New Year's Eve Tasting Menu at Madison

If you were in any city aside from Shanghai during Christmas, it is highly doubtful you would even know Christmas was near if not for the calendar and colder weather. Trying to make the best of something celebrated elsewhere in a country not accustomed to recognizing it makes it a challenge. Why not then go balls to the walls with a fancy meal to celebrate a Western religious and cultural holiday tradition? Out of all the restaurants in Shanghai, Madison has left the greatest impression (though Avalon might have been up there if Hilary Ambrose did not leave), so why not try a holiday meal there? Austin Hu told us what he had in the works in early December, something slightly closer to home sounded great. There were two menus to choose from between 8 courses and 5 being set at 688RMB and 388RMB respectively. The set menu for each was about the same, but with the smaller 5-course dinner, out went the Smoked Trout - Housemade Trout Caviar, Pickled Water Celery, Chestnut Chips, Foie Gras Ravioli - Braised Goose Leg, Cranberry Compote, Hazelnut Crumble, and Yogurt Panna Cotta - Plum Compote, Prosecco. As much as the 8-courses tempted the stomach, the wallet (and waist line) was not having it.

I would also like to say as much as I am opposed to taking photos with flash in a dining room, the camera being used was not up to par for the task so concessions were made. Hence, the hodgepodge of flash and no-flash shots.

First off was the Warm Cauliflower Flan with Chinese Caviar served in a shot glass and a little metal spoon (note this is not a "mother-of-pearl" spoon to avoid giving the caviar a metallic tinge, but this should not be something to complain about given the circumstances). The origins of the caviar was not made clear aside from the indication that it is "Chinese," but not even the sort of fish it was harvested from was known. The flan was light and delicately sweet, hinting only of cauliflower. The caviar was delightfully salty, slightly acidic, and bitter, cutting into each creamy, warm bite of eggy flan in a way that will widen the horizon of the palate.

Next we were served the cured kampachi with hawthorne jelly and decorated with purple gynura leaves. As soon as the dish is set down, truffle aromas permeate the air. It was similar to the cured fish from Goga (Brad Turley's restaurant in Shanghai). It was not a heavy dish being cool and not over-seasoned to emphasize the cured kampachi and also anticipating the other courses to come in the meal. The Hawthorne jelly gave it a slightly sweet taste, bringing out the fresh sweetness of the fish.


Prawns had a saffron-vanilla sauce and rested on Chinese watercress. It was only one moderately sized prawn, which made you wish there were two instead of one. Following the cured kampachi, the saffron-vanilla sauce continued the slightly sweet savory palate. Perhaps this sweetness permeating the entire menu is an ode to the fact that the restaurant is in Shanghai and also is celebrating the Shanghainese sweet-tooth. Cutting into the prawn, watercress, and other roasted vegetables in the dish, I carefully put each equal-sized piece on my fork with a swirl in the saffron-vanilla sauce to get the perfect bite.

A traditional American Christmas meal is not complete without the holiday goose. However, Austin Hu did not present the table with an entire goose, but rather a sliced pan-roasted goose breast with sunchoke puree, braised treviso, and truffle vinaigrette. The goose tasted game-like and rich, warming the senses as well as filling the stomach. Using goose instead of other fowl made this course taste more decadent only for its more rare use in Shanghai and everyday meals because of its rich flavor and fattiness.

Before the dessert course, there was a long break. The server asked if we would like coffee or tea to accompany our dessert or act as a digestif.

The dessert was a peanut butter chocolate opera cake with raspberry ice cream. The raspberry ice cream was more a sorbet than ice cream for the clear lack of silky dairy texture. The cake served at room temperature was not undercooked or too dry. The tartness of the raspberry balanced the richness of the chocolate.

Compared to the other courses in the meal, the cake was relatively large and you would almost say the portion was generous. If your stomach was not full from the small tastings, the peanut butter chocolate opera cake will definitely fill any voids left. A fellow diner had stated before the meal that everything was delicious, but so small. After consuming the incredibly rich cake, that same diner was decidedly full almost as if to say that the cake served the same function as rice at the end of a meal.

The Christmas Eve meal was thoroughly enjoyable. Eaten in small bites, the entire meal could be found as filling as the diner is meant to relish in the flavors and not find gluttonous satisfaction in a large volume of food. As a pillar of American fine dining in Shanghai, I would have hoped for more takes on classic American Christmas dishes than bringing in the fusion of Chinese culture. Though, being in Shanghai, the menu represented the finer touches of each.