best contemporary chinese restaurants in shanghai and beijing?

[durianbreath]

hi there,

in china for the next couple of weeks, shanghai and beijing, and enjoying all of the traditional foods and street meat, but am very curious to try eating a modern interpretation of food using chinese ingredients or concepts (or a chinese-other cuisine fusion).

any restaurant suggestions most appreciated!

[durianbreath]

hm, no responses. should i take that to mean there are none?

[pepper_mil]

They undoubtedly exist. Dianping has a whole category for it: 创意菜, creative food. Sorry I don't know the scene in those two cities.

In Chengdu, if I was looking for this kind of place I would also try searching for 新派川菜 (nouvelle Sichuanese cuisine). South Beauty and Gingko do this, for example.

It's tough to make recs on this board without knowing the requesters' Chinese ability (or language barrier navigation skills) and culinary adventerousness level.

[klyeoh]

For me, in Shanghai, it's always been Whampoa Club at the Bund (though Jereme Leung no longer cooks there). For many other Chowhounds, it's Fu1088.

[klyeoh]

Place marks:

[durianbreath]

sadly, there was a mix-up with a friend and he ended up taking me to fu 1039 and not 1088. 1039 wasn't bad, but i am going to have to try 1088 when i'm back next.

i'd been discouraged by a local friend (and well-traveled food-lover) from going to whampoa -- but now you leave me wondering what i missed...

[mountsac]

fu 1039 and 1088 are owned by the same people. IMHO i'd say they serve similar food (well executed shanghai cuisine) - they have many of the same dishes with 1088 does slightly more on presentation. 1088's decor is more luxurious and exclusive, but it's also more expensive (on average 30-50% more expensive).

if you are going for the food, fu 1039 is very good with luxurious yet comfortable decor and smart service. in terms of food, i wouldn't say you missed out too much.

[ChowLover132]

You didn't miss anything. Whampoa Club is all hype. Overhyped and overpriced. The food is mediocre and you'll get much better views from other restaurants in the same building. I love Chinese food but I was incredibly disappointed by everything I tried and the seafood noodles were actually inedible.

[klyeoh]

For Beijing, you'd probably not want to miss Green T. House Living, and its older, more accessible outlet Green T. House.

Check out their website:
http://www.green-t-house.com/flash.html

[klyeoh]

Place marks for the 2 Green T. House restaurants:

[durianbreath]

my friend mentioned a green t house that was in an all-white space somewhere on the outskirts of the city that was amazing, for both the food and the overall experience. which one of them (i see there are several) did she mean? do you happen to know?

due to a mix up, my host took me to fu 1039 and not fu 1088, which i hear is a much better meal. fu 1039 was good, but from what i understand more conventional and not as well-executed as 1088. thoughts?

another friend had discouraged me from trying whampoa club, said the food was unremarkable. now you are making me wonder what i missed...

i speak some chinese, but not enough to really talk food. but i'm happy to get a local friend to help me navigate a dinner. and as far as adventurousness levels, i've never met a food i wouldn't eat. that includes balut, hakkarl, scorpions, live things, etc. i eat it all.

[klyeoh]

She'd have meant Green T. House Living.

[jellymint]

My favorite would definitely be Da Dong Peking Duck restaurant. They have a HUGE menu, and they're extremely creative and experimental with their dishes. Also, their roast duck is definitely the best I've had in Beijing.

1-2/F , Nanxincang Int'l Building, A22, Dongsi Shitiao,
Dongsishitiao
southwest of Dongsi Shitiao Bridge
东四十条甲22号南新仓国际大厦1-2层
东四十条桥西南
Phone: [phone]
Open 11am-10pm

Also, in reply to pepper_mil, there's a few South Beauty's in Beijing, it's a chain restaurant. Oh! And if you want to go outside of Chinese modern cuisine, try Hatsune, the Japanese food there is amazing, and the menu is also quite experimental.

Other than those, if you want good restaurant reviews or just restaurant listings, pick up any foreign "expat" magazine, usually they have a large section devoted to food. My favorite would probably be Time Out Beijing, but there's also The Beijinger, City Weekend, and more. Hope this helped!

[durianbreath]

due to unfortunate circumstances beyond my control (grumpy travel partner, primarily) i was not able to make it to da dong restaurant. i will have to try hatsune on my next visit as well...thanks a ton for the info!

[modernleifeng]

in Beijing, Dadong does a fairly good job of this, but that's about it. Duck de Chine attempts it, but its just pretentious and not done very well and Green T. is even worse. Hua Jia Yi Yuan kind of does some more contemporary versions, but make sure you go to the courtyard branch. My Humble House also does some fusion, but its more Singapore food.

I wouldn't consider South Beauty to be "contemporary Chinese", its a far cry from Da Dong (or even Green T) as the majority of its preparations are pretty traditional, its just that the restaurant's decor and presentation are a little more fancy.