Kathleen's 5 (Shanghai)

Location: K5. Shanghai.

Located on the rooftop of the Shanghai Art Museum, Kathleen's 5 (or
K5) is a revelation. The restaurant's proprietor -- Kathleen Lau, a
serious book writer and a China expat who opened the first western
coffee house in Guangzhou in 1996 -- opened K5 in 2004. From its rooftop
view one finds a panoramic view of the People's Park (人民公园) and the
arts district. If the Bund presents Shanghai as the epicenter of
China's breakneck development and relentless pursuit of skyscraping
perfection, K5's rooftop offers an alternative angle of subdued sentimentality:
a laid-back city of beautiful people sipping their coffees, jogging
across greeneries, checking out the vibrant arts and cultural scene.

Its menu presents a contemporary cuisine styled with new Americanism
(e.g. clam-cheddar croquettes with gazpacho salsa) but squarely rooted
in French (duck confit with bacon, cherries and mustard). On our
visit, the two of us perused K5's brunch menu and ordered four dishes to
share: Asian crab omelette with bean sprouts, enoki mushroom and
oyster sauce; eggs Florentine; fish du jour with lemon-chive butter
sauce, topped with a poached egg and fish roe; and steak sandwich
topped with a fried egg, bacon, onion and mushrooms, and served with
greens and fries. The fish was extremely fresh and was well complemented
by a silky chive butter sauce. The steak sandwich was well designed:
the sweetness of the caramelized onions mollified the boldness of the
bacon and the steak. The other two dishes were a little bit
disappointing though nothing disastrous: the Florentine was well made
but the Hollandaise lacked a buttery savoriness I come to expect from
the emulsion. The crab intermingled nicely with the enokis and the
bean sprouts, but was in my opinion overpowered by the saltiness of
the oyster sauce.

K5's food still needs some fine tuning, but in my opinion it's worth
Kathleen's effort especially considering that any increment means
fully matching the cuisine with K5's world class ambiance and the
attentive service. Having passed through the Art Museum more than a
few times in the past few years, I couldn't believe I have failed to
take notice of this restaurant. That said, I am glad I finally came
here and found a nice new addition to my list of favorite places in
town.

Rating: 1 star to the restaurant's ambiance and environment (not to the
restaurant itself).