THE CHINOISE STORY
No 59 Mao Ming South Road
Jin Jiang Hotel
Shanghai PRC 200020
W The Chinoise Story
E The Chinoise Story
T +86 21 6445 1717
F not available

FOOD We first discovered the brilliant food of Singaporean Chinese Sam Leong at Jade at the Fullerton in Singapore and instantly fell in loved with his pared back fusion food. His subtle confident hand brings the classical Eastern and Western kitchen into exquisite harmony. It might be a classical Peking Duck (skin only) with a slice of succulent pork belly and crunchy skin with a little salad that is fruity and sour and salty and laced with chilli. We have never eaten anything from Sam’s kitchen that hasn’t been remarkable, surprising for the complexities of texture and the balance of flavours.
The Chinoise Story is another triumph under this young and so, so talented chef that sees him consulting and writing menus for the Tunglok Group from India, to Asia, to China and now Japan. Housed in the superbly renovated historic Jin Jiang Hotel The Chinoise Story has a superb interior making wonderful use of the massive curved casement window. The main dining room is light and stunning with cream leather and black iron work; their private dinings rooms have fabulous embellishments from Philippe Starck. Starck has taken the traditional brilliant red peony rose fabric and covered sleek ultra–modern metal framed chairs with the fabric and that is just the start of his brilliant embellishments to an already stylish venue.
Two visits to The Chinoise Story, once in their pre–opening period, where we must admit service lagged miserably behind the excellence of the food. It was a reminder as to why we normally do not review an establishment before it has been open for three months. On our second visit service was much improved.
This is the most intelligent and delicious fusion food to be found in Shanghai. Leong’s restrained hand understands the nuances of incorporating Western and Japanese ingredients into Chinese food. The food not just beautiful to look at but follows through with a depth and length of flavour that lingers long after the food has been demolished. The silken, nori topped tofu with forest mushrooms and truffle and a delicate lemon beurre blanc was a sublime mix of textures and tastes. The Lamb rack was a stroke of genius with the mint puree tempering the richness of the classic red wine sauce and spiced with the tiniest touch of chilli that provided further foil to the red wine sauce. Apple and pork crackling salad, Rockmelon with soba noodles in a Dijon mustard sauce, Leong’s food is series of fantastic tastes and textures. Leong’s food is not experimental and the Chinoise Story, despite shaky wine service, even in its pre–opening stage was a polished performer.
It has to be said that a lot of the experimental food coming out of France, Japan and China today is nothing more than a muddle of incompatible ingredients. This cannot be said for Sam Leong and he is the only exponent of this new fusion where we really enjoy the intense experimentation.

WINE Their wine list is extensive and seductive but the lack of wines by the glass apart from Bollinger NV is a disappointment for a lone traveller.

We are compiling a Beijing list but we adore another of Sam’s consultancies at My Humble House Beijing