask to sit there.

There actually isn’t that much food at this buffet, which surprised me considering it’s priced similarly to hotel brunches that offer 3 times as much food and variety. At first glance the offerings seemed sparse but of good quality, but upon actually tasting everything I discovered that even though it looked nice, most of it was prepared in a sub-par fashion.

Their pastry/traditional breakfast food section was pretty great; there was a cereal bar with lots of name-brand cereals, dried fruit and nuts, an omelette station that no one was cooking at, so many breads and pastries as well as several good quality toasters, hard-boiled and soy sauce eggs, and yummy toppings like a bowl full of Nutella (YES!) and honey butter. They even had a piece of honeycomb dripping extremely fresh honey next to the cheese plate. YUMMY!

The dessert section was even better; there wasn’t an insane variety of dessert, but what they did have was very well executed and varied enough that I wasn’t bored. They also had a freezer full of gelato. I had the lime and the raspberry sorbets. They didn’t have any fake flavours and even had bits of real fruit in them.

The free-flow alcohol included both Moet champagne and an extensive martini list that you could order from your table. There was a fresh juice fridge at the back of the breakfast section so we sampled some juices in our champagne, like orange, pineapple and guava. Very nice. We also ordered a couple of martinis; our first selections were lacklustre, especially the Caribbean martini which tasted of very fake coconut. My second martini was an espresso martini made with rum, espresso and Kahlua, and it was delicious.

The seafood section looked really nice at first glance; it had a lot of shellfish, as well as a lot of sashimi and smoked salmon, but the different mussels and even the crab was bland and cold, and a bit dried out. That’s the ultimate crime to me; never waste expensive seafood! The sushi and sashimi were nice, and the smoked salmon was divine.

The remaining hot food was all very Chinese in style and execution, with the exception of the roast beef and some weird semi-ethnic choices like random samosas and some very tasty honey mustard roasted carrots. They had xiaolongbao with no soup in them (I almost cried) and 3 types of congee with circumspect toppings, as well as crispy duck rolls that were actually okay, but everything else looked greasy and full of strange and unappetizing ingredients.

Now, the service was impeccable. There was always someone on hand to remove used plates and fill our champagne flutes, and it seemed everyone else around us received the same treatment. I just wish that more people had been on hand in the actual buffet area to make omlettes and scoop ice cream and such.

Overall I don’t think it’s a brunch we’ll repeat, unless we want to get trashed and eat a lot of sugar, bread, cheese and smoked salmon.

I will say that the bathrooms, though hard to find, were awesome purely because they had those space age Japanese toilets that have all the buttons to clean you and the heated seats. Yay heated seats!

Details:

Sunday Brunch at Portman’s, Portman Ritz Carlton, Shanghai Centre, 1376 Nanjing Road West near Xikang Road. It was 650rmb after tax and service charge, including the extra charge for free flow Moet champagne and martinis. There was a children’s play area, but very few child-friendly food options.

Brunch Review Series: The Stage at Westin Bund Centre

So I’m back after a long hiatus after being inspired by a friend to start a brunch club. Today I start with a review of Sunday Brunch at The Stage, Westin Bund Centre. This brunch is one of the top rated brunches in Shanghai and now that I’ve attended I can attest that its reputation is well-deserved.

The brunch began before the 11:30 start time with registration for those smart enough to make an advance reservation (I made mine almost a month in advance and definitely got better seating than the walk-ins) and a complimentary glass of Tattinger champagne or Kir Royale, which happens to be my favourite champagne-based cocktail. The lobby was quite crowded when me and my brunch date arrived at 11:10 so the cat is obviously out of the bag about the welcome drink.

We were seated on the actual Stage area, beneath a massive glass ceiling and lots of fake palm trees for greenery and some pretty fountains creating a barrier between the sides of the lobby. Sitting in this area proved advantageous because we had a great view of the scheduled entertainment, which included an orchestra, two opera singers, a tea performer, some rockstar violinists and acrobats. Very entertaining! They provide a map of the food stations at each table because the offerings are so extensive, with each area named in a cutesy fashion, I guess to appeal to the laowai. As soon as you sit down a staff member fills your champagne flute, and that’s pretty much how the story goes throughout the entire dining experience. The Tattinger champagne is very nice, not too dry but not cloyingly sweet, and cold enough to go down very smoothly.

I selected this date specifically because it was called “Tuna Feast” and the title did not disappoint! The tuna offerings were very fresh and quite varied, from sesame-encrusted seared tuna with pistachio sauce to tuna sashimi that really hit the spot. The fully cooked tuna was a waste, in my opinion, and served as tuna chunks with peppers and a baked pasta dish, as well as tuna pizza. A travesty, but different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Amongst the other offerings there was personalized teppanyaki, Indian dishes, chicken and beef satay skewers, a small offering of Mexican fajita-type things, shawarma with perfectly fresh pita (what a treat!), duck pancakes, various dumplings, tonnes of seafood, some breakfast offerings, a salad bar, various Italian cured meats, a pasta bar with some gorgeous gnocchi, and a truly wonderful cheese table. The dessert offerings were pretty standard, which is probably the only place this brunch failed to impress. They had macarons and some delicious little filled chocolates which saved the dessert section from being flat-out disappointing. But dessert aside, where this brunch really packs a punch is in its drink offerings. I have never seen so much free alcohol at a Sunday brunch! Free flow usually just includes sparkling wine, but at The Stage there were freshly made savoury and sweet cocktails on hand, as well as a nice wine selection and a bar station where you could mix your own drinks.

The mistake I made during this brunch was certainly getting greedy with the drinks and perhaps overdoing it a bit; my alcohol tolerance is higher than average but I definitely pushed my limits and wound up tottering home.

My brunch date and I came up with a rating system that I’m sure will change as we attend more brunches, but here it is:

Overall I would give The Stage Sunday Brunch an 8. The dessert could be better, and the service perhaps a little snappier, but overall it’s an excellent brunch and I will definitely try it again next school year.

Where: The Stage, Westin Bund Centre, 88 Henan Middle Road, Shanghai

When: Every Sunday from 11:30-2:30

How much: 588 CNY + service charge

Reservations: a must for good seating and large parties

lmnpnch

cheflaurapresents

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