Presenting our April brunch selections. This month: two places to flaunt your cash, one place to sit in the sun and even a place to hide in plain sight. ***

Jean Georges

Every Saturday and Sunday, Jean Georges does a unique sampler-style brunch. It comes to your table on an enormous plate divided into quadrants. Each quadrant features a selection from the brunch canon that Chef Lam Ming Kin basically hauted the hell out of. You get a single egg benedict smothered in a black truffle hollandaise; JG's signature house smoked salmon served over crisped shredded potatoes and topped with caviar; a buttery brioche tartine topped with chunks of lobster; and a super decadent slice of French toast. Alongside all of this they bring out a selection of croissants along a seasonal fruit preserves (on our visit it was vanilla scented kumquat jam, nice!) To drink, you get coffee or tea and selection of fresh-squeezed juices. This will all set you back 398rmb plus the 10% service charge that all Three on the Bund restaurants tack onto your bill. That's still a good deal for a restaurant of this caliber, but if this this is still too rich for your blood, you can opt for the "JG Brunch Plate". It's a slightly less luxurious trim package where they swap out that lobster tartine for pancakes and the hold the truffles on the benny. It goes for 248rmb+10%. Sat-Sun: 11.30am-3.30pm For a full brunch listing click here

Vue

Unless you're minted, Vue's brunch is probably not something you'd want to do every weekend, but if you've got an extra 658rmb+15% kicking around, it's well worth it. The stunning view, of course, is a given. It's unparalleled. But in addition to that, the food is quite impressive too. There are several buffet stations some offer cold cuts, fresh-baked pastries, imported artisan cheeses and desserts like soufflé and pralines. Others serve fresh seafood like lobster, prawns, salmon sashimi and some other luxurious little treats like foie gras and caviar. And it only starts there. The dining room is dotted with several a-la-minute cooking stations where they'll make you risotti, carve up a Sunday roast whip up a few eggs any way you like. Our only gripe: no hearty dark bread. But, in light of the variety and quality of everything else, we'll give Vue a pass on that infraction. To wash it all down, you get fresh orange and grapefruit juice, coffee, tea and Perrier Jouet Champagne and bloody marys. Be sure to book early if you want a table with a view. Sun: 11am-3pm For a full brunch listing click here

Elefante

Elefante's weekend brunch has a six-course set menu that changes every week based on which fresh ingredients they can source at the time. The structure of the menu stays the same, though. There's always a soup, salad, tapas dish, main, rice dish and dessert. The brunch menu is pretty different from its normal Mediterranean fare. On the week that we went, we had a creamy corn soup and spring salad with honey-drizzled brie on bread to start. The tapas dish was a baked potato topped with ham, hollandaise and a poached egg. The combination of salty ham, crispy potato skin, creamy sauce and a perfectly poached egg produced an immensely satisfying six bites of high calorie indulgence. Portion sizes are deceptively small because Elefante chooses to plate the entire party's food together sometimes. But don't worry, by the time you finish, you will be thoroughly stuffed. The same goes for the dessert — a row of strawberries interspersed with yogurt and mint leaves with pomegranate syrup drizzle looks scant, but it turns out to be just the right amount. At 175rmb per person, it’s a good value for a venue that typically charges a lot more at dinner. Drinks will cost you extra though; freshly squeezed juices start at a wince-worthy 55rmb. Still, it could be a good alternative to a hotel brunch if you’re looking for slightly fancier food and surroundings at half the cost. There’s also a large outdoor patio that’s usually packed on sunny days. Sat-Sun: 11am-3pm For a full brunch listing click here.

Shooters 52

This is a strange place, sandwiched between Enoterra and Café des Stagiaires. While both of those are perennially stuffed with people, Shooters 52 is usually empty, perhaps because of its random décor: a wall of nicely whitewashed brick, another wall of unvarnished chipboard, covered with naff stock sports images and WWE posters. But the food they offer is decent: waffles and pancakes (all around 35rmb); an American fry-up and a steak breakfast (35rmb and 45rmb), and a couple of omelets that arrive moist and plump and oozing with cheese and other fillings (around 30rmb). They also have a juice bar with a dozen options as well as Illy coffee for around 25rmb. Nothing is spectacular, but those who are ravenous and need to eat quickly, without enduring the queue at Mr. Pancake House, might find this place to be a quiet, calm and pleasantly overlooked option. You’re also far less likely to bump into anyone you know here — a blessing if you’re nursing a rude hangover. Sat-Sun: All day For a full brunch listing click here.