Bombana is an Italian chef that made it big in Hong Kong: his restaurant in Central has three Michelin stars. From there he has been expanding in Asia: Macau, Beijing (where the restaurant is called Opera), and Shanghai.
I visited a couple of times the Shanghai’s restaurant (two Michelin stars) headed by chef Riccardo to better understand this Italian high cuisine. By the way, “Otto e Mezzo” of course is the title of a famous Fellini’s movie, but references to Fellini seem to end here.
The visit
This review is based on my second visit in April 2019, part of the ongoing Shanghai Michelin Scramble.
I had my reservation through Dining City (very simple) and I headed to the restaurant on a gloomy Sunday evening. It was a pity, because the restaurant also has a nice terrace and balcony on the sixth floor of a renovated building in the now called Rock Bund district.
The restaurant has an elegant dining room with tables reasonably spaced. To avoid bothering other guests I did not take a picture of the room, but you can check the restaurant’s website.
While I was still looking at the menu, I was served a welcome dish with three nibbles: a geometrically audacious pastry with diced salmon, another pastry with a sort of Russian salad, and half a cherry. I thought the staff was too hasty in delivering the plate or maybe it is their style. Apart from this, the service was spotless and all staff spoke English.
The bread basket was a bit underwhelming: white bread with olives, sourdough with sesame and corn bread. The sourdough was almost impossible to chew! Luckily, they also served some Italian grissini that were still warm and very nice.
There was another amuse bouche: a stracchino spuma with peas. The stracchino is an Italian cheese that I had never tried in this preparation that made it incredibly soft. It was a great dish and the peas felt very fresh and full of flavor.
The menu was divided in four sections: appetizers, pasta dishes, mains, and desserts. No appetizer stimulated my interest, but all pasta dishes looked great. I went for the homemade cavatelli (small pasta shells from eggless semolina dough) with seafood. There was king crab meat and two pieces of uni (sea urchin) on top. The dish was excellent.
My main was amadai fillet in a light coconut and shellfish broth with some fresh peas. The cooking fully respected the flavor and texture of the fish that came from Japan. Other mains available were lobster from Brittany, wagyu from Japan, and veal.
I ordered a dessert and before getting there I was offered a palate cleanser in the form of a very elaborated sorbet.
The dessert, called Chocolate Variation, was a small masterpiece. In a perfectlty coreographed presentation, the dish included a round hazelnut “moretto” (a homage to an Italian ice-cream), a scoop of chocolate ice cream, a ball of pistachio rocher (I guess using Ferrero Rocher material to enclose the pistachio) and, finally, two crispy tuilles cannoli with black and white chocolate. That was like a chocolate encyclopedia.
Before leaving, I was offered a final dish with pear jelly, pastry with cream and a “sandwich” with berries.
No wine for me, the still water was a Chinese spring water, Nongfu, that is also the best selling water in China. This came a bit to a surprise, as the water cost me 15 USD, for that money I would have expected some Italian bottled water.
The check
This three-course dinner cost me 1542 RMB or 229.5 USD.
Most appetizers and pasta dishes cost around 50 USD, a main costs around 100 USD and desserts around 30 USD.
All the dishes were perfect (apart from the bread). The ingredients were top of the top, super fresh and genuine. Was this worth the price? I do not think so. After all, these were not particularly innovative dishes, just very well executed dishes. I have no problems spending this kind of money for a meal, but I am seeking something more that I did not get in terms of creativity and surprise.
Where in Shanghai:
6-7/F, 169 Yuanmingyuan Lu
In Chinese: 圆明园路169号协进大楼6-7楼
Website: http://www.ottoemezzobombana.com/shanghai/