Spring Festival, according to ancient Chinese tradition, is a celebration of the Lunar New Year. Food as an important part of the celebration, represents not only the harvest of the season, but also its bounty, to signify prosperity all year long.
If the Spring Food Fest at the Shanghai Club Restaurant and Lounge of Shangri-La Hotel Doha is any indicator of prosperity in the coming months, we can all look at 2018 with lesser worries, happier days and fresh starts. Marhaba was recently invited to review its menu.
The Spring Food Special Menu
We started the meal with a refreshing vegetable appetiser, served in small bamboo containers. The vegetables were glazed in clear, thin sauce and remain crunchy to the bite, almost like a fresh salad.
Next came the Stewed Angus Beef Turnip Pot (QAR118) served with plain white rice. We could hear the stew sizzling softly in its pot as the friendly staff gave us a brief description of the dish. The beef was tender and soft, the sauce tasty and very rich in flavour.
We spent much time contemplating our luck over the beef that we hardly noticed when they came with another two layers of bamboo containers with the next course.
It was a simple green leaf wrap in the middle, but when you unwrap the leaf cover, the smell more than made up for how it looks. It was glutinous rice inside, steamed with chicken, mushroom and dry scallop, wrapped in lotus leaf. It was tasty and different, and quite heavy.
The meal came with Xi Gua cocktails (QAR148) in red and green. Red had watermelon and coconut syrup while green had a mixture of various local juices.
There are more options available on the menu, all looking and sounding delicious, all reasonably priced. That, and the amazing view of West Bay, Shanghai is on the 43rd floor of Shangri-la, is enough to make you feel like you’re on top of the world.
For reservations and more information about the Spring Food Special, call 4429 5000 or visit their website
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Up next: Watch out for Marhaba’s Special Feature on Chef’s Table at Fuego, Shangri-La Hotel Doha