Yu Garden restaurant gets modern makeover
Lubolang, a famed Chinese restaurant in Shanghai’s Yu Garden, recently revamped its interiors and menu in a bid to attract young customers.
“Having worked here since 1993, I have witnessed several renovations, but this one made the biggest change to the restaurant,” says Wang Shijia, deputy general manager of Lubolang.
The restaurant now bears a stark contrast to the Qing Dynasty (16441911) building that houses it. Its new minimalist design, which features the use of emerald green for large screens and peacock blue for chairs, lends the space an air of elegance and modernity.
Lubolang was originally a teahouse that opened in 1924. It was only in the 1970s that the space was transformed into a restaurant, which grew in fame after hosting several important state guests, including former Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk in 1973, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1986 and former US president Bill Clinton in 1998.
According to Wang, the new menu offers a contemporary take on their dim sum dishes and desserts, such as the “thousand-layer pastry” and osmanthus cake, which have been perennial favorites among Shanghai’s elderly residents. New dishes include fruit-flavored shrimp balls, fried silver fish with red curry and sauteed beef cubes with black truffle paste.
“Flavor-pairing is particularly trendy now, so we have combined traditional Chinese flavors with popular Western ones, creating a multi-sensory experience for sophisticated young gourmands,” says Wang.
“We are a traditional restaurant, but we also want to try new things. The majority of our customers used to be elderly people, but I see more and more young people coming after we reopened in October.”
Shen Min, a fashion designer and the founder of indie brand Yd Girl Clothes, had dinner at the restaurant in mid-January.
“I am traveling in Shanghai and chose this restaurant because it received a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide,” says Shen, a Hangzhou native from the neighboring Zhejiang province. “I really like the environment and its beautiful delicacies — they are pleasing both to the eyes and the stomach.”
Shen says the highlight of her meal was the signature dim sum platter, which includes two salty cakes, one filled with crab meat and the other with scallop, and two sweet cakes, mocha mung bean and egg yolk. Besides the flavors, the design of the cakes comes with a modern twist — they are shaped like shells, pears, leaves and handbags.
“We treat the cakes like artworks. It took months of practice before we could perfect it,” says Wang, who started her career at the restaurant as pastry cook. “We first created the ‘handbag cake’ to serve the chairman of Lafayette.”
Despite wanting to draw young customers, the restaurant has not forgotten about its elderly patrons. An elevator was installed in the building during the renovations to cater to such customers, and many of the signature dishes have been kept, such as the stuffed duck wrapped in lotus leaf, braised eel in black vinegar and steamed dumplings with crab meat.
“There are also many young people bringing their parents and grandparents to experience the taste of their childhood,” says Wang.