T’ang Court is the flagship fine dining restaurant of the luxury Langham Hotel in Shanghai (in Xintiandi). In Hong Kong the Langham uses the same name for their top Chinese restaurant. Both in Hong Kong and Shanghai T’ang Court is a Michelin-starred restaurant. In Hong Kong has been awarded the top honor, 3 stars, for years. In Shanghai, the inaugural edition of the Guide (2017) awarded 3 stars as well making T’ang Court the only triple starred restaurant in Mainland China. For a while. In the 2019 edition of the Guide it was demoted to two stars and, for some inexplicable reason, to one in the subsequent 2020 edition. It is headed by executive chef Alan Sun. Here’s my visit as part of the Shanghai Michelin Guide Scramble.
The visit
I booked with a simple email. The website features the menu and a nice interactive picture showing the venue. I did not take pictures of the dining room to avoid bothering other guests. The main dining room is relatively small, accommodating only 20 people; most of the space is dedicated to private dining rooms, but the small size is not an issue: tables are nicely spaced and there is a terrace. It is modern understated luxury.
There was a complimentary amuse bouche: a shrimp and pork dumpling in soup and some carrots wrapped in radish and marinated in vinegar. It was very nice.
My first dish was a soup with grouper and handmade tofu (two pieces of grouper, one not edible).
My main was grouper fillet with yam and vegetables. This was a very good dish. Live seafood seems to be one of the strong points of this restaurant.
By the way, at the beginning I was also given a set of sauces: chili sauce, Xo sauce, and soy sauce. I was recommended to use the Xo sauce for the main dish.
Following the grammar of a classic Chinese meal, I included a rice dish at the end. This was fried rice with crab meat and sea urchin. The sea urchin was almost invisible…
I had some room for a dessert. In the room the most popular dessert seemed to be mango ice cream coming in a bowl contoured by fuming dry ice. The presentation of my dessert was less spectacular, but the taste was great. It was an almond tofu pudding that was simply superb in flavor.
Also of note the Chinese tea menu. They have some of the best of the best Chinese teas. It is an impressive list (with a serving easily costing 30 USD and more).
Another special note about the service. The staff was really professional. They knew how to have a conversation with me about the menu and talked me out ordering a very large dish that would have been unsuitable for me. Well done.
The check
For three courses plus a dessert the check was 936.30 RMB (or 135 USD). This is the price point you can expect from this kind of establishment.
It was a seamless meal, even if the dishes did not blew me away. In comparison, I think Yi Long Court remains a better Chinese restaurant in the two star category of the Michelin Guide.
Where in Shanghai:
5/F, The Langham Shanghai Xintiandi, 99 Madang Lu
In Chinese: 马当路99号5楼
Check their website for menu, email for reservation, and virtual visit.