Restaurant Week: Pelham’s at the Waldorf Astoria

Shanghai restaurant week has come and (long long) gone – but week-long work meetings and sunny days have gotten in the way of putting up posts. Shanghai weather right now is in the middle of spring (all 2 weeks of it) so I’m trying to take advantage of sunny warm days before they become sunny HOT days.

But a few weeks back I went with a friend to Pelham’s at the Waldorf Astoria here in Shanghai. The Waldorf is a pretty prestigious address, especially as there are only two in the world right now.

Several restaurant weeks ago, I went to the Grand Brasserie and was slightly disappointed, but this time I was able to book Pelham’s which is the Waldorf’s signature restaurant and was excited to have a high end meal from one of the best hotels in the city.

We started with an amuse bouche – oyster cream, two types of caviar with wasabi foam. While foam is very played out nowadays, this was very well done and refreshing.

@ Pelham’s Waldorf Astoria Shanghai by [Terence], on Flickr”>@ Pelham’s Waldorf Astoria Shanghai”>

Here was the menu for the night:

@ Pelham’s Waldorf Astoria Shanghai by [Terence], on Flickr”>@ Pelham’s Waldorf Astoria Shanghai”>

To save the suspense about a meal 3 weeks ago, the foie gras and the dessert were delicious, and surprising in their flavor. Excellent bookends to the turbot and the beef. The turbot and the beef? Well, they weren’t bad per se, but honestly for the signature restaurant for the Waldorf in Shanghai, I expect something more than ordinary executed well. There was no excitement in the presentation or the flavors – lemon for the white fish, burgundy sauce for the fatty beef. They were fine, and in most other restaurants in Shanghai, I’d even say they were good, but my expectations for Pelham’s were much higher, so in all honesty, I was as thrilled with the meal as I would’ve been had it be served anywhere else.

Foie Gras

@ Pelham’s Waldorf Astoria Shanghai by [Terence], on Flickr”>@ Pelham’s Waldorf Astoria Shanghai”>

Turbot

@ Pelham’s Waldorf Astoria Shanghai by [Terence], on Flickr”>@ Pelham’s Waldorf Astoria Shanghai”>

Beef – this was ordinary. But the mashed potatoes? Etherial. Almost Joel Rubechon good.

The after 8 mint dessert – this was excellent and exactly replicated the taste of the After Eight dinner mint.

So what was the verdict? Well, I can’t really judge Pelham’s based off of restaurant week, because with the reduced prices, I don’t know if I was getting the true Pelham’s experience. I do know that compared to other high end meals – for example the Joel Rubechon meal I liked to, it fell well short, but on the other hand it was 1/3 the price, so that obviously comes into play.

I do know this – that’s three Shanghai Restaurant Week meals in a row which have been meh. I think maybe I’ll just go ahead and try the restaurants at full price going forward, well, unless I can get in at the Peninsula’s restaurants (Sir Ellys!) next time.