Who loves a good hotel brunch? By hotel brunch I mean those all-you-can-eat and drink meals where you sit at the table around 11:30am and roll out of the restaurant four or five hours later drunk and fat like a bear. Only to then clumsily stumble back home and order a bottle or two on BottlesXO to continue fuelling yourself up while burning a month’s worth of savings in just one silly day of debauchery… I do.
If you love it too and find yourself indulging in the thought of yet another boozy Shanghai weekend, you’ll like to hear that a great hotel brunch has just opened at Kitchen Studios, Andaz Xintiandi’s new breakfast venue.
The buffet itself is divided into a cold appetisers and starters area, the seafood area, the Western food section and the Chinese food section. There’s also a dessert buffet but, from someone who pretty much only likes seven desserts in this town, I’d say you can skip it and focus on the vast choice of savory dishes.
While slightly less high end than Jade on 36 in both price and selection, Kitchen Studios still offers some premium items at a more reasonable price. I found the best value at their seafood buffet, where you can indulge in virtually limitless sweet, meaty oysters, as well as crab, sushi, sashimi, shellfish and more.
My heart skipped a beat and butterfly stormed into my stomach when my eyes rested on a gorgeous whole leg of Jamon Serrano. God knows how much I love ham. I considered taking the entire leg since it’s an all-you-can-eat deal, and I could have eaten the whole damn thing, but I didn’t want to make enemies at the Andaz.
If you have even just a little bit of all-you-can-eat experience, you’ll know that your strategy should be to focus on protein and fat. So try to avoid the breads, the rice, the pastas and all that starchy stuff! Instead, go straight to the sausages, the beef brisket and fillet, the pork ribs and all the carnivore goodness at their Western style buffet section.
As for the Chinese side, DO NOT skip the Beijing duck rolls. Other great dishes include the Dapanji and the juicy char siu pork. You’ll find some good veggie stir-fries too.
So what’s the damage? Actually less than you may think. RMB 388 will get you access to the buffet and free-flow soft drinks, beer, house wine and coffee. RMB 588 will upgrade you to their free-flow Perrier-Jouet Champagne deal. And I’ve kept the best for last… Until the end of February the Champagne deal is buy-one-get-one-free! So get yourself an even number of pals and go celebrate with decadent food and a champagne waterfall at the Andaz Hotel.
I recommend reserving your table by calling 23101750.
Address: Shanghai – 88 Songshan Lu, 2/F, near Xing’an Lu 嵩山路88号2楼, 近兴安路
