This was our second visit to Fulton Place, our first being shortly after its opening. On our first visit, we had loved the manager’s English accent, appreciated the food, but the service had been too scattered and initiated great many giggles. So what a positive surprise to rediscover a mature Fulton Place on our second visit!
We started off at the bar with a Salty Dog, Spritz and Watermelon Martini. The cocktail list was not extensive, but all well balanced, and served with warm almonds to nibble on. We noticed that there was a new Maitre D’, friendly and attentive, without being awkward or overbearing.

For starters, we opted for Tuscan salami, Tasmanian Oysters and the golden egg salad. The Tuscan salami (recommended by the manager) was of top quality, and a rare find in Shanghai. The oysters were fat and juicy, and I am still salivating at the image of the golden egg spilling on to the salad.

For mains, we went for the lamb, salmon confit and seafood risotto. I wasn’t too sure about the green artistic board on which the lamb lay, but the meat itself was perfectly pink. My salmon confit was beautifully cooked and perhaps the star of the night, I savoured every mouthful. My friend loved her risotto, but her portion looked a little mean for a main course.

For deserts, we ordered all three sweets on offer. By this point, we were all quite jolly with alcohol and I have little recollection of what we ate. However, there were three empty plates at the end, a sure sign that they were a perfect finish to a thoroughly enjoyable meal.

There are many good restaurants in Shanghai all serving top-notch food. What makes Fulton Place stand out from its peers is its personable staff. We didn’t feel like we were eating at just another fancy restaurant, but as though it had been our local for some time. Hats off to the manager for bringing up the level of the restaurant, we will definitely be back soon (and in fact we did go back for their oysters and bubbly).

To me, a restaurant's food is more important than the service. That said, the service at Fulton Place really is exceptional. We were sitting outside and one of the servers even brought us insect repellent so that we wouldn't get bitten by mosquitos.

But more importantly, the food was all delicious. We started with the gnocchi, which came with baby carrots and chicken on top of a pea puree. It literally melts in your mouth. When the restaurant owner came over to check on our table, he told us that this is because the gnocchi is not actually made of potatoes, but rather some blend of other ingredients (which is escaping me now) and cheese. We also had the smoked Kampachi, served over a bloody mary sauce. It was a generous portion of perfectly cooked fish, paired with diced tomatoes and olives.

For mains we had the seafood risotto and the sea bream on top of bell peppers and zucchini. The risotto was perfectly creamy and had lots of seafood-prawns, oysters, etc. The sea bream was flavorful without being fishy and was well complimented by the veggies and home-made chorizo. We also had the beets, which were surprisingly tasty. I don't normally love beets, but the goat cheese made these a delicious, while still light, side-dish.

At that point in the meal, we were pretty stuffed, but the owner had come to check on us again and his description of the Chocolate Creme sounded too good to miss. The dessert was indulgent (and might have been too rich if we weren't sharing), but the cream base and almond-chocolate crunch worked with the decadent bottom layer of pure creamy chocolate to make each bite almost ambrosial. The blueberries on the side were a nice touch, though I would have loved a few raspberries thrown on there too.

All in all a truly great dining experience--the ambiance, the food, and the service are by far some of the best in the city. (And the cocktails are pretty killer too.)

I had a Saturday night meal here with friends, based on the many glowing reviews given here. Eating out is one of the joys of living in Shanghai, and we had a nice evening but I don't see what caused the rave write ups. The decor is lovely and the service was very attentive and much better than the Shanghai average. The food wasn't bad but it just wasn't great - I think you can certainly eat better for less in this town. It hasn't made it onto my list of favourites.

It seems like everyone who posted a glowing review of this place was either an acquaintance or friend of the owner. Well, I'm neither. And though the owner seemed like a decent enough chap when I met him, I'm here to write about the food. Our starters (the fried chickpeas and salmon tartare) were good, but it all went downhill from there. The mains were -- with no way of sugarcoating it -- simply disastrous. The Parisian gnocchi was rather bland and overcooked, while the risotto was a distinctive shade of sea-green vomit. Dessert was a miss as well -- the corn flakes in the vanilla bourbon ice cream were a major turn-off, while the chocolate creme was miles too sweet and tasted like some cheap, fake-tasting chocolate you'd get from the dollar shop. Overall, a disappointing meal at an otherwise fine restaurant.

I've been in Shanghai for three years now. Not as long as some, but long enough to discern a pretty obvious life-cycle in the restaurant world.

New places open and have a great few months. Everyone goes. They get written up on SmartShanghai. They get fulsomely praised, because expats are like magpies - easily seduced by shiny novelties (and why not? Most folks are only here for a few years anyway, and came for a new experience).

Even the restaurants that patently don't work get four stars in expat magazines, whose reviewers generally have brass palates. Which is convenient, because if they had any tastebuds or integrity it would hurt ad sales.

A few months down the line, however, and the prospects for these potemkin restaurants, cobbled together out of wood veneer, sous-vide machines and balsamic glazes, are less rosy. (The cycle is even shorter is the concept is by Laris or Vargas, of course)

Only a few restaurants manage to last more than a year. And only a few manage to build up a group of regulars. Fulton Place is one of those.

It belongs right up there with Franck and Mr & Mrs Bund and a handful of others as restaurants that believe in honesty and quality. It's obvious that they care about the food, the wine, and the cocktails more than they care about turning tables and hustling for cash.

Which means, as a customer, you come out feeling well-looked after and happy, rather than bored and neutral and searching for the new, new thing - the Shanghai equilibrium.

Full disclosure: I'm a friend of Nat, the owner. But what I've written is true nonetheless. Go see for yourself.