Today happens to be Tomb Sweeping Day, a Chinese holiday where ancestors are honored and graves are tended. Since we had the day off, we decided to make the most of it by having lunch on the Bund. Many of the restaurants in this exclusive neighborhood are prohibitively expensive for dinner but offer set lunches at greatly reduced prices. We settled on the “modern French eatery,” Mr & Mrs Bund. It is located in the former Chartered Bank building which was built in 1922 and stands next to the Swatch Art Peace Hotel.
The restaurant is located on the 6th floor of the art deco building and has a bright and funky ambiance. We requested and received a table by the window so we could enjoy the stunning view. I was also given a tiny chair to discretely hold my purse.
The lunch set is 200 RMB for two courses or 250 RMB for three. This price includes one side item but adding a drink will cost an extra 50 kuai. Don’t feel like you have to spring for that pricey bottle of Evian though, as cold tap water will be served upon request. We opted for glasses of the house wine which happened to be from Chile. We were served a tasty amuse bouche platter, consisting of a basket of fresh-from-the-oven bread and a tuna mousse so light it was almost a foam.
Our first course arrived before we had time to fill up on bread. The Caesar salad was good, though slightly over dressed, and came with two skewers of tender grilled chicken breast. The “fois gras light crumble,” meanwhile, was outstanding. It consisted of a pot of crumbly yet smooth foie gras topped with raisins and candied hazelnut pieces, served along side granny smith apple slices and lightly charred bread.
Hubby enjoyed the ribeye steak along with bearnaise sauce, an arugula salad and mashed potatoes. The steak had a wonderful flavor but was a bit too fatty for my liking. My risotto with shaved black truffle, Paris mushrooms and freshly grated Parmesan cheese was as wonderful and decadent as it sounds. The tomato salad with mustard dressing and fresh mint was a delightful accompaniment.
Everything up to this point was delicious, but the desserts elevated the meal to another level. The “chocolate very melting” turned out to be a dark chocolate cake with molten center sitting in a pool of raspberry sauce. The ice cream melted into the chocolate, creating a luscious soup. But the pièce de résistance was the “lemon & lemon tart.” A candied lemon had been hollowed out and filled with lemon sorbet, vanilla cream and a blood orange segment. It was the most unusual dessert we’ve encountered and it was outrageously good.
And I don’t normally go around photographing bathrooms, but this one was worth sharing. The only indicator of gender was a “Mrs” illuminated on the floor. If English isn’t your first language this may lead to an awkward encounter.
Mr & Mrs Bund Address: 18 Zhongshan East 1st Rd, Huangpu, Shanghai, China Set lunch: 200 RMB for two courses or 250 RMB for three ( about 33-41 USD)
That lemon & lemon tart looks interesting…!!! (Nice chatting with you!)
Loved the red chandliers. You are killing me with these desserts.
Mom
We might go here. There were enough choices on the menu that you could find something you liked and the desserts really were that good. I would eat them both again!
Next time I come we will spend more time checking out the different hotel lobbies and architure. Mom