Having experienced a "not-so-fine-dining-experience" at Jade on 36 for our Anniversary, perhaps the guilt of making such a bad choice last time forced me into the reckless decision to spend not just an arm and a leg, but a few other limbs to boot - by booking The Cupola.
But as the old adage goes, "you get what you pay for" - and having read a few reviews on this place, "how could I go wrong"?
I called on a Friday and asked if the Cupola was available Sunday and the lady on the other end of the phone spoke immaculate English and replied that Sunday was not but the following day, Saturday, was free. So I asked her to make a tentative booking, email me the menu selection, wine list and a list of what other 'goodies' I could arrange for my Wife and within 30 minutes, I had an email arrive with exactly what I asked for. Good start.
There were two menu selections from each of the Three on The Bund Restaurants and I settled for one from Jean George’s. Seafood orientated, light but with a Steak course towards the end - all of which I knew my Wife would enjoy. Chose a bottle of wine and a half-bottle of desert wine, opted for a Cheesecake to be added (they created an icing message free of charge on some white chocolate) and throwing caution to the wind selected a bunch of Red Roses (500 RMB a pop). Not finished there, I asked to select the background music and opted for some 'Billie Holiday'.
Within minutes, I had a confirmation email back, the lady who I had spoken to would meet us upon arrival, they asked me to fax my credit card details and arrival time and it was booked - could not have been simpler.
On the evening, we had booked for 7.30pm but arrived a little after 7pm and were met by the lady who had emailed me and she walked us through the 7th floor and out onto the New heights terrace. New Heights was pretty busy early evening (very pleasant weather) and we walked through the terrace crowd and up the staircase to the left.
The Cupola itself is super, enough room for two with leftover room to swing more than a few cats. Extremely high ceiling going up into the parapet, nice ambient lighting (not too dark, not too light), very soft furnishings and two separate private terraces which whilst not huge, were cozy and reflected the prevailing atmosphere. The view from the right-side terrace are fine, but look directly out/down to the New heights Terrace which when you went out to take in the air, meant everyone down on the New heights Terrace looked up and pointed. The left-side terrace though gave the perfect view, not only directly across to Lu Jia Zui but cinematic both ways up and down the river.
Our 'host' was one and the same lady that had initially fielded my telephone call - call her Ms Cupola - and she was attentive, very well versed in fine dining, spoke good English and above all was only ever visible/present just when you needed her. other than that, she was either not there or you never knew she was there (mainly the former because she had to walk back down the stairs to the main building between every course or each time we ordered something).
Each and every one of the courses was as you would expect from Jean Georges; well presented, tasty and proportioned correctly. The bread selection was almost as if it had just been baked, the dessert selection was light but varied and the cheesecake was exquisite.
All told, the bill arrived and it was not unexpected - but it was most definitely worth every Fen/Jiao we paid. Once we had settled the bill, we asked our very own Ms Cupola to call us a cab, have the flowers taken down ahead of us and all of this was done with no fuss.
All told, I could not have planned/executed the evening any better if I had met a Genie - it was perfect from start to finish. If anyone wants to sample a truly 'romantic' meal in Shanghai, from the privacy you are afforded, the setting itself and the views provided, the great food and wine all backed up with exceptional service, then I could not suggest anywhere in Shanghai that comes even close to ticking all boxes.
Now here is the rub though.
Before you think I work for this place or have a vested interest in its promotion, I wanted to close with the only two negative aspects of the evening as far as we were concerned.
Firstly, for a menu to contain Steak we should have been asked at some stage, either the day before or early in the meal, how we both wanted the Steak cooked. But alas we were never asked, were too wrapped up in the whole evening to even think about it and so ended up with very rare Steak - which is not our preferred choice.
Secondly and this is just a personal aside; exclusivity/privacy permeates The Cupola from the moment you enter. However, the ascent from the New Heights Terrace via an outside staircase screams "look at us" to everyone else on the terrace and this is way too 'public'. I think this place would merit a 'perfect 10' if entry to The Cupola was more discrete and less of a 'show-off' - but then again, this could be considered marketing I guess!
All told, a pleasurable evening of the highest order. Not one for every week, every month or even every year - but I would suggest anyone that wants something that little bit 'special' for their partner, could not surpass an evening spent at The Cupola.
Easy, 'Branson'. Anyway, you shouldn't automatically equate exclusivity with money. Besides, Rmb 1,500 "minimum spend" (such a table would no doubt be proportionately more expensive in the west.); still not the most "expensive" table in Shanghai but surely the most "exclusive".
Nice article. Gave us all a good insight into this intriguing little dome.
Cupola must be one of the more exclusive tables in world dining (GQ once did an article on the top 10; Cupola was nowhere to be seen - there was a Notting Hill pub / cafe though???).
Articles posted on SmartShanghai is neither an Advertisement or a favour for free dinners. Advertising are clearly labelled 'Advertorial'. All other articles are usually written to help our readers know more about Shanghai at our own expense. We hope any misunderstanding is cleared up.
