While Shangri-La Hotel's Chinese restaurant is often referred to as Shang Palace, Pudong Shangri-La Hotel, Shanghai's Chinese restaurant is unique, named Osmanthus Lou, which specializes in fine Huaiyang cuisine and is now one of the city's most prestigious Huaiyang restaurants.

Chef Gao Xiaosheng, Executive Chef of Guihualou, is from Yangzhou and has nearly 30 years of experience in Huaiyang cuisine. For more than ten years, Osmanthus House has been managed by Master Gao Xiaosheng, Master Gao's production has always had a very high evaluation and reputation, the prestige is undoubted, paradoxically, the excessive dependence on Master Gao has also made today's Osmanthus Building widely criticized in the stability of production, the quality of food is directly related to whether Master Gao is on duty or not, and the level of production ups and downs is suffocating.

Yipin Seafood Lion's Head is the signature dish of Osmanthus House, and Chef Gao adds abalone and spring bamboo shoots to this traditional dish, which is the finishing touch. Spring bamboo shoots dissolve the greasy feeling of fat and meat, abalone adds texture and umami, lion's head is four fat and six thin, the powder is soft and flavorful, and the knife is on the line. The signature flower crab soup is also a must, when the dish is served, the shelled crab meat is presented to the front of the table, and the crab soup arrives later, and the juice is poured on the spot, the soup is made by boiling the shell, river shrimp and lobster together for several hours, and the soup is delicious. The Mini Eight Treasure Duck is the chef's masterpiece, and this signature dish is a delicate version of the traditional Eight Treasure Duck, which is traditionally filled with whole duck with eight treasure ingredients, and the portion is so large that it is difficult for one person to eat. Osmanthus Lou changed this dish to a small piece, abandoned the whole duck, only took out the duck neck skin, stuffed enough glutinous rice, sea cucumber, abalone, scallops, shrimp, duck neck meat, duck gizzard, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, pine nuts, lotus seeds and other materials, tied into a gourd shape, inlaid with duck tongue, and then poured on oyster sauce and abalone juice to stew, the shape is interesting and proud, the soup base is fresh and lush, the duck skin is crisp and tender, and the filling rice is fragrant and glutinous.

Yangzhou splendid fried rice in Osmanthus House is also a must, the practice is Yangzhou's traditional "gold and silver", first fry the egg flower velvety, and then add rice to fry together, the rice grains are wrapped in egg flowers, the appearance is golden, the atmosphere is full, the rice grains are fresh and tough and smooth, the ingredients are in place, and the chef's skills are fully displayed. Fish soup knife noodles are also the restaurant's recommended dishes, known as the first in Shanghai, but the actual level is shocking, the noodles are extremely thin and soft, no taste, the soup base is weak in umami, and the pepper steals the flavor. Huaiyang boiled dried silk knife work is still passable, the quality of dried bean curd is excellent, the bean fragrance is full, but the soup seems to lack of training.

Chef Gao Xiaosheng, who used to work as a chef in Singapore, has also brought some fusion dishes to Osmanthus House, such as the Golden Steamed Bun Curry Shrimp Balls. The high-quality prawns are cooked with curry sauce, and the golden steamed buns are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, which goes perfectly with the curry sauce. The osmanthus tea and osmanthus cake in the refreshments are double and double-pointed, the osmanthus tea is dark with the fragrance of osmanthus, and the osmanthus cake with jujube paste is sweet and soft and glutinous, which is the classic of the opening and the ending.

The decoration of the osmanthus building is based on the theme of Chinese red, the ceiling lamp, the back of the chair, the utensils, etc. are all embellished with red, and the red ceiling light is turned on after nightfall, making the indoor light dim and blurred, very dazzling, and for the food, the red lighting is a visual disaster. The noon attendance rate of the restaurant is not low, and the service is obviously not in place when there are many people, and the clearing of the table, the removal of dishes, the addition of water, and the serving of food are not timely enough.

It is an indisputable fact that the production of osmanthus is unstable, Huaiyang cuisine is heavy on knife work, heavy on ingredients and soup, while osmanthus lou has some small problems from time to time, such as sloppy soup, improper ingredients, insufficient vegetable temperature, etc., which is tantamount to self-abandonment of martial arts for a Huaiyang cuisine restaurant. However, although today's Osmanthus Lou is no longer what it used to be, if you put aside the brand halo and lower expectations, then Osmanthus Lou can still be regarded as one of the Huaiyang restaurants in Shanghai.