Best Food In China

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Restaurants in hotels can be hit or miss. There are some things that you can always expect and the Howard Johnson All Suites Restaurant is no different. The hotel restaurant's carpet was of dubious design and you have to pay an indefensible 15% service charge, but unlike many of the hotels in Shanghai the food was very much a hit.

The food throughout the meal was excellent and for a critic extremely hard to criticise. We stated with carpaccio served with asparagus and salad. The meat was at the perfect temperature and combined with the parmesan cheese beautifully.

This was followed by a watery mushroom soup, which I would normally have turned my nose up at, but in this case the broth was delicious and bursting with mushroom flavour along with a few mushrooms.

We then moved onto the tuna and tomato pasta. I am not a fan of al dente, whether the Italians eat it this way or not, I could not care less, fortunately in this case it was cooked to perfection and was delicious.

For our main courses my partner and I tried the venison and the beef. Not having seen any deers in China, on a menu or otherwise, I was a little apprehensive as to the outcome of the dish but I was extremely surprised. The meat was full of flavour and extremely tender, although, the roast potatoes were a little under cooked. The beef was also excellent and a very good size steak.

Dessert was a light and airy cheese cake accompanied with a small selection of chopped fruit. Then, very satisfied, I sat back in my seat and contemplated about how I should really join a gym before dismissing the idea as I polished off the last of my very nice red wine.

Having just spent the last few paragraphs telling you how great the food was, I would be amiss if I didn’t now tell you about some of the short comings of the service. Granted I am very picky when it comes to quality service, but changing the cutlery for the next course when we were still in the middle of the current one, clearing the plates before everyone has finished and not filling up my water until prompted, to name only a few mistakes, at a restaurant that is by no mean cheap, this was disappointing.

The food was exceptional and easily one of the best meals I've had in a Shanghai hotel. However, the service rated near the bottom of pile. If you live in the area and you are willing to excuse the poor service then the Howard Johnson All Suites Restaurant cooks very, very good meals.

- by David Evans

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