In 1998, Yè Shanghai opened in Pacific Place, and a new taste was born in Hong Kong. This Elite Concepts restaurant earned acclaim for its distinctive cuisine and stylish ambiance. Elite Concepts is now operating four Yè Shanghai high-end restaurants in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kowloon, and Taipei.
The Hong Kong location has one Michelin star. Plus, there are other venues by Elite Concepts in Wan Chai, Central, and Tsim Sha Tsui Kowloon featuring Sichuanese dishes.
The food is on the pricey side, but definitely worth a visit. If you’re overwhelmed by the menu choices, go for the table d’hôte menu, as it contains a little of everything from the Yangtze River Delta region. Everything is cooked with impeccable technique, which means braising, roasting, flash-frying and steaming.
Yè Shanghai literally means “Shanghai Nights.” You could eat like a Chinese emperor at any of the Yè Shanghai establishments. The food is authentically Shanghainese with freshwater crabs and an assortment of other regional favorites – a contemporary interpretation of classic dishes from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. The xiaolongbao is absolutely delicious.
Those who have visited Yè Shanghai venues in Hong Kong have sampled some of the renowned cold Shanghainese dishes that make such excellent starters: drunken shrimp, smoked pomfret, and bean Jelly with cucumber, just to name three. There are also tangy sun-dried seafood dishes, succulent meat and poultry offerings, and superb crispy rice and noodle creations.
A live seafood selection is also featured on the menu. Guests can order their fish or seafood live, as it’s a regular Hong Kong practice, and have it cooked in a variety of ways – steamed, braised, or sautéed with garlic.
The crispy Cantonese roast duck skin is to die for. Definitely not a Shanghai dish, but wow, it’s spectacular!
Other Elite Concepts restaurants in Kowloon feature Sichuan cuisine with a wide array of intricate flavor elements, not just the familiar mouth-numbing sensations. Sichuanese food is considered one of the eight great cuisines of China and is unique, as chefs there are constantly playing with flavors.
Ants Climbing A Tree is a classic Sichuanese Dish, so called because the dish has bits of minced meat clinging to glass noodles, evoking an image of ants walking on twigs. The dish consists of minced meat, cooked in a Chilly Bean Paste sauce, over bean thread noodles.
You can’t go wrong at any of these restaurants, so be sure to try them when you’re in these Asian cities.
Nick A. Ross, a regular contributor to LuxuryWeb Magazine, is a retired banker who has eschewed retirement in London for adventure in Southeast Asia. He is currently based in Singapore after spending the last seven years in Guam. He did a “reverse Paul Gauguin, and he is not even French!” He now spends much of his time in Bangkok, Taipei, Hong Kong (when there are no riots), but he still visits the eastern Mediterranean in the summer whenever he has the opportunity. He loves traveling, good food, and good wine, and he enjoys the serendipities of life as they come along.
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