Best Food In China

Location

On a very crowded Tuesday night in Xintiandi, my friend and I headed down to Kabb Bar and Grill, the higher-end sibling of the Blue Frog chain of bars. Like its sibling, it serves American cuisine in a relaxed and warm environment.

For warmer evenings, there are tables and chairs outside to enjoy continental, alfresco dining. This lets you savour the atmosphere of eating in the very nice surroundings of the shikumen-style houses. Inside, with its deeply coloured wooden furniture and bar, the establishment has what could almost be described as a log cabin feel. This helps the restaurant give customers a laid back dining experience in a lively atmosphere good for a meal and a few drinks after work.

We started off with a huge mound of nachos (85rmb) complete with hot jalapenos, sour cream, chilli and a guacamole dip. This was easily enough for two. We then followed with a Norwegian salmon salad (110rmb). It was topped with thin strips of Parmesan cheese and plenty of fresh Norwegian salmon.

For our main courses, we chose soy glazed sea bass (150rmb) and a sirloin steak (260rmb). The soy glaze was an attempt to give the sea bass an “Oriental” flavour. However, I thought it left the fish slightly bitter. On the other hand, the sirloin steak, accompanied with some very nice garlic mashed potato, was excellent. It is always a pleasure to eat a good steak and this was no exception. It was peppered, juicy and very satisfying. Both dishes were served with a variety of vegetables that had been a little too lightly sautéed, leaving them hard and undercooked.

To finish the meal we ordered classic cheesecake (60rmb). This claimed to be the best cheesecake in Shanghai, so expectations were high! However, it did not live up to our expectations and left a strange aftertaste in the back of one’s mouth. In comparison, the apple pie (55rmb) was very good, with apples, not too hard and not too soft, coated with a lovely cinnamon sauce.

The restaurant has an extensive wine list that has new recommendations every month. With our meal, we had the sweet but very palatable house wine. The waitresses are attentive, although at times overly so, happy to help and all English speaking.

Like most, if not all, of the restaurants in Xintiandi, Kabb is a little on the expensive side, but it does have a very good range of steak from “the grill.” For the early birds among you, it also serves up a breakfast menu starting from 7am. Although some of the dishes may be a little overpriced, the steak, the main reason for coming to this restaurant, is very good and, for a meat lover, it’s worth a try.

David Evans

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