ARK

3 Photos

by Stephanie Sherrill
on Monday, March 09, 2009 12:00 AM

After seven years in Xintiandi, ARK closed their doors and recently reopened in another prime real-estate location, Nanjing Xi Lu. Once again they have created an up-scale dining environment. This time around the focus is on serving regional organic cuisines. ARK specializes in food from Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou and other local regions. The outdoor rooftop garden also promises some of the best outdoor dining views in Shanghai once it is complete.

ARK takes great care in selecting their ingredients from small organic markets located outside of Shanghai. We could easily taste this distinction as the flavors of the ingredients were not hidden by heavy sauces or excessive oils. We tried a plethora of dishes ranging from tangy Crispy Cucumbers (16RMB) which reminded me of butter pickles to Deep Fried Small Yellow Croakers (22RMB). These little fish were only lightly battered resulting in a crispy, clean flavor.

While the menu was unintimidating for non-Chinese like us, two dishes stood out from the rest. The Eight Treasures in Hot Sauce (46RMB) was a great dish that is eaten in a lettuce wrap. This barbequed dish had a hint of heat and contained several small bites of duck, chicken, vegetables as well as peanuts to give it an extra crunch. The other stellar dish was the Sea Carp (58RMB each). This white fish is steamed in black bean sauce and then a brown sugar sauce. This is one of the most unique and memorable dishes I have had the pleasure to try in a Chinese restaurant in Shanghai. The slightly de-boned fish was tender, tangy and not too sweet.

The Bottom Line: If looking to impress guests in a polished Chinese restaurant in a great venue go to ARK. Their high quality ingredients really shine through their regional cuisines.