Fu1015 is one of the Tony Lu restaurants and they have the “Fu” designation in front of it. Fu1015 serves traditional Shanghainese cuisine and the Fu stable has become an institution in Shanghai gaining internationally acclaimed. Here are Fu1015’s awards:
- #95 on the 2015 World’s Best Restaurant
- #26 on the 2016 Asia’s Best Restaurant
- #21 on the 2015 Asia’s Best Restaurant
- #26 on the 2014 Asia’s Best Restaurant
- #7 on the 2013 Asia’s Best Restaurant
Fu1015 is house in one of the city’s oldest building, which was home to one of the city’s richest bankers. The restaurant is a time machine transporting its clientele back to the 1920s China with its vintage decor and austere environment. The restaurant provides a glimpse into the lives of aristocrats of the era as the dining tables, dark wood furniture and paintings on the wall are all Chinese antiques.
The service was wonderful. I dined in a private dining room and the wait staff knocked every single time they came in. The detailed explanations of the meal were given in English and the service resemble Michelin starred restaurants. The waiter made a point to keep my tea cup filled a long with my drinks.
Now, the food. The tasting menu consisted of 10 different courses starting with amuse bouche leading into soup then to main cuisine to dim sum and then dessert. The overall tasting menu was pretty amazing from start to finish. I’m only going to touch on my favorite courses.
- Soup – The warm orange broth consisted of poached cuttlefish wontons served with a hairy crab broth. The cuttlefish wontons were wrapped in a black color dough soaking up the hairy crab broth perfectly. The texture of the wontons was soft and evaporated in your mouth with eased compared to its Cantonese counterparts’ firm and plump texture; the hairy crab broth had a strong and hearty flavor to it. It was a wonderful dish from a chef known to do amazing things with hairy crab.
Soup - Prawn – The jumbo prawn was braised and laid in a chili sauce served with fried bun. The sweet chili provided a great dipping sauce for the braised prawn. It wasn’t overcooked like the one I experienced at Mr & Mrs Bund. The prawn contain its moisture providing a good sharp bite to it even though it wasn’t deviened and had its skin on it. The fluffy fried bun was a great addition cause it provided a way to soak up the remaining chili sauce.
Prawn - Grilled Wagyu – The grilled Australian wagyu rib eye served with mushroom and asparagus then topped with sesame seeds. The marbling provided a really buttery and rich texture; it was lightly salted providing an umami flavor on your palate. It was done very well.
Wagyu
Overall, Fu1015 is definitely one of the best restaurants in Shanghai. If not, the best. The modern interpretation of traditional Shanghainese cuisine was done very well. Chef Tony Lu shows his talents and the reasons to why he is a consultant at Chef Yong Yi Tin restaurant at Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai.
Check out our other Shanghai articles here.
- Service - 9/109/10
- Presentation - 8/108/10
- Flavors - 8.5/108.5/10
- Decor - 9/109/10
- Ambiance - 9/109/10
Summary
Fu1015 is the successful first born of Chef Tony Lu’s restaurant family. It’s composed, classy, smart and knows its Shanghai history. It leads the pack of younger siblings trying to make a foot print in the world. It’s definitely sits in my top 10 dining experiences as of this review.
