Nestled along the leafy lane of Dong Ping Road, Lapis Lazuli stands out as one of the few restaurants who have been around for over eight years. In the competitive and sometimes dramatic Shanghai scene, it is quite an accolade to maintain a standing position in the restaurant scene for so many years.

During the early years, Lapis Lazuli was one of the niche restaurants in Shanghai to compete with internationally acclaimed T8 in XinTianDi. The owners, with a background in furnishings and design, invested a great deal into the interior design of Lapis Lazuli. Despite passing many winters in Shanghai, the restaurant still maintains its charm with its tranquil Zen-theme ambience. The interior enhances the existing architecture of a typical French Concession lane house. With emphasis on structural wooden beams, most of the furnishings mirror the natural accents with clean lines bathed with well-positioned soft lighting. The mood is therefore romantic and the many choices of private corners aptly suit this type of clientele.

Though it has been a while since I ate at Lapis Lazuli, i was aware that the menu and chef had changed several times over the last few years. Today, this establishment has moved away from the high-brow - high-price dining experience and focus in offering decent European fare with a strong twist of Italian at a reasonable price accepted by both locals and expatriate folks.

Together with my dining partner, we shared two hearty appetizers, a beef carpaccio (Italian-style raw beef slices), laced with arugula leafs, capers, drizzled with olive oil (RMB 58) and chilled prawns dressed in tangy mango sauce (RMB 65). Starting the meal on a good footing is important and the dishes were tasty and aesthetically pleasing. Perhaps my only suggestion would be for the prawns to be bigger, “claimed” to be tiger prawns.

The entrees were a traditional fare – grilled salmon (RMB 155) and chicken saltimbocca (RMB 125). In all fairness, a traditional meal done right can be very satisfying. Resting on a bed of lentil beans, the grilled salmon was topped with a slice of pan-fried fois gras. The fish was perfectly cooked, leaving the centre just moist and succulent. While the chicken saltimbocca did not look as impressive; the taste was rich and fulfilling with an assortment of bacon slices, mushroom and sun-dried tomatoes in a reduced tomato sauce.

For desserts, the manager highly recommended their chocolate nemesis (RMB 45), which is really a chocolate fondant soufflé. A popular choice amongst chocolate loving ladies, it maybe a little too sweet for aficionados of 70% cacao. For comparison, I ordered the cinnamon crème brulee (RMB 45), a softer taste to the palette. Though the hint of cinnamon was weak and lacking of the distinctive flamed sugar crust, the crème was well blended with natural vanilla beans which added a great flavor to this simple dessert.

Overall, it was a well-received meal with good presentation. It was also good to see an improvement in the service level with a good mix of Chinese and Filipino (English-speaking) staff. After our meal, I detoured to the restaurant's adjoining lifestyle store, which retails relatively affordable household decorative items. If anything, pick up a scented candle and walk out contented having received a dose of food and retail therapy.

Location(s) No. 9 Dong Ping Road

Tel:8621 64731021 Shanghai, 31 S

ervice quality: good Food

quality: very good

Price per head (RMB): 300-400

Environment: very good

Feature dish or menu:

Beef Carpaccio with arugula

salad Grilled Salmon

Pan-friend Cod

(China Daily Feburary 25, 2009)