East Meets West

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by Zach Etkind
on Friday, November 25, 2011 12:00 AM

Much as Hong Kong was in the last century, Shanghai has recently become a new epicenter for Eastern and Western cultures to combine and form entirely unique creations. One of these creations is DOZO, a new Japanese fusion restaurant that seems to wholeheartedly embrace the “East Meets West” spirit of Shanghai.

Opened in September by the same people who run Brown Sugar, DOZO is located adjacent to the newly opened Wheelock Square in Jing’An. The dimly lit interior is filled with floor-to-ceiling windows, a sleek fully-stocked bar, and private dining areas hidden behind smooth wooden panels. As most of the tables are sunken, the restaurant feels almost like a catwalk at a fashion show, with waitresses and waiters as models. Taikos, or giant Japanese drums, sit next to each table and are to be used in nightly performances.

While the interior gives off a distinctly Japanese vibe, the extensive food and drink menu offers a variety of unique items that strive to fuse together Asian and Western culinary concepts.  The extremely refreshing Perilla Sake (RMB40), for example, replaces the mint of a classic Mojito with Perilla, a leaf from the same family and quite popular in Japan and Korea. Another drink that DOZO prides itself on is its homemade plum wine (RMB48/glass, RMB360/bottle), which has the perfect amount of tart to balance its sweetness.  They also serves an excellent Japanese version of Caesar salad (RMB48), which replaces croutons and anchovies with seaweed, Taro root, a semi-boiled egg, coagulated beef broth and flakes of beef. The Caesar dressing compliments all of these unique flavors. Rather than being served raw, the salmon sushi (RMB98) is slightly seared and given a caramel glaze. The sweetness of the caramel pairs excellently with the salmon and rice and makes up for the lack of soy sauce and wasabi.  Hoping to appeal to foreign customers, the restaurant also serves a marinated deep-fried pork chop baked with cheese (RMB78).  Although most dairy deprived foreigners will find the cheese a welcome addition, the pork chop itself lacked any distinct flavor to differentiate it from the countless other fried pork dishes served throughout Shanghai.

With its club-like interior and enormous food and drink menu filled with fused versions of Western and Asian favorites, DOZO is sure to appeal to the fashionable party goer having a hard time deciding if they want Western or Asian cuisine for dinner.