/ Reviews / Japanese
Fusion Fight
by Jaki Faulkner
on Friday, September 17, 2010 12:00 AM
Though it shares a name with the authentic Indian restaurant, the Lotus Land in Shanghai Times Square is a completely separate project, focusing more on Italian and Japanese foods. It sounds like a weird mix and does indeed engender quite a weird experience.
In many ways, it feels like the two cuisines are warring for supremacy on the menu. The initial skirmishes see a bland Nicoise Salad (RMB38) and an uninspiring Buffalo Mozzarella Salad with vine-ripened cherry tomatoes (RMB26) blown away - despite their pretty presentation - by the impressive Sesame Tofu. Handmade and delicately flavored, the dish delivers on both style and skill.
Upping the ante for the main strike, the Italian side whips out the big guns, throwing in reliably popular main courses, like steak. Though the Grilled Australian Beef (RMB188) seems to have all the right ingredients, the drizzled 15-year-aged balsamic vinegar and the rughetta salad fail to mediate the clumsy cooking technique: while toughness and stamina may be ideal in the field of battle, they are not ideal in a restaurant, especially when the former is applied to the meat and the latter to my straining jaw. For the Japanese side, a Walnut Salmon Grill deals the death blow to an already faltering Italian formation - at least, it sounds like it might do if it actually materialized on the table. In our case, however, it was simply forgotten by staff.
Drowning away the horrors of war, wine here is a more peaceable and soothing aspect of Lotus Land. Both the Australian Chardonnay (RMB48) and the Chilean Sauvignon Blanc (58) are quite decent wines and reasonably priced. This is undoubtedly a bonus for visitors to the Shanghai Times Square arcade, whether they're lunching businessmen with offices nearby or shoppers with aching feet who need a little booster.
If you're lucky, you'll also receive a musical education. The soundtrack wavers from Italian to Japanese to Chinese, supporting the fight of the food with a battle over the airwaves. Malls are often known for spawning vicious conflicts but who knew that food could so closely emulate the shopping experience?
The Bottom Line: Italian and Japanese cuisines do battle, and both sides suffer some casualties.
