By Shereen Shabnam

The new year signifies a fresh start and my favourite Asian restaurant, Shang Palace has embraced this for the Chinese New Year. Reopening with a new menu, an updated look that blends modern with tradition and new offers for guests to enjoy. 

A legendary destination for Chinese food, Shang Palace has a refreshing new look featuring warm tones of deep red offset with cooling greys to create a welcoming and relaxing dining ambience. 

As the signature restaurant of Shangri-La hotels worldwide, the Chinese characters making up the name Shang Palace means ‘aromatic scent’ and ‘palace for royalty’, respectively.  Both are deemed particularly appropriate for the level of cuisine and service that Shang Palace provides and echo through the exquisite furnishings and art works. 

The restaurant is ornate with traditional Chinese lamps, vases and other fine touches creating a unique and authentic experience. Loyal patrons to Shang Palace receive their own personalized chopstick to use upon each visit and be inducted into the “Shang Palace Chopstick Club”

To welcome in the year of the rat, a bespoke menu has been created featuring traditional dishes such as a traditional dim sum platter, Hong Kong-style Barbeque Chicken, Steamed Canadian Lobster with Sichuan Sauce, Shang Palace Fried Rice with Seafood and more. 

Shang Palace invites guests to indulge on their new menu featuring signature dishes such as peking duck, assorted dim sum and Cheung Fun. Peking duck is one of the most renowned and popular dishes of Chinese cuisine that was once an imperial dish made for only the Emperor and his guests. Introduced during the Ming dynasty, Peking duck has been a delicacy in China for over 600 years, where chefs from all over the country fought for the opportunity to come and create this dish especially for the Emperor. 

Dim sum means to ‘touch the heart’, and served savoury or sweet, deep-fried or steamed, their warmth certainly does just that. Dim sum is truly an art form, taking years of practice to perfect the skill. All dim sum fillings must be evenly blended and distributed before the artistry of origami-like folding can begin – and only then at the exact point when the dough is ready. 

Shang Palace also honours traditional Cantonese cuisine with Cheung Fun, a thin rice noodle roll that is filled with protein. The art of this dish is that itshould be slightly transparent to slightly reveal the filling and the edges have to be lined up to be even. 

The menu stays true to tradition featuring the most popular cuisines in China; Cantonese and Sichuan, while also appealing to others with fusion dishes such as crispy shredded beef with sesame, wok-fried scallops with truffle and orange chicken with ginger. 

Guests can enjoy the renowned and authentic Asian hospitality that is synonymous with Shang Palace worldwide. With an all Chinese culinary brigade and a restaurant steeped in tradition, you feel instantly welcomed into an authentic dining experience.