Otto Gourmet Cafe

We would never consider going to Otto if it wasn't for a review we read. Somehow the name Otto sounded a little off-putting and the look from the outside of the restaurant didn't help neither. Fortunately we gave it a try because the food turned out to be great.

Our visit to Otto was relatively late and we were just in time to catch the set lunch (its appetiser buffet ends at 2pm). For RMB88 per person we could pick between an appetisers buffet or soup to start, 5 choices of main course, and a creme brulee.

Our bread and 3 dips.

I had a bit of everything from the buffet. Everything was tasty and I particularly liked the chickpea salad with olives and chunks of lamb meat. The fried potato cake was nice too. I didn't like the salmon after all as I thought it'd be smoked but it was actually raw and served with avocado. Odd.

U decided to have gazpacho instead. At first she thought she had missed out on the buffet but upon tasting her soup she had no regrets. It was the best gazpacho she had in Shanghai she exclaimed! The flavours were all there and the ingredients were all correct (she couldn't stress enough how much she hated the version in Azul with crab meat).

My sea bass steak was average. The fish did not taste too fresh (previously frozen perhaps?) and was a tad too fishy. The "soup" was tasty with beans, olives, and interestingly thin slices of fried potatoes. Nice dish, shame about the fish.

U's beef cheek stew. At first we thought it meant the lower cheek (haha) as in rump stew but we immediately decided it was the face cheek when we saw the size of the cut. The meat was so rich and succulent it's out of this world. The little cube was packed with flavours and it just fell off her fork. She wanted more.

Somehow we were full after our mains and we were surprised to see we each got two little pots of creme brulee. Loved the subtle orange twang.

Overall we were very happy with the food but I was told that the RMB88 deal ends in end of August. Nonetheless we will go back to check out the rest of the Spanish and Italian (a bit odd)menu again.

Note: the extensive wine-by-the-glass list is extremely expensive.

Otto Gourmet Cafe

85 Fumin Rd. (near Julu Rd.), Shanghai. Tel: 6248-9186