“We went here for dinner last night as a special treat after a hard-working week. The atmosphere provided an immediate tonic for fractured nerves; just walking up the path to the magnificent entrance made us feel like we were on holiday somewhere far from Shanghai, and the soothing, comfortable interior put us at ease--it even somehow *smelled* American inside. The service was gracious and we were impressed by a waiter who actually wrote down and repeated our order (unfortunately in most restaurants the fine craft of putting pen to paper seems to have been largely superseded by the apparently superior innovation of delivering an array of pseudo-random menu items to bemused diners).

Our cocktails were a minor disappointment thanks to tonic water that was somewhat less than ideally sparkling and crisp, but fortunately things began to improve quickly from there. The tableside-prepared Caesar salad was outstanding, with a signature dressing that was aptly subtle and piquant. The tuna steak was elegantly presented with a fruity mango, red pepper and cucumber sauce that made a great offset to the somewhat strongly flavoured meat. And the piece-de-resistance, the New York Prime Strip, was aptly thick, well-hung, and nicely caramelised by the stone grilling--we detected a hint of a salty marinade which in my book can go a long way to add savour though purists may disagree. The creamed spinach with bacon was delicious though (surprisingly?) misspelled on the menu as "cremed", a fitting reminder that we were still in China after all.

The chocolate fondant cake with raspberry coulis and vanilla ice cream made an outstanding finish. All in all it was an extremely pleasant dining experience, despite the minor sticker shock at the end. We've had some excellent steaks in Shanghai for substantially less dosh, notably at Sasha's and Des Lys, and will typically repair to those venues when we have a craving for red meat, but it's good to know that a fairly authentic American-style steakhouse is on our doorstep when we feel like splashing out for it.”