Italian restaurant Mercato, founded by Jean Georges, is also located at 3 on the Bund. The concept of Mercato comes from the Italian wet market (which itself means "market" in Italian), and the restaurant is characterized by a sense of relaxation and casualness. Compared to Jean-Georges, a fourth-placed Fine Dining sibling restaurant on this list, Mercato prefers to create a relaxed and free dining model while maintaining a refined production. Mercato has won numerous awards, including the "Best Italian Restaurant" award by City Weekly for several consecutive years, the title of "Best Restaurant in Shanghai" by Olive Pictorial and "Stream", and the 2018 Michelin Guide recommended restaurant. Following in the footsteps of Jean-Georges, Mercato also has a place in Shanghai's high-end Western restaurants.
Mercato's Chef Emeritus is Jean-Georges, the founder of Mercato, and Executive Chef Paul Eschbach is also the Executive Chef of Jean-Georges Shanghai. The head chef is the son of the restaurateur, Mr. Kelvin Chai Yichen, who has a solid foundation in Japanese cuisine, specializes in Italian cuisine, and is the only Chinese chef in the world at Jean-Georges's.
As a Western restaurant that focuses on innovative Italian coastal flavors, Mercato's Italian cuisine is more smoky than French cuisine, and it is also more suitable for the Chinese stomach. The emperor fish sashimi in the à la carte menu, the basic raw cut thin slices are the most direct reflection of the restaurant's level. The sashimi is as thin as a cicada's wing, the flesh is crystal clear, and finally it is simply sprinkled with crushed olives and dill, and it is delicious in the mouth and rich in taste. Other seafood options include raw salmon with horseradish, spicy tuna with black olives, and scallop sashimi with green chilies. The appetizer Italian chicory salad with cherry tomatoes uses three kinds of tomato sweetness and sourness to blend with a simple balsamic vinegar for a refreshing taste, perfect for appetizers before a meal. In addition, there is a warm seafood salad with avocados, fresh and plump prawns with springy flesh, and well-ripe avocados with citric acid.
For the main course, in addition to classic seafood such as salmon wrapped in porcini mushrooms and grilled sea bream, the crispy beef ribs with a local flavor are also worth trying. The ribs are grilled until crispy and served with bones on the table, and the aroma of the fully cooked beef is overflowing, and the meat on the edges of the bones is even more flavorful. Served with fried corn fries and smoked chili red wine sauce, it is sweet and sour with a little spicy, and the taste caters to Chinese tastes, and the order rate is very high. Don't miss the restaurant's homemade lobster dumplings, which, unlike Chinese dumplings, are made from a mixture of Italian semolina and eggs, giving them a crispy texture. The aroma of lobster meat is complemented by a light sauce of olive oil, lemon juice and vanilla, and it is also a popular dish for Chinese tastes.
Pizza is a staple in Italian restaurants, and the charcoal-lit oven keeps coming out of the fresh pizza, and the smell is enough to make your mouth water. The restaurant offers a variety of flavors such as tomato pepper, tomato cheese, pepperoni, and Italian dried ham. The type with a light base adapts to the tastes of the general public, and it is also a must-have dish for family-style dining.
Mercato's world-class interior design is a loft-style themed restaurant on the Bund created by Neri&Hu Design. Three on the Bund is the first reinforced steel building in Shanghai, and Neri&Hu has demolished the restaurant's interior decoration over the years, restoring the pure beauty of the original building. All the tables, chairs and floors here were dismantled and rebuilt from waste materials dismantled during the renovation of Shanghai Farm, Industrial Zone and No. 3 Bund. Mercato's restoration of the "dilapidated appearance" can be regarded as a subversion of the high-end sense of Bund 3. Since its opening, the popularity of the restaurant has increased unabated, and it needs to be positioned in advance, and the waiters are warm and friendly, less serious and restrained Fine Dining, but it does not lose the professional service level in place, but when there are many people, there will be a slight lack of service, and a 10% service charge will be charged.
