立ち上がる時
Cristal is a Mediterranean restaurant situated over Wujiang Road (aka the food street). It is actually listed as "closed" on City Weekend (Shanghai lifestyle magazine/website for expats), so we had the equivalent of a private party on the premises, one Saturday night a few weeks ago. The decor was exquisite, with lavish chandeliers and a premium bar space. I went for dessert and dessert alone.
baba'l rum
What is it, you ask?
"Baba Au Rhum/Baba Au Savarin - A Savarin is a yeast dough baked in a ring mold and soaked in rum syrup, the center hole brimming with pastry cream, crème chantilly, or fresh fruit. The dessert is a close relative of the Eastern European baba, which includes dried fruit in the dough and is served without a filling."
It was like a fruit & bread soup. And not a good one at that.
1. I didn't detect any rum in it.
2. The cream chantilly was overflowing.
3. The bread was soggy.
4. The fruit medley (pomelo, peach, and watermelon) was sour, whereas the rest of the dessert was sweet or even salty.
(Price: 58RMB / US$9)
Eat it or starve?: Starve.
chocolate killer
You know a chocolate dessert has to good if it has any variant of the words "death" or "kill" in its title.
And unsurprisingly, this was the best dessert of the evening. Let's see, there was a free-standing chocolate lava cake, chocolate ice cream, and a pair of mini chocolate tarts. The chocolate lava cake was warm and soft, contrasting nicely with the cold, rock-hard chocolate tart. I didn't have any of the ice cream. (Price: 88RMB / US$14)
Eat it or starve?: Eat it.
chocolate souffle
Cream and chocolate ice cream and chocolate bread pudding. There was a thin layer of chocolate cake on top, and the rest was just all warm, vanilla bread pudding underneath. I thought it was pretty good, but as it wasn't what we'd ordered, we returned the dish to the kitchen. (Price: 68RMB / US$10)
Address: 4/F, 328 Maoming Road / 175 Taixing Road, Shanghai
TEL: 6136 1388
Style: Mediterranean