This article is a guest post from ID: andy_1018. If you also have a great article to share, feel free to contact [email protected] or let us know in the WeChat reader group.
About
Crystal chandeliers on the ceiling frame photos of jewelry-clad models, creating a luxurious, fashion-forward atmosphere. Leather sofas face floor-to-ceiling windows with sweeping views of the Huangpu River. The restaurant is led by an experienced Italian chef and serves authentic Italian cuisine.
Since I’ve been interning in Shanghai recently, I used that as an excuse to treat myself to a nice meal. The Shanghai Bulgari Hotel is located at Lane 108, North Shanxi Road, right by Suzhou Creek. If you’re arriving by metro, simply exit from Tiantong Road Station Exit 5 on Lines 10/12, and it’s about a 5-minute walk to the hotel lobby. The Shanghai Bulgari Hotel is home to two Michelin restaurants: the one-Michelin-star IL RISTORANTE Italian restaurant on the 47th floor of the hotel, and Bao Li Xuan, a two-Michelin-star Chinese restaurant on the third floor of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce building. This time, I went to try the one-Michelin-star Italian restaurant overseen by renowned chef Niko Romito.
Because of the earlier “tank top guy” incident, the restaurant now has certain dress code requirements. For example, men are not allowed to enter wearing shorts, slippers, or bathrobes. I had a 6:30 p.m. reservation, and from the moment I walked in, a staff member guided me the entire way and personally escorted me to my reserved table, so there was no awkwardness at all even if you’re unfamiliar with the setting or visiting for the first time. The staff smiled throughout, spoke gently, and never made me feel uncomfortable in any way.
Dining Experience
Before getting into the food, here’s a view shot.
Since there were three of us, we asked about ordering and learned that everyone at the table must either choose the same menu or all order à la carte. You can’t mix the sharing menu and the set menu. We specifically asked the restaurant’s floor manager about this, and the explanation was that each menu has a different concept, and to ensure guests have the best possible experience, they don’t allow different menus at the same table. That cleared up my confusion. In the end, we chose the sharing menu at RMB 1,800 per person.
The first course was a soup made purely from vegetables.
The first sip delivered a strong herbal flavor, almost like Chinese herbal medicine without the bitterness, which felt very novel to me. Then a burst of savory umami opened up across the palate, while the sage garnish gave the soup a distinct character. After swallowing, the herbal and savory notes gradually faded, leaving behind only a rich sweetness lingering on the tongue. The layers of flavor were impressive.
The second course was the bread service.
The sesame crisp was wonderfully fragrant. The bread crust was fairly firm, but the inside was soft and slightly sweet, which really suited my taste. That said, the bread was a little large, so it was easy to start feeling full before the main meal even began.
Next came four appetizers.
The first was slow-cooked lobster.
Compared with lobster sashimi, the seafood brininess in this low-temperature slow-cooked lobster was almost negligible, yet the soft, tender, naturally sweet texture was perfectly preserved.
The second was a cheese ball.
Just like its name suggests, it was intensely rich and cheesy. Inside, there was not only cheese but also creamy pasta. It may have been a calorie bomb, but the deep dairy richness made it hard to stop eating. The only issue was that together with the earlier bread course, anyone with a smaller appetite might already be about 80% full by this point.
The third was Italian tomato with bread.
When it was first served, I naively thought it was salmon with bread. Once I tasted it, the tomato flavor was actually quite light, leaving a very pure, refreshing impression. The only small downside was that the bread underneath was a little too firm for my taste.
The fourth was cantaloupe with ham.
From the first bite, my mouth was filled with the sweetness and juiciness of the cantaloupe. The melon was very low in fiber and practically melted in the mouth, while the ham’s flavor became even more pronounced and refined against that initial sweetness. The umami of the ham and the aroma of its fat gradually rose on the palate. Most surprisingly, the ham somehow gave me a soft, almost velvety sensation.
Then it was time for the main event.
The first dish was eggplant with mayonnaise.
Although green eggplant doesn’t have a particularly strong flavor on its own, it was very juicy. The mayonnaise on top, paired with minced garlic, gave the slightly undercooked eggplant an intriguing texture.
The second dish was veal with tuna sauce.
The tuna sauce had a very distinctive texture and flavor. The veal was tender and delicate, and together with the tuna sauce, it delivered savory notes with a subtle hidden creaminess.
The third dish was cod purée.
It looked like mashed potatoes, but it ended up being one of my top three dishes of the entire meal. Unlike ordinary cod purée or mashed potatoes, this version retained the fibrous texture of the fish, and that fish fiber created a unique granular mouthfeel. That texture didn’t take away from the cod’s tenderness at all. There was no need to chew—just a light press with the tongue, and “melts in your mouth” could not be more accurate.
The fourth dish was fish with pea sauce.
Maybe because I’m not a big fish person—especially raw fish—I wasn’t especially drawn to this dish, but the sauce definitely caught my attention. On the first bite, the sauce completely covered the fishiness, offering a flavor somewhere between mint and mustard that felt wonderfully cooling in the summer heat. The only minor drawback was that while the peas on top were very tender, they didn’t add much else.
Now for the mains.
The first was dumplings.
Each serving had 4 pieces, with a filling mainly made of tomato, beef, and parsley. Since I was already quite full by then, I didn’t form a particularly strong impression of this dish, which was a bit of a shame.
The second was the dish that impressed me most: medium steak with sides.
Sides
The beef had been marinated in advance, and both the flavor and texture were excellent. As a beef lover, I’ve had plenty of good beef, but this steak gave me a special impression: it felt remarkably cohesive. Unlike some beef that breaks apart into shreds when you chew and can even get stuck in your teeth, this one had exactly the right tenderness, with just a bit of chew but no stringy bits. As I kept chewing, I could gradually taste the aroma of the fat and the natural sweetness of the beef itself.
Beyond the steak itself, the side dish also amazed me and could easily rank among the most impressive dishes of the night. It looked like ordinary eggplant and didn’t smell especially remarkable, but the moment it hit my mouth, a rich incense-like aroma rushed up through my nose, almost like standing in a temple during worship, instantly elevating the entire dish. After that initial impact, the sweet-and-sour notes that followed were bright and appetizing, nicely balancing some of the richness of the beef.
Finally, dessert: ice cream with vinegar and raspberry sauce.
The ice cream was smooth, delicate, and creamy. Pairing ice cream with vinegar felt very unusual, yet unexpectedly harmonious. The milky richness of the vanilla ice cream combined with the acidity of 25-year-aged vinegar created a highly original pairing that made me appreciate the chef’s thoughtfulness.
One last view to share.
Final Thoughts
Although RMB 1,800 per person was indeed a bit pricey, it was still a very worthwhile experience for me. From the attentive guest service to the carefully prepared dishes with excellent execution, I was extremely satisfied.
During our conversation with Nancy, the hotel’s floor manager, we mentioned that the bread portion before the meal was a little too large, which left us unable to finish the dumplings later on. Nancy’s response really made me feel that she was thinking from the customer’s perspective. She showed no impatience at all, nor did she hide behind hotel rules as an excuse. Instead, she promised to actively relay the feedback to the kitchen and, before we even asked, proactively offered to help pack up the remaining dumplings and the unfinished bread. That made us feel genuinely cared for by the hotel.
If anyone wants to go, feel free to leave a comment—I know a sales contact there fairly well.