Colours Restaurant & Bar

4 Photos

by Airlie Ellsworth & Trevor Postma
on Monday, September 29, 2008 12:00 AM

Set back amidst the well manicured greenery of the Ruijin Guesthouse property, the stand out feature of Colours is definitely the lush patio seating area. Sheltered by nature and overlooking a small pond, it's easy to forget you're dining in a city of 17,000,000 people (give or take a few).
While we lunched on beef tenderloin with red wine demi glaze (128RMB) and the spring chicken (78RMB), and we could rave on about the buffalo wings (56RMB) - the best we've had in the city thus far - and the cheesecake (38RMB), it seems pointless to focus on our Western meal; over the course of the next two short months Colours will be undergoing an identity change. It's gearing up to serve authentic Thai dishes, prepared by a Thai chef who's ready and waiting to get to work, in a Thai atmosphere. To preview the quality of food and service that can be expected you can venture to Baan Thai, an already popular Shanghai establishment run by the same management.
With his eye on the future, the manger shared with us his ideas for the ‘new' restaurant. His focus is on authenticity and top notch service. Despite the slew of changes to come, some things will remain. You'll still have the option of enjoying set menu lunches, ‘Tea Time' snacks, or quiet dinners in the aforementioned garden oasis, although you'll be more likely to be joined by a Buddha or two. You'll also continue to be able to take it inside and up to the third floor where you can drink, dine, relax, and cozy up in the sky-lit ‘bed bar'.
There's no denying the current Colours is in need of its upcoming facelift, and we look forward to seeing - and tasting - the results. In the meantime we'll have to satisfy our frequent cravings for Thai food at Baan Thai...luckily for us it's a hop, skip, and a jump from our own kitchen - which tends to go unused.