No half measures for true gourmets

What is the secret to an absolutely fabulous dish? Set aside the intangibles like passion or dreams, and you have only one answer - money. To create a top-class dish, you definitely need top-notch ingredients, and these never come cheap.

That's the general consensus on a restaurant that has captured the imagination, and wallets, of Shanghai's gourmets since it opened in February. The waiting list to get seated is now a month long.

The restaurant has also chalked up thousands of comments on the popular online restaurant guide, Dianping.com. And the most common comment must be: "Expensive but worth it".

8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana is located at Waitan Yuan, an original section of the Bund which has been turned into a new planning area with 11 renovated heritage buildings and a collection of luxury retail shops, restaurants and serviced apartments.

Bombana is on the sixth floor of Xiejin Mansion, covering an area of 450 square meters. It also banks on a full view of the Huangpu River and Shanghai's most famous landmark, the Oriental Pearl TV tower.

Though it is spacious, it has only 40 seats to make sure that every table enjoys the panorama outside the window.

According to Clelia Di Casola, its public relations manager, the entire space is designed to offer a comfortable dining experience. Private rooms with elegant wooden tables are available on request.

A glass cellar gets prime display in the center of the restaurant, where top quality imported hams are wrapped and hung, along with a cornucopia of cheeses.

There are also more than 400 wines from Old and New World waiting for the discerning gourmet.

Thanks to Alan Yu, the executive chef, Bombana Shanghai was nominated for Asia's Best Restaurant of Miele Guide 2012 just two months after opening. His discerning taste for quality ingredients is the key, the chef says.

The first principle to decide which ingredients to use in the dish is the stability of its supply.

"I cannot accept any ingredients that cannot be supplied for any less than six months," Yu says, emphasizing that quality must have continuity.

A taste menu that includes five courses without wines and priced at 888 yuan ($142) is the most popular choice, according to the chef. More than half of new customers normally opt for the degustation menu rather than the a la carte choices.

The slow-poached New Zealand Ora King Salmon is highly recommended. The chef says the fish is imported from New Zealand, where the fish quality is better.

Another popular main course is the roasted pigeon breast with goose liver and fresh Italian black truffle, another dish that is pricey but worth every penny.

lixinzhu@chinadaily.com.cn