user yuentina

Tue Nov 20th 2007

I was there with friends from NY. We finished our dinner quickly and in silence. We agreed to left without wasting our money on desert. The portion of the food was very small (even in French food standard) which was ok but the food came out luke warm and tasteless. The waiters didn't know whom ordered what and was not knowledgable about the menu. The interior looked cheap. They want to go for modern chic but the material selection as well as the craftsmanship failed them.

user Felipu

Thu Jun 7th 2007

A complete disappointment for this nutshell, superficial, pretentious, shameless expensive place. I though the Relais & Chateaux certification was about excellency in foods and wines, service and atmosphere...looks like it\'s more about show-off. If the ridiculous \"me-I-can-afford-it\" fancy crowd seemed overwhelmed by the bitchy attitude of the staff, I was mad at the total incompetence of the waiters, and at the very obvious lack of organization of the kitchen. I had a terrible diner in this place and was very happy that the bill was paid by my company.

user fabienshanghai

Sun May 6th 2007

Dear smartshanghai, I would like to congratulate the people in Sens&Bund because my diner last weekend was absolutely fantastic. The restaurant is amazing, the staff very king, perfect service and great food. The “degustation menu” is a unique experience, many different dishes like in Paris in a 3 michelin stars… I do recommend this place to everyone also after diner I went to Bar Rouge just above the restaurant and it as well an amazing place... Fabien.

user busylizzy

Wed Jan 10th 2007

When you finally decide to push the boat out and treat yourself to what should be a high class experience, you expect top quality food, service and surroundings. If that is your expectation of Sens and the Bund - then you will be sadly disappointed. The sparce decor is designed for posh people to see each other - but means there is absolutely no intimacy in the space. The service when I visited, both for dinner and lunch the following week - was desperately trying to be high class and failing miserably. Inexperienced wait staff seemed totally uncomfortable with the stuffy method of presentation. The food on the set menu was barely edible. Bread rolls tasted like something had died in the freezer next to them, and they had certainly not had time to defrost. Yuck. Everything came smothered in horrible frothy sauce - terribly fashionable but really disgusting. My duck breast at lunch was chewy and overcooked. There are much nicer restaurants in Shanghai that charge half the price and serve much better food. My advice - if you have any Sens, don't go to the Bund.

user song-song

Tue Jul 25th 2006

Sens & Bund is a disgrace for relais & chateux--shame on them for endorsing a place where the appeal does not go beyond the superficial. while jardin des sens was loved for introducing casual-fine dining, this place is the exhibition grounds of the pompous wealthy laden with LVs and Pradas and hairdos as big as their ego. Service was obviously reserved for the selected few too, considering the difference in attitude and speed between which the suit-clad europeans/tais tais and the more down-to-earth-looking asian folks were being served. Never mind the fact that lunch menu is a notch down in terms of price--it is still not an excuse for the poorly executed food. Meats that were overcooked and tasteless, pastas that were over-done, desserts that were served half-melted... and still all dressed up in pretentious modern fine-dining fashion so that the normal diner not knowing any better will be too stunned by the superficial beauty of the dish to utter a word of complaint. That the dishes were unimpressive was hardly surpirising though, considering the fact that a rather self-important looking gentleman in chef's whites was seated at a table with ladies of leisure, engrossed in an extended lunch-time tete a tete. It was a memorable dining experience for my partner and i, nonetheless, on that quiet afternoon, and kudos to the waiter who indignantly tried to EXPLAIN why there was a piece of hair in our food. Frankly, my dear, we don't give a damn if your chef is balding, or even if he is shedding.

user austen morris

Mon Jul 4th 2005

I have been to Sens & Bund about 6 times for lunch and once for dinner. I have never been disappointed - having said that, of course lunch is a steal, and I'm sure I would not be eating there as often if I had to pay dinner prices all the time (not a reflection on the food - I think the food is divine, sadly more a reflection on my pocket) I love S&B, I think the decore is fantastic, the service usually very friendly and the food some of the best in Shanghai.

user rabelais

Fri Mar 25th 2005

I went for lunch to Sens&Bund and had an awsome experience! Got an amuse-geule of apple-sorbet with caviar, had then carpaccio of chicken for starter and turbot for main - both extremely well done (and certainly not the way you initialy would expect it). The flourless chocolade cake is a standard fare in all western restaurants - but what I got here is certainly a blockbuster. The lunch deal by the way is quite ok: 180 for two courses, 220 for three (+15%) and you definitely get the same quality as in the evening (portions were definitely not nouvelle-cuisine).