As in the world of fashion labels, restaurants that are institutions always have a name to live up to. You have to keep things fresh but you can't stray too far from the original identity and signatures.
Shang Palace Cantonese fine dining restaurant (est. 1986) down on the river at Shangri-La Bangkok, not long ago invested US$4 million in a re-design which turned out textbook. There's an overwhelming sense of freshness, in part reflecting greater spaciousness and more natural light, but at the same time it's soooo Shang Palace —classic but colourful, playful but respectful. Even its definitive gilded Happy Buddha seems re-incarnated.
Much the same applies to the cuisine, where newish Hong Kong Executive Chef Sham Yunming and seasoned (sic) Hong Kong BBQ Chef Po Wai Cheng hold court. Deftly managing to be thoroughbred Cantonese, they yet avert clichés. They even extend the great culinary tradition with new dishes that slot in seamlessly, so doing for Cantonese cuisine what Karl Lagerfeld does for Chanel.
With arguably the biggest change from the former Shang Palace being the creation of a widescreen window overlooking the rushing river, ushering in a new sense of freedom, one doesn't need a feng shui master to confirm that everything's planned auspiciously: it just feels right.
The eye-candy design in natural shades of saffron, russet, red and green features lace fretwork screens, celestial carpets, Tang dynasty-inspired chairs, hand-painted silk motifs of exotic flora and cockatoos and stained glass windows.
A sensuously curved arrival area offers a chic setting for the gathering of guests. The inner courtyard is flanked to the right by a veranda area and to the left by individual private dining chambers for 10-110.
Overhead, four massive crystal chandeliers form canopies of crystal stars with ornate wood carving centrepieces, so exemplifying the fine detail that rewards one's gaze wherever it rests.
Named after gemstones, each private dining room boasts its own unique collection of artwork and lattice works. Fabric-glass features ornament the doors and add translucency to the rooms. All with individual music controls, self-contained lighting, air conditioning and high-speed Internet access.
The decentralised kitchen area, the restaurant's beating heart, is structured and designed to maximise efficient food preparation and production. Besides the main cooking section, dim sum and barbecue chefs cook signature dishes in their own kitchens, and there's a separate live seafood kitchen also.
Top quality ingredients are imported from the regional province where each original recipe comes from. The new a la carte menu showcases an extensive selection of dishes, including live seafood and barbecue specialties, desserts, and over two dozen dim sums. Beyond Cantonese cuisine there are also dishes from Sichuan, Huiyang, Shanghai and other regions.
As tea drinking is an integral element in enjoying Chinese cuisine, a variety of rare tea leaves from China beyond the popular oolong and green tea. Also featured on the beverage menu are Chinese white wine, fine cognacs and bourbons.
Signature dishes include bird's nest with crab roe and crab meat, double-boiled chicken soup with fish maw and top shell, Hong Kong-style roasted goose, traditional roasted whole Peking duck and dumpling soup with bird's nest and chicken.
The impact has not gone unnoticed. Lunch times are buzzing these days as a value offering on dim sum and Peking duck draws diners in. Until 30 December 2014 (not including 5 December), Shang Palace is offering a delectable 50 per cent discount on 25 best-selling dim sum dishes for lunch from Monday to Friday. Moreover, guests ordering a Peking Duck receive a voucher for a free Peking Duck on their next dinner visit.
The extensive high quality dim sum selection, ranges crabmeat Xiao Long Bao to bird's nest dumpling soup, all helpfully labelled vegetarian, nuts, gluten free, pork.
We indulged in deep-fried shrimp and sesame spring rolls (100), baked barbecued pork pastries (90), steamed shrimp and bamboo shoot dumplings (120), deep-fried crab meat spring rolls (100), deep-fried crab claw rolls (140), steamed seaweed rolls with minced shrimp (90), steamed fish stuffed with minced shrimp (90), steamed sweet cream buns with pandan (80), steamed mashed egg yolk buns (80), and crispy BBQ pork buns (100), from the 50% off selections, and crispy prawn rice rolls (140) and steamed scallop Siew Mai (150) from the regular price items.
Where fat juicy portions of steamed shrimp combine with sesame batter or soft noodles and delicate seasonings, these are indeed aristocrats among dim sums. Chefs' triangular BBQ pork flaky pastry buns are also understandably best sellers.
The steamed sweet cream buns were particularly eye-catching – a bright green derived from a subtle infusion of pandan, contrasting with the bright orange, piping hot yolk inside.
Each piece is a large serving with mostly three and sometimes two items each. The number four is avoided because it has negative connotations in Chinese (and as I witnessed a four-car fender-bender on the way home, there is probably something in that).
The Peking Duck is also well worth tucking into. The crispy skin is carved by a staff wearing white gloves direct from the whole bird resting on a silver platter on a trolley beside the table. The finest flour is used to make the pancakes and the sauce is superb. When the duck meat was returned to us in pepper sauce, that, too, was scrumptious.
We also sampled some of Chef Po Wai Cheng's labours of love, particularly enjoying the BBQ pork with crackling, as tasty and succulent as any Sunday roast, as well as some of the best marinated BBQ pork and roast duck you will ever find.
Cantonese desserts feature special recipes from Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Macau, and South East Asia. We enjoyed excellent sweetened hot almond cream and gingko nuts with egg white (180), and a special plate of black sesame bonbons.
Shang Palace never really went out of style but it had to keep pace with the times. Now it is more than ever the height of contemporary Cantonese fine dining fashion with its cute new looks combining compellingly with its to-die-for cuisine.
Open daily 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch from Monday to Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch on Sunday and from 6:00 to 10:30 p.m. daily for dinner.
SHANG PALACE Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok 89 Soi Wat Suan Plu.
Tel. 02 236 7777.
