There are two Yè Shanghai restaurants in Hong Kong and this review is about the one on the Kowloon peninsula. Both restaurants offer great qualities, but our favourite one is the one on Kowloon. It feels like you are going back in time to old Shanghai when entering the restaurant.

Yè Shanghai is not owned by the Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel which it is housed inside; the restaurant is just a tenant of the hotel. Simply take the elevator up to the sixth floor and you enter a restaurant which offers something different compared to the most upscale Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong – here you will have flavours from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai cooking. The collective heading for all three is today Shanghainese. So not the typical Cantonese Chinese which is the most common in this part of the world. The foundation of the cuisine served is traditional Shanghainese cuisine, but you will soon notice differences here and there like the dim sum servings which you will normally never find. Yè Shanghai even has its own Pastry Chef and that is certainly not what you will find at a 100 percent Shanghainese cuisine restaurant. The restaurant is not afraid of modernizing the centuries old recipes, and creates for the guest of today.

Yè Shanghai restaurants were already established in Shanghai and on Hong Kong Island when a restaurant was opened on Kowloon as well. Restaurateur Paul Hsu founded Elite Concepts in 1991 and is managing a wide range of restaurants and bars in Hong Kong and mainland China of which the three Yè Shanghai restaurants are just some.

Executive Chef Sze Man Sui is born in Hong Kong and has worked at several of the best Chinese restaurants. He is specialised in the authentic Shanghai cuisine with many ingredients similar to other Chinese cuisines, but different in execution and flavours. Some examples of the many dishes you will find in the menu are; sautéed minced chicken and pine nuts served with sesame pockets; stir-fried river shrimps with longjin tea; sliced pork terrine served with Zhenjiang black vinegar; and sautéed bamboo shoots and string beans to just mention a few.

Yè Shanghai is a perfect alternative for everyone looking for top quality Chinese cuisine and likes to have something different than the more, at least when you are in Hong Kong, common Cantonese Chinese cuisine.

Written by Andy