Creek Kitchen
This might not be the easiest restaurant in the world to find but when you do you are stepping into a little bit of Shanghai culture and history. The building, tucked away among a group of long tong (narrow alleyways), was originally a flourmill that was converted into a clothes factory back in 1949. This was until a Norwegian businessman and his wife bought it a few years ago and turned it into an Italian restaurant and a contemporary art gallery, giving young Chinese artists a chance to display their talent.
The owners of the building have tried to maintain the original look and feel of the building and have succeeded. The building retains the rustic character of the old Shanghai that is slowly being eroded by skyscrapers and high-rise apartment blocks.
The restaurant overlooks Suzhou creek and has a warm homely feel to it. The décor is in keeping with the style of the building and maintains a down to earth feeling and atmosphere.
We started the meal with calamari (69rmb) and bruschetta (20rmb). The calamari was very tasty and not at all chewy as it sometimes can be. The bruschetta was a little disappointing as the bread was cold and the tomato topping very plain.
Then we moved on to a Parma ham pizza (89rmb), which was excellent. The pizza was thin and crispy with delicious, thin slices of Parma ham placed on top. It made a change to eat a traditional Italian pizza in a city overrun with Pizza Huts and Papa Johns. The menu has a wide selection of different toppings if Parma ham is not to your liking.
For the main course we had grilled veal with mushrooms (169rmb) and Osso buco (169rmb), which is a meaty Italian stew. Both were nicely presented with mashed potato, wrapped to look like a spring roll and a few vegetables. The veal, accompanied by a small serving of risotto, was a little chewy and not very flavoursome. The Osso buco on the other hand was very tasty filling the mouth with a meaty, homely flavour.
This was all finished off with desert. The chef’s special (59rmb) was a mix of four different deserts. We had ice cream, a strawberry juice drink, cheesecake and tiramisu. The cheese cake and tiramisu were soft and melted away as soon as I popped them in my mouth, providing proof, if it was ever needed, that you should always leave room for dessert!
The atmosphere makes Creek Kitchen a lovely place to relax with friends or to take a date. However, I have to say that although the setting is beautiful, the service good and the house wine excellent, the food was a little disappointing. It is very nicely presented but for the price I expected a little more. Some of the dishes lacked any discernable flavour.
David Evans
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