This Chinese Restaurant Is Worth The Trek To Ibn Battuta

Ambience

Lovin Dubai was invited to dine at Shanghai Chic, the Mövenpick hotels primary Asian restaurant out in Ibn Battuta.

The main hall of the hotel has a beautiful high ceiling and some really cool lighting features, a perfect grand entrance if you’re going to visit any of the hotel’s six restaurants.

The restaurant has the same beautiful high ceilings and a modern design, with dark wood and burgundy and black colour scheme throughout. We visited the restaurant last Tuesday – it was a ‘dry’ night in Dubai with the Eid holiday starting the next day.

Shanghai Chic wasn’t packed with people and to be honest lacked an atmosphere that some restaurants effortlessly create. Though this could be because it was a dry night, when we return for a second helping of prawns we’ll let you know!

The Food

Their menu offers modern Chinese cuisine at reasonable prices. We went for the tasting menu which is available every night. You would be a fool to come here and choose the à la carte menu, their tasting menu offers an unlimited selection of their entire menu served up beautifully by the staff.

We started with some thinly sliced scallop with pumpkin foam surrounded by a red cabbage jus. The scallop, which is tricky to cook, was done just right. An excellent start.

Next a selection of appetizers arrived.

The Chef’s Creative poh-piah cup, followed by the highlight of the night: the pan – grilled lobster cake in a Thai summer mango salad, then Kunafa wrapped prawns in a sour fruit dressing, handmade vegetarian spring rolls and steamed chicken Siew Mai.

Yes that is just the appetizers…we were hungry! What we loved was the range of delicious flavour in each dish and although we chose what we wanted from the menu, the plate sizes weren’t huge so it wasn’t over whelming.

The highlight was the pan-grilled lobster cake, I could have eaten five more. I also loved how well the kunafa prawns were prepared, they were incredibly light to eat and the sour fruit dressing was the perfect side.

Next came the main course. Unsure of what to order the chef, Pele, suggested we try the fried prawns covered in a wasabi mayonnaise. Beneath the prawns (which were covered in wasabi mayonnaise with just the right amount of spice) we found some really crisp watermelon, it sounds like a weird combo but it really worked. While the menu here changes on a monthly basis the wasabi prawns are a constant, seriously if you head out here make sure you add the prawns to your order!

After Pele’s suggestions we ended up with six small main courses to share.

All this and some beautifully cooked oven – baked tilapia (a fresh water fish). My guest couldn’t wait and started digging into the fist before I could take a worthy photo. To say we enjoyed a feast would be an understatement. The unexpected highlight was the prawns. The beef tenderloin was tender and juicy, another hit. We also loved the chicken, so so tasty, cooked with peppers and red oinions, not exactly the most exciting dish but the flavours were spot on.

The only disappointment of the meal was the salmon, over cooked and lacking in taste. The menu says crispy salmon but it was beyond the point of nicely crisped.

Finally we moved on to dessert. We ordered tea in lieu of dessert however Cherrie – our lovely hostess for the evening persuaded us to try a few of their best.

We could only fit in a little dessert but we loved the creme brulee. The hard crack of the dessert revealing the light consistent cream beneath was exactly how a creme brulee should be and we were delighted to finish dinner on such a high note.

The Staff

You really couldn’t fault the staff here. Cherrie the hostess greeted us and took care of us throughout the evening while Chris our waiter was very attentive and extremely knowledgeable about the menu. They were both very kind when my guest asked if she could take one of their menus with her – not a normal request but they were okay with it!

Prices and the boring stuff

For an unlimited tasting menu selection the price is AED199 which is very reasonable for the quality and service you receive.

The restaurant is in the Mövenpick hotel, about six minutes walk from Ibn Battuta Metro station or a two minute taxi. If you go by car the building is hard to miss.

The Verdict

Shanghai Chic is located in an impressive Mövenpick hotel in a slightly less impressive Ibn Battuta location.

While we loved the food the restaurant is not really that convenient. To have a great night here we suggest bringing a group of friends for a real tasting treat night. The only real problem is the unlimited selection, you may have to be rolled out of there!