user eclettico

Mon Dec 17th 2007

interesting place. cheap decor, good vibe, piss drunk owner, excellent food.funny reviews below. i was surprised to find out the chef was turkish, as i happen to know the guy and he just happens to be one of the coolest people in shanghai and he is definitelly NOT turkish, food he makes - yummy. nice parties too. strange music?!?

user elpollorico

Tue Nov 20th 2007

Nothing special about the restaurant. Of course, adding butter to anything makes it taste better. I was impressed with the buttery carrots. Decent service, ok food.

user max88

Sun Nov 18th 2007

what's wrong in this place? Since last year I have being several time in Nova and always try to give them another chance...maybe because of the food. Forget the unpolite staff chewing some food when taking our order... Forget the arrogant attitude of the boss or manager when we ask about our dish after 30 minutes... Forget this terrible watery mojito with black mint leave... But our last dinner in this bar was simply over: we start by the poorly made fish soup follow by the duck breast which came dry and COLD(over cooked local duck)no comments about this untasty salmon sauce... At the end we order a creme brulee,instead arrive the worst egg pudding I never eat before. Fortunately we can met the Turkish Chef before we left and understand why the food level jump so down. It was our last dinner in this "French/Turkish bar"

user alphalau

Sat Nov 10th 2007

I am writing this fresh from memory as all this only happened an hour ago. 1) The restaurant had only one other occupied table inside (outside there were a few customers). I stood at the entrance but no one came to serve. So I sat down myself at one of the alcove tables. After a while of no waiters being around, I went outside to a serving table and collected a food and drinks menu myself. 2) A waiter finally came. It was 4:45pm and me and my friend were hoping to have an early dinner before a massage appointment. I asked the waiter (a Chinese male) whether they served dinner at that hour. He said basically from opening until it closes at 10:30pm, the menu is served all day. 3) After checking the menu for a while I asked another waitress (Chinese female) whether they still served lunch. She showed me a lunch set menu but said that lunch was not served after 2:30pm so I could not order from that. She also showed me a "tea set menu" and I said that I did not want afternoon tea, but a proper dinner, so gave the tea set menu back to her. 4) My friend arrived and we ordered dinner, altogether we ordered the Spaghetti Bolognese, the Duck breast, 2 Baileys, 2 coffees, and 1 hot chocolate. 5) At about 5:30pm we asked for the bill and presented our Enjoy card. The waitress claimed that we could only use it for dinner. I said we did have dinner. 6) The male waiter came and said that the card could only be used between 6:30 and 10:30pm. I said that was not possible since i) I specifically asked when I came in whether they served dinner at that hour; and ii) I am sure in the Enjoy card booklet there was no "time limit" but only said "not applicable for lunch". I asked for the manager. 7) The waiter referred to the French manager who was sitting at the end of the bar surfing the internet. The manager went to the till and checked what we ordered, then came to us and said that we could only use the card for dinner, that we could not use it "for afternoon tea". I repeated that I came in specifically to have dinner specifically said I did not want the tea set, and asked the waiter when I first came in whether they served dinner at that hour. The manager claimed that "I was playing with words" and that the discount could not apply except between 6:30 and 10pm. I said that could not be true and am sure its not in the Enjoy terms. 8) He went to flip through the Enjoy booklet at the counter and having found no such condition, came to the table again and said in a rather bad manner, "You want a discount? Is that what you want?" I replied, "It's a matter of principle." To which he shouted at the waiters to, "Just give them the discount." Then stormed off back to his computer. 9) They came back with the discount, but still the waiter had to say suddenly that I never asked him if I could have dinner when I came in (which is completely beside the point, and anyway he was suddenly lying now). 10) After paying the bill, I asked the waiter if that Frenchman was the owner or the manager, as I recall seeing an Asian gentleman (who acted like he was the owner) leaving at about 5pm. The waiter confirmed this. 11) As we left the restaurant, I walked up to the French manager. The conversation went as follows: Me: I just want to say that it was a matter of principle rather than the discount amount in question... Manager (cutting in before I could finish, and not even looking at me): No, the card is only for use between 6:30 and 10pm... (etc. etc.) Me: Look, I don't want to argue anymore. I just want to say that as manager, you have a rather bad service attitude. Manager: my attitude depends on the customer. Me: What is your name? Manager: I don't know. You go and ask them (pointing at waiters). Me: You mean you don't know your own name? Manager: That's right. Me: You are the manager of the restaurant and you don't even know your own name. How strange. Manager (after pressing): Arnauld. All the while I never lost my temper (at least outwardly, only seething inside), and kept a calm voice, so I found his comments and attitude very offensive. I would have written to the owner first to "give them a chance" rather than bad-mouthing the restaurant directly, but seeing that the manager was not even forthcoming about his own name it is doubtful whether he would give me the owner's real name and email address/contact methods. Therefore I am left with no choice but to post this on the internet as the manager's attitude is inexcusable (worse than making up some 6:30pm rule for the Enjoy card). I also want to mention that I am a repeat customer of Nova and had in the past both had lunch (and not used the Enjoy card as I knew that it could not be used at lunch time) and dinner (Enjoy card accepted) before. It is unlikely now that I will go again unless this manager is gone, and I will also spread the word amongst all my friends and colleagues.

user loli

Sat Sep 15th 2007

It was an interesting experience :)

user soylentorama

Thu Sep 13th 2007

Great place, great food, very very friendly staff! If I'm not hungry I'll go there for some drinks. I always leave Nova with a smile on my face!

user mbe

Fri Jul 13th 2007

The "spaghetti au fruits de mer" was good for lunch, well seasoned, fair portion. Free wi fi. Cypress Hill as background music was a bit surprising but hey why the f*&k not.

user globaltraveller

Fri Jul 6th 2007

Gave Nova another try, and whilst the overall dining experience was favourable and food tasty, there are a few areas for improvement. Namely ensuring that when a menu item is called Entrecôte de boeuf grillée au poivre noir, (read a boneless steak of beef cut from the sirloin, more commonly known as a sirloin steak) Then don’t serve Rib eye which is an entirely different cut of beef, although the menu’s English translation is Grilled Aussie Rib-Eye Steak with Black Pepper Sauce. Somehow I think it got lost in translation or the Cook does not know which cut of beef he should be buying and serving. Also invest in a cocktail book for the barmen, as they did not know what a Tom Collins cocktail was? And for want of ease here is a recipe for Tom Collins - 2 oz Gin - 1 oz Lemon Juice - 3 oz Club Soda - 1 tsp Superfine Sugar - Garnish: Cherry, Lemon Twist, Orange Twist Glassware: Collins Glass Shake gin, lemon juice, and superfine sugar in a shaker with ice and strain into a Collins glass. Add club soda over ice cube and stir. Garnish with fruits. Oh and please invest in some Tiger mosquito coils, then one could dine out on the deck, other outdoor establishments can do this, why not Nova?

user globaltraveller

Tue Jun 19th 2007

Why is it that most French restaurants in town are so inflexible when requesting to change an item on your food order? Like substitute the Penne for Spaghetti on my order, the mise en place is still the same, just reheat the spaghetti instead of the penne,top of with the requested sauce and charge the same. The wait staff are so friendly, and were a little embarrassed by their inflexible cook! These jumped up French cooks are so arrogant….Have you not heard that the CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT! In this case we got up and left the restaurant, so you lost out on revenue on slow Monday evening.

user spellmann

Thu Jan 18th 2007

The food there is allways nice and now with the new menu even better. Good value and do not be suprised if one of the owners join you for drink.

user linnie

Fri Dec 22nd 2006

I had dinner there last week - very impressed. I felt like I was dining in Europe - great cooking, great ambience, pricing much more sensible than Xintiandi. All round a really pleasant and professional establishment.