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Latitude / Longitude

The New French bistro on Dongping Lu - By Michael, Nov 18, 08

The intersection of Dongping Lu and Yueyang / Fenyang is one of our favorite little corners of Shanghai. There's the late-night twin powers of Club MAO and Dragon, The Beaver Bar, Di Shui Dong, Ambrosia and Paulaner, and the Pantry Magic shop for quirky kitchen gadgets.

We were bummed out when we saw the old Silver Moon had shuttered. Remember their vintage disco basement with the crazy salsa nights? Anyway, now it's history, but it's found an acceptable replacement. Latitude serves smart mid-range contemporary French at the ground floor, with Longitude Lounge doing cocktails upstairs. The basement is now where the cooking takes place. We're not sure if they kept the disco ball but the food's good so who cares.

Latitude's dining room is comfortable minimal, a shag carpet at the entry, soft lighting, and large open windows with a view of the Pushkin statue round-a-bout across the street. Upstairs, Longitude serves signature cocktails like the "French Concussion" (50rmb) -- cute name, and it's fruity, maybe it's for the girls? Colors are red and black, there's a small bar, a DJ booth, and an outdoor patio where you can order from the full restaurant menu. The view's charming, with street action below the shadow of big trees.

Mains at Latitude are well-portioned and well-balanced. Poached sea bass (110rmb) was served atop grilled asparagus and fried rice cakes, with a shot glass of fennel emulsion and a slice of "crispy fish skin". An inspired dish, the fennel emulsion was delicate enough to compliment the fish and rice cakes just right, except that our fish skin was less crispy and more leathery. Duck breast with blueberry juice and roasted pears (130rmb) served with lip-smacking buttery mashed potatoes was flawless juicy and complex.

There are three side dishes to choose from (each 30rmb) -- mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, and ratatouille. Since mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus were featured in our mains (odd that the sides are the same, no?) we opted for the ratatouille. I've had so many horrible versions of this recently -- a plate of refrigerated, bitter nightshades gives me the chills -- but Latitude serves theirs warm and they even remembered to take the bitters out -- good stuff!

With wines 50rmb by the glass, and desserts 35 each, you're looking at about 400rmb for a standard dinner for two.

The servers were friendly, unpretentious, and able to explain the dishes in detail. A couple minor slip ups were gracefully corrected without the need for management.

Latitude / Longitude looks like a solid new bet, as international dining options continue to spread off the Hengshan Lu corridor.

Ed's note: Latitude / Longitude is hosting a party to celebreate the release of the Beaujolais wine for 2008. Details here.

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