The Place
Wolfang Puck, Austrian-born celebrity chef, restaurateur and occasional actor, has finally graced Shanghai with his presence in the form of Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, newly opened in Xintiandi. We use the term 'presence' in a very loose form of the word, since there's little else to demonstrate of the eponymous chef save for the name.
ABOVE: the man himself at one of his 70 restaurants around the world.
At its core, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill is a swish-looking restaurant, catering to an affluent crowd of locals and largely American expats.
The interiors are subtly glamorous without being pretentiously so, a ribbed wooden structure swoops elegantly up the ceiling, counteracted by TV's showing sports at the bar.
The food
Here 'Wolfgang's' gone for accessibility over fanciness, the menu is a compact one-pager full of dishes that are neither overreaching, challenging, nor particularly creative.
As per usual, we kicked off with a couple of cocktails, which are exceedingly expensive (from RMB88-98). Behold Wolfgang Puck's Shanghai sour (below), fine, but not nearly enough bourbon for RMB98.
Better value is the housemade red sangria (below, RMB60), with red wine, brandy and fresh fruit. We liked this, but there are many other better versions of this classic Spanish refreshment to be guzzled in Shanghai, notably elEfante and Pirata.
Onto the food! Sweet and spicy chicken wings (below, RMB78) came first, tasty and crispy but also remarkable for the fact they only contained one bone. Intriguing stuff, Wolfgang.
Next a starter of grilled spanish octopus with fingerling potato salad and romesco sauce (below, RMB110). Taste-wise this dish was absolutely fine, but for the price, we honestly expected something a little more robust than the spindly octopus leg we received. Again, see Pirata if you want to try a really good octopus leg.
Entree dishes play it safe, adopting a 'something for everyone' strategy. There's your classic beef burger (RMB110), roasted seabass (RMB200) and marinated chicken (RMB145) for the diner who's avoiding carbs, a salmon salad (RMB180) for the one who's on a diet, and spaghetti tomato-basil-garlic sauce (RMB110, with meatballs: RMB185) for the fussy diner who won't eat anything too challenging.
We tried the latter (above), and it was fine, but not RMB185 fine. Pretty nice sauce, spaghetti cooked right the way through how local diners like it, loose pork meatballs on the side. Average in all except price.
Much, much better was the flat iron "steak frites," served with a massive slice of herb compound butter (RMB220).
We have to say, this steak was cooked exactly as we requested (medium rare), the meat was streaked with the right amount of fattiness to complement the frites. Extra points for the delicious herb butter.
Side dishes were a disappointment with the exception of a profoundly basic broccolini with garlic, chilli and extra virgin olive oil (RMB45).
We couldn't help but LOL at the 'mac 'n' cheese with truffle crumbs' (RMB55).
Which as you can see is neither macaroni, nor truffle crumb, and it wasn't particularly cheesy either. I'm not sure why they're using orecchiette pasta instead of macaroni, but it sure doesn't work. Also didn't appreciate being lured in with the promise of truffle only for them to simply not include it. NOT cool.
Wood oven-roasted rainbow carrots (RMB50) were also not rainbow-hued, unless your rainbow consists of yellow and orange.
Food verdict: 1.5/3
The vibe
The food might be underwhelming, but the service here is on point. There were at least four courteous, English-speaking servers on hand at our corner of the dining room alone, all of whom were confident and organized.
The place is also possessed of a kind of energy that comes from being in a high foot traffic area like Xintiandi, it's always going to feel busy, vibrant and generally lively. You won't be able to totally let loose here and down drink after drink (unless you're made of money), but it's the kind of place you could come for relaxed dinners, dates and so on.
Vibe verdict: 1/1
Value for money
Prices here seem a little steep, but unlike other high end establishments in Shanghai, there is no service charge, and little things such as table water are free. As such, you could reasonably expect to come in and eat for under RMB200 if you're thrifty.
So should you give a Puck about Wolfgang's new place? Yes, if you're in Xintiandi, largely barren of good restaurants. No, if you're not.
Value for money: 0.5/1
TOTAL VERDICT: 3/5
Price: RMB200-450 per person
Who's going: expats and locals
Good for: casual dinners, dates
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