An Imperial Feast at Shang Palace

In a classically styled Chinese dining room, indulge in some of Bangkok’s finest Cantonese cuisine, ranging from timeless favorites to unexpected delights

My love of Chinese cooking began early, with one of my mother’s cookbooks, a crumbling, badly translated Taiwanese text filled with pictures of foods I could barely conceive of. When we actually went out for Chinese, I rarely ventured beyond the cashew chicken, but I wanted, more than anything else, to try these elegantly presented aspics, pigeons, soups inside whole melons.

So I felt a certain rumbling of nostalgia for the afternoons I pored through that old cookbook, when, on a rainy night, I walked into the foyer of the Shang Palace Restaurant at the Shangri-La Hotel. Guests are greeted by a range of chinoiserie straight out of an old Bruce Lee film, featuring a gilded Buddha in one corner and a classically styled bit of Chinese calligraphy done by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, translating, I’m told, to “living in the lost horizon,” a nod to James Hilton’s 1933 novel Lost Horizon, which contributed the term “shangri la” to the English lexicon. A glimpse at the Shang Palace’s culinary offerings is found in the rack of teas, ranging from pale, sweet osmanthus to smoky, coalblack lapsang souchong, and everything in between. The theme continues into the dining room, a classically styled chamber of screens and fretworks festooned with red and gold banners, with a series of private rooms off to one side.

However, don’t expect a by-the-books Chinese dinner. While the finest traditions of Chinese cooking are presented with aplomb, the discerning diner will notice innovative touches. The surprises began with our starter, a velvety fish soup with chopped tomatoes — who knew they were a Chinese ingredient? — and pieces of century egg, an ingredient I normally balk at. But one bite of these, with their gelatinous whites and smooth, rich yolks, and I realized... so this, this is what the buzz is about. The soup seems to encapsulate what’s best about Shang Palace, something that is clearly rooted in the traditions of Cantonese cooking, and yet offers something truly unexpected.

Their chef, Chao Wai Man, a Cantonese cuisine expert just recently relocated to Bangkok from Hong Kong, offered up some of his signature dishes. These included a huge crispy-on-the-outside, creamy-onthe-inside white fish omelet, an earthy, nutty medley of fish maw, abalone, and braised mushrooms, and, a personal favorite, a whole steamed crab presented on a delicate layer of egg white heady with Chinese wine, the shell lined with oceani-cally sweet crab fat.

With presentation this distinguished, it’s the sort of thing that seems to fill everyone’s Instagram pages these days. However, I was told that Chef Chao prefers people to experience his cuisine by how it tastes, not through fancy food photography. And while this might seem like sacrilege in an era when we’re all too ready to post cute pictures of our dinner to social media, with Cantonese flavors this fresh and this authentic, you won’t need a camera to make your friends jealous of your meal.

In addition to Chef Chao’s new specialties, the Shang Palace continues to offer the classics that it has built its name on for nearly 30 years. Old school Chinese favorites include Peking duck, expertly carved up tableside in the traditional way, with the skin eaten first and then the meat taken back to the kitchen for stir-frying. Pork fanatics will not be disappointed by the barbecue pork, cooked in the classic char siu style with a brick-red outer layer and a well-marbled interior. Likewise, do not sleep on the crispy pork belly, a perfect match with Chinese-style mustard. And for something a bit lighter, the jellyfish salad, tossed with a sesame oil dressing, provides a refreshing counterpoint.

For dessert, guests can expect Cantonese classics like dumplings or gingko nuts in ginger syrup, chilled sago, and sesame balls with lotus seed paste. However, dessert is also given a tropical twist with selections such as crispy banana pancakes, served with vanilla ice cream, and mango pudding with fresh mango. While I often find mango sweets to be sickly saccharine, this was a much more restrained offering, clearly suffused with mango flavor, but letting the fresh mango carry most of the sweetness.

Beyond a la carte options, diners can experience Shang Palace’s luxurious set menus, starting with the Lily Set at 1,288++ baht per person for a selection including dim sum, hot and sour soup, crispy garoupa filet, wok-fried broccoli, stir-fried kailan, fried rice with duck and salted egg, and mango pudding. Or, for a meal truly worthy of the taipans of old Hong Kong, go for the Peony Set at 6,888 baht++ person, featuring delicacies such as scallops in XO sauce, braised two-headed abalone, and Buddha jumping over the wall, the legendary shark fin soup that dates back to the kitchens of Fujian in the Qing Dynasty.

Also, until December 31st, Peking duck enthusiasts can take advantage of the Shang Palace’s special Hong Kong-style Peking duck at Bt1,600++ at lunch and dinner. First, the crispy skin is served with pancakes, and the duck legs are served with plum sauce. Then, the duck meat is taken back to the kitchen for stir frying with spring onions and ginger.

Shang Palace is located on the third floor of the Shangri-La Wing of the Shangri-La Hotel, which can be accessed either through the hotel’s main entrance on Soi Wat Suan Plu, just off Charoen Krung Road near the intersection with Sathorn, or through the hotel’s convenient access next to the Saphan Taksin BTS Station.