Nanyang Cuisine
Masterful Malaysian food, finally

Infiniti, 138 Huaihai
Zhong Lu,Fourth floor
Tel: 021 6375 6048

Malaysia may only be five hours away by plane, but you could spend twice that long looking for good food from that region in Shanghai and come up empty-handed - until now, that is. Nanyang Cuisine, a new Singaporean-owned restaurant in the just-as-new Infiniti mall on Huaihai Zhong Lu opposite Shanghai Times Square, offers excellent, authentic, Malaysian food in an inviting environment. A set lunch here should run you about RMB40; the portions are not large, but they are sufficient to sate your appetite. The beef rendang and nasi lemak are highly recommended; you would be hard pressed to find rendang this tender in Kuala Lumpur's back streets. And on pleasant summer afternoons and evenings you can eat al fresco. The attractive new wooden outdoor deck has tables, shelter and a fantastic view of People's Square. Nanyang is a welcome addition to the once barren culinary landscape of Huaihai Lu's business district. ¨CWong Joon Ian

Beijing

Cepe
Mushrooms make a meal

The Ritz-Carlton Beijing
Financial Street
1 Jinchengfang Dong Jie
Phone: 010 6601 6666

Some would argue that Beijing has too many Italian restaurants, or rather not enough good ones. Diners will be pleased to find Cepe, a new restaurant serving Northern Italian cuisine in the glassy new environs of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel out west on Financial Street. Named for the porcini mushroom, Cepe pays homage to an ingredient often more associated with Chinese rather than European cuisine. An in-house Neapolitan chef brings the modest mushroom to life with creative and carefully prepared combinations. Thoughts of fungi are replaced with succulent combinations of mushrooms stuffed with aubergines, ricotta cheese and prawns. There's roasted veal on saut¨¦ed bell peppers with morel mushrooms and martini sauce. Diners should budget about RMB500 for a meal for two here, excluding the wine bill. Unsurprisingly, the restaurant is outfitted with extensive labels from Italian vineyards, although France and Australia are well-represented. The restaurant's wine lounge is a good place to swivel a glass but the 10-person soundproofed private room may be a better place to share a bottle with confidantes. If only mushrooms could talk. ¨CTzyy Wang