Content area
Full text
Pin Yue Chinese restaurant at the newly opened hotel Hyatt Regency Chongming practices a farm-to-table dining philosophy.
Shanghai has a vibrant restaurant scene. New eateries open regularly, hotels invite guest chefs from different places around the world to spice things up and a growing number of celebrity chefs have a restaurant in the city.
According to a report by dianping.com, the biggest restaurant review website in China, there are a staggering 114,455 restaurants in Shanghai covering more than 20 different cuisines highlighted by Shanghainese, Cantonese and Japanese.
There are also a variety of dining concepts covering everything from child friendly restaurants such as Coca-Cola themed restaurant to Dadong where the wait staff recites a poem before the meal or Museo Foodbar that invited diners to paint after they finish eating.
Some restaurants have been opened by celebrities such as best-selling writer Han Han and use themselves as the selling point.
But some industry insiders express concerns about new restaurants.
"Both new Chinese and Western restaurants become easily trapped in a downward spiral," said David Du, chef de cuisine at Xin Da Lu, Hyatt on the Bund. "They put all their efforts into the first year - from building a concept to sourcing ingredients - to make it famous. But the quality declines in the second year and keeps getting worse and worse."
Influential food critic Xu Xianglai says customers can easily be confused by a restaurant's reputation.
"Don't confuse the life span of a restaurant with the life of food," he said. "Some restaurants survive well and even expand because they have investors, but the life of their food has already ended. They no longer focus on flavor, just cost and consistency."
Some high-end restaurants have responded by offering cheaper options.
South Beauty, a chain known for exquisite Sichuan food, now offers a bento box priced at either 26 yuan (US$4.2) or 38 yuan. Five-star hotel restaurants are also dropping prices. Summer Palace, a Chinese restaurant at Jing'an Shangri-La, West Shanghai sells dim sum for 12.8 yuan per dish and has waived the service fee.
Western restaurants are also finding it difficult to survive.
Western restaurants that do well usually have strong brand awareness due to a chef with Michelin stars or feature casual...