Little Catch
Co-owners Wenyi Huang and Jiayi Huang opened Shanghai’s very first poke bowl shop, Little Catch, back in 2014 – just as the poke bowl popularity wave was sweeping the globe.
READ MORE: 5 of Our Favorite Shanghai Poke Bowls
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Starting out as a premium fishmonger selling restaurant quality fish and seafood, Little Catch grew into a local chain of poke shops after their bowls became an instant hit.
They essentially brought Shanghai the poke bowl back in the day, along with supplying customers with those once hard-to-find ingredients like anchovies, cuttlefish ink, oysters, and filleted monkfish and cod.
What a different time that was.
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Well, after a quiet couple of years due to COVID, city lockdowns, and country lockouts, this dynamic sister duo has decided it is once again time to make some noise, expanding their menu with a slew of summer eats and treats, plus creative Japanese and regional Asian bites.
Sambal Salmon Poke Bowl (RMB72). Image by Sophie Steiner/That’s
Their signature items – the masterpiece that is the poke bowl – still remains, but with a handful more options...
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A Southeast Asian twist on customary Guac and Chips (RMB48), creamy avocado is smashed with Thai-inspired ingredients – fish sauce, coriander, mint and Thai basil – dotted with cherry tomatoes and edible garlic flowers.
Puffed shrimp chips act as the ideal scooping and serving vessel, a seafoody crunch that augments Mother Nature’s very own “butter of the earth.”
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Inspired by the state’s Japanese community, the Hawaiian-style Fried Chicken (RMB56) sees boneless chicken thigh marinated with egg, soy, ginger and garlic, coated with sweet glutinous rice flour (mochiko) for a chewier mouthful, rounded by an aroma of toasted rice and nori.
The juicy chicken nibbles are best enjoyed dunked in a furikake-laced lemon kewpie mayo.
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Mains see seafood-focused plates, like the Dancing Shrimp Bowl (RMB119) – a chirashi-style sashimi bowl with silken Arctic amaebi shrimps, ponzu-marinated scallops, glistening beads of salmon roe that pop on tongue impact, and a raw egg yolk that slickly coats each individual grain of furikake-dusted sushi rice, enhanced by the addition of homemade carrot and radish pickles, and egg strips.
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The king of epic Shanghai salads, the Torched Miso Tuna Salad (RMB98) is a verdant spread of mixed greens interspersed with seasonal cherry tomatoes and tian dou (甜豆) – chubby spring peas, prized for their overt and natural sweetness.
That bed of spring freshness is then topped with miso-marinated and tataki-style torched tuna belly, plus additional accoutrement like a soft-boiled jammy egg, wispy bonito flakes, toasted almonds, and a generous dribble of a ponzu ginger vinaigrette.
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Dessert is no afterthought, with a health conscious (yet equally delectable) take on mango sticky rice.
In this case, the rice is swapped for creamy coconut chia pudding, adorned with seasonally ripe chunks of mango, crushed peanuts, toasted rice, and a treacly drizzle of honey – a sweet tooth satisfying bite guaranteed not to foil your upcoming swimsuit goals.
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New drinks are equally seasonal and refreshing, spanning a sour and funky homemade Pineapple Kombucha (RMB38); a Green Detox Juice (RMB38) with celery, cucumber, kale, apple and lemon; and eye-catchingly purple Dragonfruit Juice (RMB38) – a summer slushie of red dragon fruit, lime and ice.
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Little Catch, 2C, 98 Yanping Lu, by Wuding Lu, 静安寺延平路98号2C, 近武定路.
Tomatito
Popular Spanish tapas joint Tomatito, helmed by Brazilian head chef Victor Vieira, has launched an abundantly sexy new spring menu, each bite more tantalizing (and titillating) than the last.
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Case in point, the Vieira Bomb (RMB38) is an in-your-face explosion of all that chef Victor has to offer.
Featuring a supple beetroot-cured and simultaneously smoked scallop, the resulting ombré pink effect showcases both culinary skill and a mastery of flavors.
Perched atop a corn and chili cream-filled puffed baguette crisp, the scallop is finished with a fragrant shallot salsa and a rib of scorched sweet corn kernels.
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An at once puffed and crisped fried brioche serves as the base for unctuous shaved Australian Wagyu and piped white truffle cream as the Showtime Montadito (RMB85).
To cut through the meat’s fatty pleats, a layer of tart Spanish tomatoes lends freshness, while earthy flecks of black truffle round out the morsel.
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A bite of spring, the Rollito Primavera (RMB28) see thick spears of asparagus encased in a mince of porcini mushrooms and pine nuts, all sheathed by a 'spring roll' wrapper.
Alternating dots of black garlic cream and smoked piquillo pepper sauce bring together the myriad of temporal tastes.
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A must-order for all tables, the King Crab Cold Curry (RMB268) offers a silky coconut-based Thai curry replete with herbal aromatics – like green chilis, basil, and lemongrass – topped with a heaping mound of succulent pulled king crab.
A velvety avocado cream lurks below the abundant crab layers, a welcome addition, along with a pleasantly icy pop owed to a green pepper granita.
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Chef Victor’s favorite seasonal dish, the Pollito Asado (RMB188) is a labor of love that is oh-so-worth the weeklong prep required.
Organic, free-range Chongming Island chicken is first brined for three days in a peppery mix of spices, before being dry-aged for another three days in melted Iberian pork fat.
On the seventh day, God said: “Let there be light” – in this case, in the form of fire, smoke and heat over apple wood.
The bird is finally roasted until crispy, with the resulting juicy flesh slinking away from the bone with ease, while the skin remains crackly, taut, and imbued with sweet smoke.
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An alternative to the more common paella, the Fideuá Negra de Pulpo (RMB285) centers around roasted angel hair pasta added to a squid ink paella sofrito – celery, onions, and carrots – tossed with Galician baby octopus and finished over high heat so the noodles char at the base.
A thick yet tender octopus tentacle adorns the top, along with whipped dollops of red pepper aioli and a lashing of lemon.
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Owing its name to Santana’s hit song of the same title, the Corazón Espinado (RMB98) is just that – a spiked heart – ready to be devoured, in the name of love.
An almond cookie base acts as an anchor for a raspberry and strawberry mousse, layered with passion fruit jelly.
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Coated in a dark chocolate shell, twisted spikes of passion fruit meringue add a fluffy touch of tartness, beckoning diners to “eat your heart out.”
Tomatito, Infinitus Mall, 3/F Room W08-10, 168 Hubin Lu, by Jinan Lu, 湖滨路168号3楼W08-10, 近济南路.
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[Cover image by Sophie Steiner/That's]
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