M on Bund - Shanghai
There have been a number of positive FlyerTalk reviews on the wildly popular M on Bund fusion restaurant in Shanghai over the past year and having just arrived in PVG, I was looking forward to having lunch or dinner at Michelle Garnaut's restaurant, as I've read a number of reviews over the past few years about the wonderful North African meets Mediterranean food offered here.
As we settled into our hotel room and checking my area map, I realized that the restaurant was just 2 blocks away from my hotel, the Westin, I was really getting excitied. I started to thumb through the complimentary issue of The Asian Wall Street Journal and noticed that the "Personal Journal" section had an entire series titled "Fare to Remember", which lasted 3 1/2 years and covered 24 Asian cities, however, this particular article, which was the closing story for the series, was about the worst meals that the two reviewers had ever had.
Front page: M on Bund.
Everyone should try a place out, regardless of what a reviewer might write, we all have different tastes, however, since I'm only here for 5 full days, I'm limited to a total of 5 dinners and 5-10 lunches, assuming that I dine at a restaurant or nosh here and there at food stalls. I want these meals to be memorable, I actually get quite disappointed when I have a bad meal and while I will be the first one to argue in favor of trying a restaurant regardless of what a reviewer said, I'm really leaning towards skipping this restaurant now, as I don't want to waste a precious meal.
Were the other positive reviews tainted by the fantastic Shanghai skyline views overlooking the Bund and the Huangpu River and the diners wanted the meal to be great even though it was mediocre? Perhaps they justified the bland food as being good because of the price? I don't know, but the reviewer in the article slammed this restaurant while Conde Nast Traveler magazine called M on Bund "Shanghai's top dining experience". He even went as far to say that they push liquor sales so hard so that "the more you drink, the less attention you'll pay to the food".
So, would you skip this place or give it a try?