Another Dubai import has landed in London
This time it’s the turn of Shanghai Me, which began in Dubai in 2019 and has since opened in Doha too. The London outpost is on the 28th floor of the Park Lane Hilton, previously occupied by Galvin at Windows, so you’ve got some great views as part of the deal. It’s not quite Dubai-level extra but the space has been given a fully glam fit out – think lacquered screens, golden dragon motifs, and huge oversized lanterns.
Eat This
Despite the name, Shanghai Me is not a purely Chinese restaurant – there is plenty of sushi and wagyu beef for example – but it’s still predominantly Chinese. And that’s exactly what we (mostly) stuck to for our recent lunch there.
We can recommend going heavy on the dim sum. With its Middle Eastern origins, there’s no pork on the menu, so you’ll find the likes of chicken xiao long bao and barbecued chicken puffs instead of their more traditional pork versions. Both decent enough, but the highlights were the black cod dumplings and the crispy prawn cheung fun.
We had a brief Japanese interlude with a small plate of tuna tataki with chilli ponzu, before launching into one of the restaurant’s signatures: the Cantonese-style roast duck. The duck was superb, coming with fresh pancakes, hoisin and vegetables for you to roll up. We also went for some straight up egg fried rice and some broccoli in oyster sauce.
For dessert, we were surprised by just how good the Milky Cake was – a HUGE slab of sponge cake with fruit and banana compote and sesame ice cream. Don’t try and tackle it alone, and take our tip and ask for the toasted rice ice cream instead of the sesame.
Drink This
The excellent sommelier, who we remembered from Canton Blue at The Peninsula, is a big fan of pairing dim sum with champagne and we were not about to argue. There’s also a big list of sake, spirits and wine, and we happily sobered up with some fine silver needle tea with dessert.
Why Go
The food was excellent at Shanghai Me – probably better than we were expecting to be honest. Add those views and glitzy interiors and you have a recipe for a fun night out.
Key Information
Address | 22 Park Ln, London W1K 1BE
For more information | shanghaime-london.com
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