FOOD REVIEW: Inside London’s Most Opulent Chinese-Japanese Restaurant, Shanghai Me

High above Park Lane, a glossy Chinese-Japanese newcomer serves excess with a side of genuine craft.

If you want a shorthand for the crowd Shanghai Me attracts, consider this: on the night I visited, a boy who could not have been older than twelve sat at the table behind me, dressed head to toe in Maison Margiela. 

It is the kind of detail that tells you everything about the new Chinese-Japanese fusion restaurant occupying the twenty-eighth floor of the London Hilton on Park Lane, and about the appetite London still has for spectacle dining.

It will surprise nobody that this high-rise Mayfair address is thick with the Loro Piana-clad and the surgically refreshed, a clientele whose wealth is displayed with confidence and whose provenance is rarely interrogated. When they tire of Sexy Fish, or Novikov, or the theatrically charred plates at Chiltern Firehouse, this is evidently where they come instead. They have already arrived in force: a Wednesday evening, barely a week after opening, and the room is full to capacity.

Shanghai Me already operates in Doha and Dubai, with a Monaco outpost on the way, and there is something faintly uneasy about watching London slot into that particular constellation of cities. Whatever reservations one might have about the company it now keeps, the room itself argues a strong case. The interiors are unexpectedly restrained: full art deco detailing throughout, paired with paintings that read like 1990s Wall Street expressionism, all confident brushwork and moneyed swagger.

The menu is extensive, and largely exactly what you would expect from a restaurant of this ambition: Wagyu Dim Sum, Cod with Miso, Black Truffle Yellowtail. Guided by the staff, we ordered across the board: a few pieces of dim sum, a couple of starters, a spread of mains, determined to get the full measure of the kitchen rather than skim the highlights.

Tuna Tataki

The Tuna Tataki with avocado arrived first and set an immediately high bar, the kind of clean, precise plate you would expect from a serious omakase counter rather than a hotel rooftop. The Chicken Xiao Long Bao followed, soft-skinned and generous with a salty, peppered broth that ran the moment you bit in. The Wagyu beef and Shiitake Mushroom Fried Dumplings were a stranger pleasure altogether, tasting, somewhat improbably, like the finest steak and ale pie you have ever eaten, with a faint stickiness reminiscent of good Chinese ribs. But the dish that outshone everything else on the table was the 

Cantonese-style Roast Duck: moist, deeply savoury, herbed with real care, and about as close to perfection as a plate of duck gets.

Cantonese-style Roast Duck

Not everything landed with the same precision. The Shrimp Tempura arrived drenched in a sweet chilli sauce that was, in isolation, genuinely well made and cleverly elevated, but it had the unfortunate effect of soaking through what should have been a light, crackling batter. Order tempura, and you want tempura. This was something else entirely.

Among the mains, a Braised Beef came a touch dry but was rescued by a rich, tangy sukiyaki sauce with real depth. The cod with miso felt like an obvious choice for a restaurant like this, and while the fish itself was cooked with real skill, the miso glaze tipped into a sweetness that overwhelmed rather than complemented it; a simple squeeze of lemon would have done the fish more justice than the sauce did. 

Far better were the Broccoli in Oyster Sauce and the Prawn Fried Rice, unglamorous dishes on paper that had clearly been seasoned with real thought and cooked with a delicacy that made you forget, at least for a moment, that this kitchen is still finding its footing.

And that, more than anything, is the impression Shanghai Me leaves: a restaurant still working through its teething issues. Dessert brought a strangely deconstructed Matcha Tiramisu, which bore almost no resemblance to an actual tiramisu but still hit with the sugary force of a spring-loaded boxing glove, arriving alongside an erroneous "Happy Birthday" piped in chocolate calligraphy on the plate. Sweet, in every sense of the word, including the slightly wrong one.

There was every reason to walk in ready to be cynical about a place like this. Instead, it was genuinely enjoyable. The food, teething issues and all, has real pleasure in it. The people-watching is unmatched anywhere else in London right now. The views over the city are extraordinary, and the largely Italian front-of-house team served with warmth and real character throughout the evening. If what you are after is a loud, opulent date night spent rubbing shoulders with London's more anonymous elite, you could do a great deal worse than Shanghai Me.

The Vibe

Plush Asian fusion inside an actual ivory tower, twenty-eight floors above Park Lane.

The Food

An ambitious, all-of-the-above spread of elevated Chinese classics, carefully composed with the occasional stumble.

The Drink

A strong selection of both Baijiu and Sake, alongside cocktails styled around your zodiac sign. And, remarkably for Mayfair, a bottle of wine can still be had here for around £40.

Ask for a table by the window without hesitation. 

28th Floor, London Hilton on Park Lane, 22 Park Lane, London, W1K 1BE

Discovering Hospitality Ratings

Ambiance: 8/10

Service: 7/10

Presentation: 7/10

Food: 8/10

Value for Money: 8/10

Overall rating: 8/10