By Theresa Miao (Shanghai_Star )
Updated: 2006-09-22 15:51

                       
The two characteristics I most appreciate in Japanese cuisine are its fine presentation and fresh taste.People usually say cuisine is part of a culture.Food is treated by the Japanese as a kind of art - as delicate as Japanese women, as complex as the kimono and as mysterious as their poems.

However, such virtues have disappeared in many Japanese restaurants in the city which serve sushi on rotating bars. The noisy atmosphere in these places is no different from any fast-food eateries and the food is usually boring and far from maintaining its natural flavour.

Compared to these madhouses, Nadaman is a decent and distinctive restaurant which embodies the essence of traditional Japanese cuisine. It describes this "essence" as "kaiseki," which translated means "the art of transforming nature's blessing into food."

A recent meal I had in Nadaman met all my expectations of Japanese cuisine and the "kaiseki." The food is finely prepared, service is warm and the environment is exquisite.The food is priced accordingly - a lunch on its newly opened "teppan-yaki" (iron-board counter) costs 480 yuan (US$60)per person.

Teppan is an original Japanese kitchen mode, which seats diners and chefs face-to-face at the same table while meals are whipped up on the iron grill between them. The teppan-yaki counter in Nadaman is long and rectangular, and accommodates 11 diners and two chefs.

The menu is a combination of East and West, containing appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts and Japanese rice.

My lunch set was "Sakura," which means cherry blossom.The first appetizer contained marinated vegetable,homemade bean curd, asparagus and Japanese potage,served in an attractive way. The potage was especially pleasant,with a strong milky flavour and slightly salty and sweet.Shanghainese chef Rupert Zhang told me that it was made of potatoes, onions, butter, milk and eggs in a complicated process. The solids are removed and only the extracts remain,which creates a perfect harmony of flavour.

The steamed egg custard with shark fin and goose liver sauce followed as a hot appetizer. The custard containing shark fin was first steamed and then topped with hot goose liver sauce, rendering the egg custard a golden brown. The dish was very delicate and the juice tasted just like the crab spawn, without any bitterness of goose liver.

When the appetizers arrived on the table, Zhang was ready to fry the cod fillets and scallops on the teppan, a process that took no more than four minutes. He heated up the raw seafood by turning it over and over, sprinkled it with salt and pepper and doused it with brandy, which generated a white smoke.

Diners can talk with the chefs, see how the meals are cooked and even learn some tricks from them.

After the seafood was prepared, Zhang carefully put it on dishes and added a sauce made of pine nuts and Western celeries.

The grilled fillets and scallops were very tasty and fresh and the green sauce made them more savoury. The seafood's exterior was properly fried to a golden colour, while the interior was hot and tender.

The entree was roast beef sirloin with fried vegetables, all of which were medium-cooked, very succulent and fresh. The beef was also flavoured with salt and pepper,and was soft and delectable. The mushroom, cucumber slices and broccoli had a mellow flavour.The third dish from the teppan was rice with eggs and assorted vegetables. If the first two have not filled your stomach yet, the rice will definitely do it. Merely the smell is savoury enough to stimulate the appetite again and the taste is quite special.

In addition to the teppan counter, Nadaman restaurant has two private rooms and regular seats and tables. The decoration is sleek, in modern Japanese style. A few black, wooden folding screens create a cozy atmosphere in the large dining room.

Nadaman Japanese Restaurant
Address: 2F, Tower 2 of Shangri-La Hotel, Pudong 33 Fucheng Road
Tel: 021-68828888