Having been a regular guest at the old Embre, I was disappointed to see this place quietly close down. Our review for the old Embre described this hidden gem that has "style and atmosphere, and most importantly, the good food, which puts the restaurant a notch above the rest". I never fully bought the official reason for the closure; it being too small for the huge success. Why would a restaurant owner close a profitable restaurant, and wait a few months to open a new one which isn't much bigger? It's more likely the neighbours next door didn't like a western restaurant in their garden.

The new Embre opened two weeks ago on Fumin Lu, which is currently Shanghai's trendy area for restaurants and shops. Otto, Shintori, Casanova, Magnolia and Coconut Paradise are all just a stones throw away from where the new Embre is (and luckily for me, also where the new SmartShanghai office is).

Unfortunately my first impression of the new Embre was disappointing. While the old Embre had lots of charm, the new Embre looks cold and unfinished, with ordinary Ikea furniture, a lack of pictures on the walls and dark-red colours that I already disliked in Boona 2 Cafe. The ground floor doesn't seem to know if it wants to be a Cafe or a restaurant, with small sofa chairs and book shelf filled with 'bits and bobs' on the far wall, alongside a large bar. The second floor looks like a big room with just plain tables in it. Embre does have a nice outside seating area with about four or five tables, but even though it's almost the same setup as nearby Saleya, it doesn't quite have that romantic and cosy atmosphere that I expected knowing the old Embre.

Having said all that, I suggest reading on a bit further, because Embre comes recommended for one reason: the food.

If you manage to understand the menu (you get two food menus, which is confusing) you get an appreciation of what Embre stands for: honest, exciting recipes with an Australian influence. Embre boasts a breakfast menu, sandwich and soup lunch, salads, pasta and risotto mains, and a good selection of fish and meat mains. You can choose between a tenderloin, rib-eye or t-bone steak, or have roasted duck with orange, or King prawns with Corn fritters choose between Cod and Salmon. Yum. I had the Mango chutney tenderloin Beef Sandwich for lunch which came in home-made tasty bread, the beef perfectly cooked with a interesting marinade, paired with fries (my British colleague loved them, and she said she knows her fries) and a fairly generous mixed leaf salad with tomatoes and a dressing. We sampled the Mushroom soup, which was creamy and packed with flavour along with chunks of mushroom. In the name of research I went back for dinner another day and had the Tenderloin Beef Salad with arugula and thai dressing (68rmb) and my co-eater the Salmon (77rmb), both dishes very well presented and very tasty. Total damage for lunch was 110rmb per person and 140rmb for dinner.

Having lived in this city for a few years I'm tired of overpriced western restaurants that charge high prices to pay their full-page ads in the local magazines. Embres prices are not cheap, but fair. The food is tasty and if they put some pictures on the wall and some candles on the tables, I might forget that they have the same Ikea lamps that I have at home.

The new Embre
Location: 832 Julu Road, near Fumin Lu
Tel: 021-62488705