Wrongly or rightly, the quality of a dining experience is about so much more than just food.
That Shanghai owned En Space has guanxi sufficient to secure themselves a location that sits into the spectacular setting that is the new Porcelain Tower (Bao’en Si) beside 1865 is a huge positive first step in the right direction. Next, this is a restaurant with the added attraction of being located in an art exhibition space. Or perhaps it is the other way round. Finally, there is a menu composed in a language intended to baffle one into submission of the advertised prices.
You get what you pay for; En Space indeed serves a quality that is virtually second to none in Nanjing. Our waitress was quick to point out the sauce accompanying the Herb Roast Chicken (500 g @ ¥98) is a special creation from their chef bestowed with a miniature symbol prescribed by Michelin was a nice touch, one that nevertheless is eclipsed by the more simple addition of fresh sprigs of rosemary.
Elsewhere, the margherita pizza (¥88) puts En Space up with the best of the best in Nanjing, the price being the only drawback, while the caprese salad (¥68) was heavy on the roasted peppers (as advertised, admittedly) and light on the mozarella. The fois gras with toast (¥128) was the finest I have had in China and the Australian M3 striploin (¥238) a succulent treat, cooked perfectly, for once, to our bloody liking.
Given their pedigree, En Space is certainly capable of offering the kind of semi sophisticated western dining that has become the norm in Shanghai since the turn of the millennia, were it not for the random service; we were served pizza first, followed by one of the mains, then the two appetisers and finally the other main, all at 15 minute intervals; and the quality of the staff uniforms, they being more reminiscent of those adorning workers in fast food chains.
We could have also done without the outside view of a public toilet, thoroughly spoiling stolen glimpses of the city wall through enchanting greenery.
En Space is located at 8 Saozhou Xiang 扫帚巷8号.
Tel: 18918669180
