Cristal
4/F, 269 Wujiang Lu (???269?4?)
Shanghai, China
PRICE: ?????
RATING:

Met up with a couple of peeps at Cristal, a new part modern French part Mediterranean restaurant that opened on Wujiang Xi Lu, just a few mins walk from where we live. The 150? (US$22) price for an impressive 4-course meal plus a glass of wine was not to be missed, and I was really eager to find out if that price could get us fantastic Western food in Shanghai, in a lovely Western restaurant. In short – it comes close but did make some major blunders.

The starters were good and the Prawn Consomme was superb. In particular their Seafood Risotto was a total jaw-dropping stunner – creamy perfectly cooked rice chock full of fresh seafood. I loved every bite and almost licked the bowl clean 😉 A shame that their Roasted Labeyrie Duck Breast was inedible – tough and dry and tasteless, the flavour coming only from the spiced gravy that was served with it. The desserts were hit and miss. Whilst the Apples Chausson was fantastic – delicate little pastry parcels encasing moist cooked apples – the Jasmine Flower Panacotta was astoundingly bad. It didn’t taste of Jasmine at all, and the texture was that of a strange lumpy jelly. In fact, we compared desserts and some were almost like a hard jelly whereas others were lumpy. None of us finished the dish as it was tasteless and the texture inedible.

The service was great – friendly and very helpful. The only disappointing (and odd) part was when we requested for our desserts to come a little earlier than the rest of the tables, as we had to leave early. No, we were told, that was not possible because “the chef wants to make the desserts all at once”. WHAT? And so they refused to serve us the dessert any faster. In fact, when it did come out, they served the OTHER table first instead of rushing the desserts to us first, since we had to leave urgently! Quite gobsmacked, we were also offered no explanation to their behaviour.

All in all, they are a bit hit and miss. When they get it right, it’s superb. When they get it wrong, the food is inedible. Well, at least the ambience is lovely and it was great to sit outdoors in the middle of Shanghai, yet still feel quite secluded up on the forth floor.

The outdoor dining area of Cristal

Pretty table setting

CAPRESE SALAD ALLA PARMIGIANA
Mozzarella cheese, fresh semi-dried tomatoes, grilled eggplant and zucchini,
spread with balsamic syrup and pesto – not bad at all, I enjoyed it

CRAB ARLEQUIN
Crab meat tossed with low fat yogurt, grapefruit, avocado, crunchy
beetroot, lime, sun-dried tomato, fresh dill and dash of Tabasco –
Delicate and delicious. Superb quality!

LOBSTER AND CRAB BISQUE
Impressive. Full of flavour, but would have preferred actual
chunks of lobster and crab meat in there.

CLEAR PRAWN CONSOMMÉ
Didn’t look attractive, but it was divine. Adored the prawn ravioli!

SEAFOOD RISOTTO
Creamy shrimps Risotto with its own jus, hazelnut butter and green vegetable stew –
I ADORED this!!! Rich and creamy and with loads of seafood. Mmm…

ROASTED LABEYRIE DUCK BREAST
French duck breast spiced with ginger, coriander and cinnamon.
Served with glazed turnips, apples and mango chutney, crunchy ginger bread –
Massive, massive fail. The duck was dry and tough. Inedible.

APPLES “CHAUSSON”
Served with vanilla sauce and home-made green apple sorbet –
flaky pastry encasing sweet apples. Lovely, but way too small a portion

JASMINE FLOWER PANACOTTA
Served with raspberry relish and crunchy orange lace –
Utter fail. THe panacotta was like nothing on earth and definitely not panacotta!