Le Sheng, Shanghai
What is Le Sheng? This is David Laris’s new lovechild, Le Sheng, a Shanghainese cuisine bistro. You might think it is strange for a Greek from Australia, living in China, opening a Shanghainese restaurant. Laris’s past works include Mexican (Yucca), Chicken fast-food (Funky Chicken), Greek (Fat Olive), and Southern Italian/Mediterranean (Purple Onion). Yet, the question stands – can he Asian, let alone Shanghainese? One thing going for him is that Anfu is known for western restaurants, but is frequented by locals. Locals will most definitely stop in and try, out of curiosity. Also, as you walk in, you wouldn’t figure the restaurant is a high end Chinese restaurant.
What’s good at Le Sheng? The sweet and sour pork, the Shaoxin drunken chicken, and the Le Sheng Pickled Radishes are the cold dishes, which are the appetizers. The sweet sour pork went well with our wine – La Casa. The Le Sheng Pickled Radishes were crunchy and had a nice snap. Unfortunately, the chicken didn’t have the same bold flavor you’d find at other places. We were expecting something with big wine taste. After letting it sit and soak up for awhile, the drunken chicken tasted a bit better.
The mains which included the Hot & Sour Soup, the Crab Egg and Tofu, Braised Pork with Quail Eggs, Cod, and Deep Fried Vegetable Rolls. The peppery Hot & Sour Soup was unexpectedly good. I have always associated Hot & Sour Soup with Cantonese cuisine, not with Shanghainese. The Braised Pork was fine. But I wonder – how hard is it to do Braised Pork (Hong Sau Rou)? Can it really be messed up? I liked the originality of the Deep Fried Vegetable Rolls, wasn’t anything I had before. Miss P particularly liked the Crab Egg and Tofu, which had a milder flavor with the silkiness of the tofu.
What was that? I liked the paring of Wines. I think some of the popular hole-in-the-wall Shanghainese restaurants lack a good wine list. The only reason I gave it 1 pig rather than 2 is the slightly high price point. But I think it will be tough to shake the idea of an non-Chinese doing Shanghainese. I’ve seen Shanghainese owner do Italian. A Japanese do Italian. Only in Shanghai.
What to Order: Hong Sau Rou (Braised Pork), Crab Egg and Tofu, Deep Fried Vegetable Rolls. What not to Order: Drunken Chicken
Rating 1 Pigs Price Range 2 $/¥/NT
Links Smart Shanghai Radar, Smart Shanghai Listing, David Laris Blog, Shanghai Talk, Time Out Shanghai, City Weekend, That’s Shanghai, Co-Incide, Best Restaurants, Jing Daily
乐笙 Le Sheng 安福路308号, 近武康路 308 Anfu Lu, near Wukang Lu +86 21 5406 6011 leshengsh.com
