Madison Brunch - A Locavore Delight

Brunch is a weekend institution. It is not breakfast and it is not lunch. It is a way to spend time free of work responsibility and sharing conversation with friends over a comforting meal. Brunches are best when lazy requiring no set beginning or end, though dimming light is an indicator that perhaps Sunday dinner should have already started. In Shanghai, brunch tends to span between the hours of 11:00 to 15:00 accommodating the late-risers, church-goers, and everyone else in between needing midday nourishment. The options in Shanghai are endless, with the hotel brunches pushing their more expensive buffets in every free expat magazine. The majority of other brunch options involve a set meal with 2-3 courses, coffee or tea, and a pastry. Seeing the menu at Madison, everyone who had not brunched there before was surprised to see that there was no set meal option on the menu. With a decent-sized group ordering a myriad of items off the menu, the cost per person was actually less than the set menus of popular brunch spots, like Azul, which is right downstairs. You would expect the complete opposite when ordering a la carte!

All the egg options had a great twist to them, though we neglected to try the deviled eggs. My indifference to the choice probably came from the fact that I know of university students who have made their own in their dining halls. The scotch eggs were completely devoted to duck. The duck eggs were encased in duck sausage and had a healthy dollop of whole-grain mustard and rocket on top. It was cut into quarters, which made it easy to share. The scrambled eggs were a favorite. The eggs were not dry nor runny with all sorts of mushrooms and served on top of a puff pastry round. Immediately when the server puts the plate down, you need to attack as the pastry would go soft from the wet egg on top. There was also a hint of truffle oil in the scrambled eggs. The eggs Benedict came out with a healthy serving of hollandaise sauce over pig trotters and muffin. The shredded pig trotters were compacted into a flat disk that flaked apart nicely when cutting into the egg and the bread it sat upon. The hollandaise sauce was thick and not too acidic, complimenting the pig trotter.


Other highlights on the menu included the incredibly creamy Chili Biscuits, house-cured pancetta, potato pancakes with sweet house-made catsup, and the breads (chocolate bun and cinnamon bun). One good thing about the rolls were that the buns were cooked all the way through and you were not left with a doughy mess on the inside. Not so impressive were the beignets, which were more fried donut holes than the pillows of dough doused with powdered sugar from Cafe Du Monde an American commonly associates with the word "beignet." Being an American fine dining establishment, a refined take on the classic donut with chocolate, berry, and cinnamon dips could be forgiven, but to call it a beignet is something I do not agree with. The French toast with yogurt and berry was good, but not an outstanding point on the brunch menu. To top off an already slightly sweet meal, we recieved a s'mores and pb&j trifle. The s'mores trifle had bits of chocolate cake, thick marshmallow creme, chocolate pudding, and a giant graham cracker cookie stick. The pb&j trifle had their wonderfully creamy and rich peanut ice cream, berry, and creme with toast sticks as garnish to complete the "sandwich concept." Sprinkled on top of both were what seemed to be crushed pistachios with a sort of medium-ball sugaring.




The brunch at Madison is really good, especially for the quality you get for the price. Taking into consideration the locavore trend in Shanghai is barely beginning, it is nice to see Austin Hu leading the pack. Madison is by far the best brunch in Shanghai when it comes to an American standard.

Madison. 3/F, 18 Dongping Lu, near Hengshan Lu. 东平路18号, 近衡山路. Shanghai, People's Republic of China.