Shanghai Edition hotel has an izakaya, or, more appropriately put, an izakaya-inspired restaurant located on their 27th floor. As all the restaurants hosted by Shanghai Edition (Shanghai Tavern and Canton Disco), the venue is supervised by Jason Atherton, the Michelin-starred London-based restaurateur. Shanghai Edition occupies a heritage building on Nanjing East Road, not far from the Bund, once an utility company’s headquarters.
On the menu they explain: “Hiya kitchen is an expression for the love of Japanese cuisine. Our inventive and often natural cooking style combines the familiar of classic Japanese dishes using premium ingredients and modern techniques”. That’s the restaurant’s philosophy.
The visit(s)
To write this review I visited Hiya in May 2019 twice, on Saturdays, once for lunch and once for dinner. It is already a very popular venue and I had reservations with Open Table.
One thing to note: apparently having an elevator with low (very low) lights is now stylish… bring a lamp to find the right button. Out of the elevator you will see the reception, while the first thing that will strike you upon entering the dining room is the sight of the bronze staircase. It leads to the terrace cafe.
I like this window that offers a view upon the Custom House (the building with the clock tower) and Pudong’s skyline.
A view of the main dining room. Sofas and chairs are both available.
The menu is divided into sashimi, chilled dishes, temaco, tempura, grill, and desserts. A tasting menu is available. It is not an extensive menu (everything fits two pages), but every dish has something special to offer.
My first dish was a marinated tuna temaco (a cross-breeding between a temaki, a type of roll that you eat with your hands, and a taco). The shell was very crispy. The tuna was complemented by avocado, scallion and tobiko. Great innovative dish rich of substance.
Then I had their stuffed chicken wings (with rolled turnips). This was a remarkable dish as the top of the wings came already de-boned, so they were very easy to eat. And tasty.
I tried all the four tempura dishes (not really classic tempura, just an indication of fried dishes). The chicken karaage was my favorite. The chicken inside was juicy, but at the same time perfectly cooked. Best fried chicken in Shanghai. It came with hot tomato sauce, spices, matcha salt, and lemon salt.
The broccoli were another small masterpiece as they were covered in aged Parmesan cheese. They came with a classic tempura sauce and a kimchi dip sauce.
Another excellent dish in its simplicity was the wagyu beef agemono. Agemono technically is the general term for a number of Japanese deep fried dishes (including tempura and karaage). In this case indicated two deep fried beef meatballs with bonito flakes (katsuobushi on the menu). A simple but extremely satisfying dish.
The last deep fried dish I tried was the black cod tempura that was also impeccable. During these initial visits I did not have any of their big ticket items (better shared and I was alone). The thought of their tonkatsu and their beef gyuodon certainly makes me hungry.
I had their signature dessert, the Fuji Mont Blanc covered in chocolate sauce. A small marvel of a dessert.
The service was excellent and very friendly. In my visit by night I could appreciate the young vibe, a lot of young couples and party of friends enjoying their life. The music was not too loud.
The check(s)
In one visit I ended up spending 513 RMB (74.5 USD) and the second time 463 RMB (67 USD). Not your run-of-the-mill izakaya bill, but Hiya is not really an izakaya, it is more a homage to Japanese food. As a big lover of Japanese izakaya dishes, I had a lot of fun sampling the menu and I look forward to continuing the exploration.
Where in Shanghai:
27/F, Main Building, The Shanghai EDITION, 199 Nanjing Dong Lu (East Road).
In Chinese: 南京东路199号.
Booking via Open Table.
Nearest Metro Station: East Nanjing Road.