Update: As of July 2016, Shen has been renamed The Fellas and has undergone a menu and decor revamp with involvement from the people behind Italian eatery Goodfellas. Some of the details in the below review - written soon after Shen's opening - may therefore now be inaccurate.
You might have heard that Shen,
located on the seventh floor of a
newly renovated development where
Yanan Lu hits The Bund, is a new
bar from the people behind DADA.
But while the Michael Ohlsson and
Wang Ju, the owners of the popular
Xingfu Lu dive bar, are indeed behind
this new project, DADA II it is not. A
sweeping L-shaped terrace affords
views over Lujiazui and The Bund
while the menu features creative
cocktails and bar snacks – it’s a
considerable move upmarket.
Leather and wood chairs dotted
with eye-catching, brightly coloured
cushions fill the outdoor area and
fresh mint grows abundantly in
window boxes that run the length of
the glass-walled terrace. There are
seating options indoors too, but at
this time of year it’s naturally the
terrace that is the real draw.
The views are backed up by
equally impressive drinks. Overseen
by Jerry Chen, formerly of Starling
and Choir, the drinks menu is short
but sharp. A page of wine options
is joined by three house specialty
cocktails and over a dozen classic
cocktails, including thoroughly
drinkable Moscow Mules and
Mojitos (both 68RMB).
From the Shen creations, the
Chinglish (88RMB) is a light and
citrusy number managing to make
that mixes rum, lemon and lychee
and melon liqueurs with a baijiu
base. Shaken with egg whites, the
drink is topped off with osmanthus
flowers for a sweet and fruity aroma
and the other ingredients manage
the almost impossible feat of
relegating the Chinese spirit to a
background flavour rather than a
dominating one. It’s something that a lot of cocktails have tried to do in
recent years, but few have achieved
with such aplomb.
The drinks can be paired with a
range of light pre-dinner nibbles
such as six bite-sized shrimp
avocado crisp rolls (48RMB). The
smoked fish in cotton candy puffs
(48RMB) is another unique and tasty
snack option if you’re still feeling
peckish. Six Shanghainese-style
smoked fish pieces are skewered
and then encased in candy
floss, standing erect on skewers
protruding from a block of wood like
white fluffy clouds.
Another good food option, the
hot and spicy Sichuan chicken
(48RMB), arrives with varying sizes
of juicy, fatty chicken piled high
with bright red dried chilies and
Sichuan peppercorns for a hearty
kick. The dish kills the flavours in
some of the lighter cocktails, but
pairs surprisingly well with the
Ancient Smoky Secret (88RMB).
This whisky-based drink comes to
the table under a bell jar filled with
smoke. When the waitress lifts the
lid, the smoke billows out quickly,
leaving you with a generous serving
of whisky that’s been infused with
cordyceps (a type of fungus used in traditional Chinese medicine),
vermouth blanc, Campari and
Chinese bitters. Give this drink a
few minutes in the glass to get the
full flavour from the star anise that’s
been beautifully embedded in the
large round ice cube.
Despite the interesting array of
ingredients present in the drinks,
they’re not listed on the menus and
staff can appear a little flummoxed
when pushed on what the
concoctions contain, but to be fair,
we visited during Shen’s opening
few weeks and service is rarely
spot on so early on. The staff were
all friendly, however, reflecting the
laidback vibe that Shen exudes.
With impressive and relatively
well-priced cocktails, plus a
wonderful view to boot, Shen takes
the best bits of Bund-side drinking
and snacking without the hefty
price tags or pretentious air that can
sometimes corrupt venues beside
the Huangpu. Definitely one to check
out, once, again, and again.
