Say what you want about RMB180 all-you-can-eat/drink teppanyaki, but there comes a point in life when something a little more refined is called for. That’s where Ubuka steps in: a polished marble, brushed steel, RMB7,000-sake-selling sushi and teppanyaki spot, positioned right next to the Portman Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the Shanghai Centre.
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The brainchild of Hong Kong proprietor Dickson Wong, Ubuka aims to be a teppanyaki above the rest, with an exclusive grill room that seats approximately eight adjacent to a main dining room serving à la carte sushi. Two menus are currently on offer: RMB680, which gets you three amuse bouche, (below)
below, amuse bouche for the RMB1080 set
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organic salad, foie gras, caviar and steamed egg (below), king prawn with hollandaise sauce, fried codfish, wagyu snow beef or Boston red lobster for mains, grilled seasonal vegetables, eel fried rice or udon and miso soup, followed by a seasonal dessert.
King prawn with hollandaise sauce
Take a step up to the RMB1080 menu, and receive all the above with the addition of seafood and avocado salad, uni instead of foie gras, a fresh sashimi selection (below)
and a bigger serving of beef or Canada green baby lobster. RMB400 is a pretty steep step up to take, but the quality of the fresh sashimi platter, including a particularly hefty chunk of otoro (fatty tuna) arguably makes it worthwhile, although diners indulging in the lesser-priced menu will surely not leave feeling hungry­ – both sets are enormous.
Waygu beef
Apart from the sashimi set, which obviously takes its cue from Japanese traditions, we might go so far as to describe other Ubuka’s teppanyaki dishes as ‘fusion,’ particularly the fried codfish and king prawn with an admittedly ‘French’ sauce. However it was back to the Japanese pantheon of teppanyaki with an excellent unagi (freshwater eel) egg fried rice dish (below), the oily flavor of which was complimented by a peppering of kyurizuke pickles.
A final flourish came in the form of an inspired miso soup (below), served with the head of a king prawn that featured in one of our earlier courses. Boasting an incredible, ocean-y umami hit, the flavors of this resourceful dish were incredibly deep while remaining light.
Outside in the main dining room, Ubuka serves a la carte mid-range and premium sushi, sukiyaki, tempura and grilled dishes starting from around RMB200 per person (and steeply upwards from there). Flashy and sleek, Ubuka is a good place to consider for out of town guests, business dinners and hot dates. While certainly far from casual, the RMB680 teppanyaki strikes us as a particularly good value considering all of the fancy ingredients.
Price: From RMB200-1080 per person
Who’s going: Hotel clientele, well-heeled locals, businessmen
Good for: Seafood lovers, Japanese food, sake, dates, business dinners.
> See a listing for Ubuka Teppanyaki.
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