T Sens

T Sens is in a good location and you can tell a lot of money was spent on the set up and decoration. Maybe that's why they ran out of money to hire a good cook?

The bread was pretty much the only good thing for our meal. They came nice and warm.

Let's start with my 3-course lunch set (RMB138). There were 2 choices for each course and the choices all came from the pricey a la carte menu. Not bad in value I guess. I started with the tomato and mozzarella salad. Looked fancy and it didn't taste bad. A small piece of mozzarella was hidden in the stack of tomato, seasoned with salt and pesto.

Then I had the grilled duck with rösti. It was ordinary and a little uninspiring. The base of my rösti was soggy - it was wet and it wasn't steam. There seemed to be some kind of broth. Strange.

For dessert I had to have the pineapple tiramisu because the other choice (some kind of strawberry thing) was out. Pineapple lovers would be disappointed because there was no pineapple in sight. I hate pineapple to begin with so it didn't really bother me. Anyway the dessert was lame: it's basically 3 slices of thin sponge, stacked up with whipped cream and small pieces of grapes. How does that relate to pineapple and tiramisu? I was beginning to think maybe the tiramisu was out also and this was something else. Anyhow the cherries were nice and I picked out all the micro grape slices (who can have whipped cream with fruits?).

Now back to U's selection. She decided to order from the menu and went for the rib eye steak (RMB198). When it arrived we couldn't believe how pathetic it looked. At least give us a crappy green salad or something. The steak was not particularly nice and the polenta was blah. For RMB198 it was very poor. I shall quote nan from the Catherine Tate Show: "what a fucking liberty!!!!!!!!" (Click here for a funny Catherine Tate Show clip.)

Her brownie (RMB58) sucked big time as well. It was raw - doughy and hard. Note to chef: spend more time cooking and less time squiggling.

Lunch for two with 2 drinks and a coffee came to RMB550. Service was OK but a little clueless. U's steak was served with my starter. What the?? In any case we will never be back again.

T Sens

2/F, 500 Zhong Shan Dong Yi Rd. (inside Huang Pu Park next to monument), Shanghai. Tel: 5308-2929