Xindalu China Kitchen 新大陸
Add: Hyatt on the Bund, 1/F, 199 Huangpu Lu 黄浦路199号, 外滩茂悦大酒店1楼
Tel: 6393 1234 ext 6318
Hours: 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30-10:30pm
Website: www.shanghai.bund.hyatt.com
Price: [brunch] 188 RMB/person +15% [dinner] 350+ RMB/person
Visited: Oct 2011
Please note that this is an arranged tasting.
So…what is this pyramid on my plate?
Dongpo Pork 金牌扣肉 (188 RMB) from Xindalu China Kitchen at Hyatt on the Bund. What it is: one thin slice of fatty, fatty pork belly wrapped around in the shape of a pyramid, towering over dried vegetables and mushrooms braised in pork sauce. What to do with it: sandwich a piece of pork with accompaniments in between a soft, fluffy pumpkin bun. The fat melts beautifully, a luxurious sensation in the mouth.
While you are here, also try the drunken duck liver in Shaoxing wine 紹興鵝肝 (128 RMB), a delicious alternative to the typical Western way of cooking foie gras.
Xindalu does a Happy Weekend Family Set Lunch: For 188 RMB + 15%/person, you’ll get a sumptuous selection of 10 dishes, including the famous Peking duck roasted in an oven sent over from the Capital itself. Excellent price/performance ratio.
So how do you eat a Peking duck? Three ways, they say. First, dip the crispy, browned skin in sugar, and let it dissolve on your tongue. Second, place a piece or two of duck meat with duck sauce, green onions, and cucumbers on a steamed pancake/crepe, roll ’em up and nom away. Third, dip a piece of lean duck meat in the garlic sauce and into the mouth it goes.
Here are a few other dishes from the set menu. An absolute overflow of food.
Beef in sesame sauce 麻醬牛肉
Poached chicken in ginger chili oil and five spices 富貴香油雞
Shredded wild mushroom salad 手絲野珍菌
Drunken crab in aged Shaoxing wine 醉蟹
“Lion head” crab meat pork dumpling 蟹粉獅子頭
Not everything from the set is pictured. Here’s a list of all dishes included in the 188 RMB/person set:
Beef in sesame sauce 麻醬牛肉
Poached chicken in ginger chili oil and five spices 富貴香油雞
Shredded wild mushroom salad 手絲野珍菌
Old fashioned Peking duck (half) 老北京果木烤鴨 (半隻)
Clear duck soup 鴨骨清湯
Braised cod, green onion, sweet & sour sauce 醬汁蔥香鱈魚
Sauteed beef, shallots, capsicum 京蔥醬汁牛肉粒
“Lion head” crab meat pork dumpling 蟹粉獅子頭
Wok-fried green vegetable with gluten puff 雞毛菜麵筋
Glutinous rice cake, water chestnut sesame 嫩菱麻香軟糕
Seasonal fruits 水果盤
I’d also recommend the assorted desserts (158 RMB). Fried banana spring roll, green tea tiramisu, rice-wine ice-cream, osmanthus-flavored glutinous rice cake, mango panna cotta…a surprisingly satisfying platter.
I heard they are also doing a lunch special with unlimited orders of scrumptious dim sum dishes, also priced at 188 RMB + 15% – call to check!
