Michelin downgrades Shanghai's only 3-starred restaurant

Tang Court, the only Chinese restaurant on the mainland with three Michelin stars, lost one, as the French restaurant guide upgraded its Shanghai version for the third year on Thursday.

The Cantonese restaurant, owned by the Hong Kong luxury hospitality group Langham, was also the only one in the three-star category when the guide debuted in the Chinese mainland in September 2016.

Last year, its chef, Tan Shiye, was poached by another hotel group.

This marks the first time the century-old guide invested by the tire manufacturer removed a star from restaurants in China.

Two other restaurants also had stars taken away: Jin Xuan of Ritz Carlton Shanghai, Pudong, and Kanpai Classic, a barbecue restaurant.

Newly awarded restaurants include Le Comptoir de Pierre Gagnaire by the eponymous French chef who already boasts several stars, il Ristorante by the recently opened hotel Bulgari, and Moose, which offers local Shanghai cuisine.

In total, Michelin gave Shanghai 25 one-starred restaurants, eight two-starred and one three-starred.