Sunday 1:30pm – Madison Restaurant
Originally, I had wanted to go to M on the Bund for Sunday brunch. I used to LOVE M at the Fringe, and was devastated when it closed, citing renovation works for the Fringe Club. Have you seen any renovating going on since then?? Because I haven’t…!
Childish complaints aside, JL said that this was one of the top spots for brunch in Shanghai, so we changed tack and went there instead. Madison Restaurant is described by City Weekend Shanghai as an “casual yet upscale American eatery” – I had to look that up because brunch is usually not a good indication of the main direction of a restaurant. Eggs, toast, bacon, bloody mary – that’s what we were looking for after a night on the town in Shanghai. Having also just finished reading Kitchen Confidential, I know that brunch is the bane of a chef’s existence, and never really allows for too much creative flair.
Madison changes it up a little bit with some hits, and some misses.
Baby tomato compote over crispy mozzarella ¥36
The sweet shallot and balsamic glaze on this dish was quite nice, and the tomatoes surprisingly tasty, however the mozzarella was a bit too firm, and not as lusciously goo-ey as you might hope for.
Home made pork sausage, arugula, mustard. ¥35
This home made sausage was a big hit! Tender, flavourful, not too fatty. It don’t look too pretty, but you might still want to order two.
Stuffed brioche french toast – banana, streusel. ¥56
While this wasn’t a huge hit with my bro (he’s perhaps a bit biased because he is a die-hard fan of the French Toast at Simply Life and all others pale in comparison) – I liked that it was stuffed with banana rather than just slicing it on top. And I’m always a sucker for streusel.
Madison definitely does brunch differently. If there ever was a well-executed ‘fusion’ brunch – this is it. The chef has done a great job of taking brunch and making it interesting by either adding subtle Asian touches, or changing it up just that little bit to turn it from boring to special.
Poached egg – pig trotter croquette, housemade English muffin, XO hollandaise. ¥48
What a neat creation, and certainly the most original Eggs Benedict dish I’ve tried. I have never eaten a pigs trotter in my life, at yet the sound of this dish called out “EAT ME, EAT MEEEEE!” The croquette was tasty, the XO hollandaise was marvelous – it’s just a shame that they decided to drown everything in it! Ease up on the sauce, and this would be spot on.
Deviled eggs – house pickles, tempura chili flake. ¥26
Another great dish – the tempura chili flakes were like homemade chili Cheetos, and while no one touched the pickles, those little tasty morsels were all gone.
Now we come to the weirdest thing about this restaurant – the menu. While I have yet to see the Lunch or Dinner menu, the Brunch menu left us all a bit baffled and confused. How exactly were we supposed to order off this thing? The eggs are in one column, the sausage is in the other; doughnuts are right below country-fried steak; and the “A La Carte” section (wait a second, so aren’t we ordering a la carte with the rest of the menu??) includes a burger, smoked salmon waffle and… fresh yoghurt? Is it to share, or does one dish fill one person up?
A bit of a confusing menu…
After eating there, I can now tell you that these are brunch dishes that should be ordered Chinese style – get a bunch of them for the middle of the table and share it all. While this is a rather untraditional way to eat brunch, it’s the only way to do it with this menu. Unless, perhaps, you order the burger.
After that all that, I dragged everyone, luggage and all, to our final stop – M on the Bund…
What?? I wanted to eat Pavlova!
JL kindly drove us all over there. And might I add, she did so very well, cursing the odd crazy driver on the way. Bravo Jo!
M’s famous pavlova
- Turkish coffee, baklava and Turkish delight
As I have mentioned previously, the view from any one of the restaurants or bar along the Bund is amazing. I’ve heard the afternoon tea here is great, little sandwiches, scones and clotted cream – the works, and with a great backdrop. If you would like to take a look at the various menus, you can do so here.
If there was ever a meal with a view, this is it!
For some easy-to-access information for things to do, places to eat, places to let your hair down, and events in Shanghai, check out:
City Weekend Shanghai
That’s Shanghai
Smart Shanghai website
Enjoy Shanghai
Madison Restaurant
Bldg. 2, #3 Fenyang Lu
汾阳路3号2号楼 (近淮海中路)
Tel: (86-21) 6437-0136
M on the Bund
7/F, No.5 The Bund ( corner of Guangdong Lu )
中国上海市外滩广东路20号7楼
Tel: (86 -21) 6350-9988
Website: http://www.m-restaurantgroup.com/mbund/
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