Jade on what? On 36. The 36th floor of the new part (or Tower 2 as they prefer it to be known) of the Pudong Shangri-La hotel, Shanghai. It is a new restaurant and adjoining bar with an emphasis on snazzy interior decor and something called Cuisine de Voyage, as dreamed up by French chef Paul Pairet.
Pretentious then, is it? Bien sur! The bar is more shocking than the restaurant, decor wise, and seems to draw a crowd of Shanghai trendsetters and suits. Nightly DJs and a glowing bar top add to the tempo.
Who was the designer? Transylvanian-born New Yorker Adam Tihany of Tihany Design, which describes itself as a 'multidisciplinary design atelier' whose aesthetic is an 'integration of harmony, design and architecture'.
Meaning? Shanghai Tang meets Philippe Starck. There is a lot of frosted jade-green glass (above), lime-green, fuchsia and purple cushions and carpets around the bar area, and a giant 'deconstructed rice bowl' (far right) at the main entrance. The restaurant decor is more restrained and 'Chinese inspired'.
Decent views? Naturally, at this altitude. The hotel claims the 36th floor is, conveniently, 'exactly the right height (150 metres) to capture the spirit of Shanghai to maximum effect'. Presumably, this is a veiled reference to the nearby Grand Hyatt's Cloud 9 bar, on the 87th floor, which consequently offers more removed views of the Bund.
What's on the menu? There are seven tasting menus only, although you can mix and match if you must. Regular customers often do, probably just to impress their dates because chef Pairet's degustation combos are finely tuned. The main event is the Jade of Jade menu, which features such no-nonsense names as Huge Mackerel, Black Cod and Beef Short Rib and Lemon.