We visited the Jewel at Changi Airport on a Monday afternoon. Shang Social looked like it could accommodate the two of us, since many other restaurants had snaking queues outside of them! We decided to give it a try.
In case you are wondering why it is called Shang Social? And in Mandarin 香聚? That's because it is owned by the Shangri-La Group, which of course, is the owner of the Shangri-La Hotel Singapore 新加坡香格里拉大酒店.
Shang Social is the first of its kind from the Shangri-La Group, being the first "standalone dining establishment outside of a hotel setting", quoting from the restaurant's page on the Jewel Changi Airport website. You can read more from Shangri-La's announcement here as well.
The restaurant consists of three themed areas: DINING, MRKT and BAR.
DINING provides a more exclusive dining experience, where you can opt for private rooms.
MRKT serves up casual dishes if you are looking for something less exorbitant.
BAR is the bar area where one can enjoy some Asian-infused cocktails, as well as Chinese tapas.
We were quite eager to try some Chinese cuisine from the famed hotel group. We chose a table right in the middle, ensuring we could have a good view of everything in the restaurant. Near the entrance, there was the open kitchen area, separated by a panel of glass. This gives customers a good view of the master chefs cooking up a storm before their eyes.
The entrance to Shang Social.
The 18-seater Shang Social Bar area.
The dining area has a good view of the chefs conjuring up amazing dishes.
There was quite a good variety of dishes to choose from the MRKT menu. Something caught Momo Dear's eyes - Rice with BBQ Honey Pork Belly & Pan-Fried Egg. That name itself may not raise an eyebrow, but the Chinese name of the dish 黯然销魂饭 may ring a bell for fans of Stephen Chow, as it was featured in his movie, The God of Cookery 食神. The dish consisted of rice with succulent BBQ honey pork belly cooked to perfection, accompanied by xiaobaicai and a beautiful pan-fried egg. The dish sure looked appetizing based on the bright colours that were presented. However the portion was regrettably too little. Guess it was not designed to be eaten alone.
Rice with BBQ Honey Pork Belly & Pan-Fried Egg 黯然销魂饭
We also ordered the Traditional Shanghai Xiao Long Bao 传统上海小笼包, which came steaming hot. Had to be careful to let it cool to the right temperature before biting into its soup-filled interior. We both felt their XLBs tasted pretty normal, but one could tell that the chefs who made these XLBs were very skilful as there was a lot of soup in them.
Traditional Shanghai Xiao Long Bao 传统上海小笼包
Another main dish we ordered was the Stewed E-Fu Noodle with Shimeji Mushroom & Dried Sole Fish 甫鱼松菇干烧伊面. We would almost certainly order E-Fu noodles from Chinese restaurants whenever they have it. The noodles were of the right texture and contained Shimeji mushrooms. Dried sole fish also added to add a touch of fragrance. The only down side was that the dish tasted kinda bland and super oily. Would have been better if there was more seasoning with much lesser oil.
Stewed E-Fu Noodle with Shimeji Mushroom & Dried Sole Fish 甫鱼松菇干烧伊面
Last item we ordered for our lunch was the Signature Pan-Fried Bun with Pork 招牌生煎包. At a glance they look like little woolen caps, don't they? They may be picture-worthy, but we both felt that the buns were not to our liking. There was not enough fragrance to it I guess.
Signature Pan-Fried Bun with Pork 招牌生煎包
Overall we expected better from Shangri-La and we would prefer some other Chinese restaurants out there. Perhaps their other items could be better? Well, maybe we would give Shang Social a second chance some day.
