Initially when I saw all the bad reviews about this place in Google and all the good reviews in Xiao Hong Shu, I thought this must be a case of non Chinese nationals disliking authentic Shanghainese flavours. So I decided to give it a try. I was wrong.

First there was the long wait, which is expected for a new restaurant offering Shanghainese food. We were a group of 3 and when it was our turn, we were seated at a table meant for two only. Just make do, we were told. If and when a table frees up, the waiter promised to shift us. Never did, even after more than one table frees up.

Food wise, we ordered the Sheng Jian Bao, Beef Guo Tie, Scallion oil Noodles, Chilli Oil Dumplings, Crab meat dumpling soup and Drunken Chicken. The dumplings, Sheng Jian Bao all tasted sweet without the umami of meat juice coming from steamed fresh meat. Someone in the kitchen took the idea of adding a little sugar, to elevate the taste of the dumpling filling, too far. The scallion oil noodles had too little scallion taste as the noodles was a disproportionately large serving. Only the beef potstickers and drunken chicken impressed, the former because it is a rarity and the latter because it tasted genuinely good. And I should know because I lived in Shanghai for almost 20 years.

Service was polite but inadequate. We were left sitting there to twiddle our thumbs for 10 mins without menu nor means to order using their QR code.

Not coming back anytime soon.