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The Brunch List: December '13

Our December selections are in. This month: duck with a side of mopey trip hop, all the sides and sweets you can eat and some exquisite dim sum.
Last updated: 2015-11-09
The Brunch List is our monthly column pinpointing great brunch spots around town. Everything below is all you need to know about where to get leisurely weekend eats.

As the year comes to a close we bring you swish and delish dim sum, all you can eat sides and sweets, duck with a side of mopey trip hop and more...

Gui Hua Lou

Good For: A posh dim sum nosh



With 58 dishes to choose from, the dim sum menu at Gui Hua Lou in the Pudong Shangri-La covers a lot of ground. All of the basics are there: ha gau (52rmb), rice rolls (42rmb), beef balls (18rmb), radish cakes (25rmb), spring rolls (24rmb), etc. All of it is exquisitely done. But chef Gao Xiao Sheng is also given lots of creative license, and these are the real highlights of the menu. Gao revels in luxury ingredients like truffles over steamed shaomai (50rmb) or a braised abalone atop a crispy deep-fried taro cake (88rmb). He likes to play around with presentation, too; check out the lotus paste buns shaped like peaches (22rmb). Sweets are also not to be missed, with specialties like coffee egg tarts (20rmb) and a delicate chrysanthemum pudding with longan and goji berry (pictured above, 24rmb).

Mon–Fri: 11.30am–2.30pm
Sat–Sun: 11am–3pm
For a full brunch listing click here.


Vis-a-Vis

Good For: A taste of France



Vis-a-Vis takes up the space that used to belong to Ginger on the far end of Fuxing Lu. They do a decent brunch of French food. There's no set deal, so guests order a la carte from a choice of about two dozen dishes. Breakfasty things run from French toast (48rmb) and waffles with banana and kiwi (48rmb) to croques both monsieur and madame (58, 68rmb), quiche and oeufs Benedict. Then there are salads and hot plates of mainly roast meat. The croque madame was excellent, with strong gruyere cheese and good ham, served open face with a salad. The salade Vis-a-Vis (78rmb), a mix of cheese, walnuts, radish, smoked duck breast and orange, was more of a hodgepodge. We scored better with the confit de canard (128rmb), a well-cooked, plump duck leg served with new potatoes and rocket. The only major irritation was the music. They were playing really melancholy trip hop, the sort of stuff that wears one down to a state of depression. Normally, we can tune music out, but for some reason we couldn't get beyond this, and by the end of the meal were practically sawing at our wrists with the butter knife.

Sat–Sun: 10.30am–5.30pm
For a full brunch listing, click here.


Pentalounge

Good For: Picky eaters with big appetites



Pentalounge does a weekend brunch that combines a main (ordered a la carte) with an all-you-can-eat buffet bar of sides and sweets. Entrees include Western brunch staples like pancakes, French toast, spinach quiche, eggs Florentine and fish and chips. We tried the “Italian bangers and mash” and the “big breakfast plate” with eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns and toast. When we saw how big the portions were, we assumed we’d have one of those joyless meals in which you put fork to mouth for mere sustenance. If you’ve ever been to a restaurant that serves exaggerated portion sizes to make up for bland food, you know what we mean.

It was all tasty, though. There are no fancy flavor combinations of blahblahblah topped with foie gras—just straightforward breakfast food done right. You can also help yourself to the buffet station on the side: cold cuts and cheese, pickled onions, and cornichons; salad (with fresh mozzarella) and pasta salad; cakes, croissants, chocolate and fruit pastries; yogurt, fresh fruit, nuts and cereal; juice and milk. Coffee and tea are included. For reasons unknown to us, it seems Pentalounge is especially popular among the French crowd. On a Sunday afternoon, the place was filled to capacity, and about 60% of the patrons was French. A handful of young parents with toddlers was there too. We'd suggest booking in advance. 98rmb per person on Saturdays; 128rmb on Sundays.

Sat & Sun: 11am-4pm
For a full brunch listing, click here.


Cotton's

Good For: Chilled out al fresco dining



We love both branches of Cotton's for their leafy locales, friendly atmosphere and, most importantly Ms. Cotton Ding herself. Brunch, however, is not one of this place's finer moments. ...At least not what we ordered. The 128rmb "Great Greek," as it's called, arrived at our table a forlorn pile of scrambled eggs mired in a puddle of water. Alongside it were two desiccated lamb patties and a salad of cucumber and mealy tomato with two slices of bread topped with feta. Sadly, the olive tapenade was the only saving grace on the plate. The two mimosas included helped to soften the blow as well.

The menu features other alliterative specialties, like "The Amazing American" (two eggs, sausage or bacon, two pancakes and hashbrowns) or "The Beautiful Brit" (two eggs, sausage or bacon, grill tomatoes, fried mushrooms, potato cakes and baked beans). And, to be fair, we saw a few of those come out to other tables and they actually looked reasonably edible. So if there is a next time, maybe we'll go for one of those. But the Greek just left us cold.

Oh well, there's always the patio and the fantastic music selection. Both are more than enough to keep us coming back—maybe not for brunch, though. For what it's worth, 128rmb gets you a brunch plate with a choice of two mimosas, two pints of Carlsberg or unlimited tea or coffee.

Sat–Sun: 11.30am–4pm
For a full brunch listing click here

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