(smartshanghai.com)
Updated: 2007-04-26 09:09

The inviting environment of Trattoria Isabelle sits in an ideal location on the sleepy pedestrian street of Xing An Road, an offshoot of Yan Dang Road. Long rumored to be a refuge for insiders seeking simply prepared, home-style Italian food, Trattoria Isabelle has managed to escape most of the glare from the expat media limelight. When trolling the expat discussion forums, reactions to Trattoria Isabelle are varied - there are fanatics and the dismissive alike. I'm unsure of what to make of this as my friend Sherry and I stroll towards the entrance and push through the door.

Take one step inside and you understand the appeal of the intimate, dimly-lit interior, and why Trattoria Isabelle scores such high marks for ambience. The unassuming three-story house sits one in a row of similar buildings. In contrast to the rather plain exterior, inside is lovely and unpretentious, with dark hardwood floors and original architectural details. Absent is the overly-slick decor that seems to plague so many restaurants in our commercial capital; in its place is low-key charm.

My online nosing around produced some worthy intelligence - one of the draws to Trattoria Isabelle is the lunch set, where for 38-48rmb you can choose from pasta or pizza and also receive a salad and a choice of soft drink, coffee, or tea. I like this option because how well a restaurant turns out set menu items (have the salads been prepped hours ahead of time and been drying out since then?) is often a useful litmus test, and the fact that coffee is included as an option for a set beverage. Caffeine is one of my major food groups. My coffee arrives quickly after being ordered, another brownie point.

Our meal begins with an impressive bread basket - focaccia, brioche, bread sticks. I am definitely appreciative - finding good bread in Shanghai can sometimes prove daunting. In the absence of table olive oil, our request for butter is accommodated immediately, and the correct term for it provided (Sherry attempted the Cantonese translation, cow oil, but our northern counterparts use the term, yellow oil). After our server sets down the green salads - another sticking point for me - I decide that Isabelle has potential. The salad is so simple it's nearly unadorned, but the mixed greens are fresh, properly spun, and lightly dressed, not soggy or drowning in dressing. The vinaigrette is nicely balanced and there's a light smattering of cherry tomatoes and olives. Our consensus: so far, so good. Minimalist. We can dig it.

We peek over at the next table and see that the pizza, disappointingly, looks anemic and a little too minimalist, so we decide on pasta, where Isabelle is rumored to have a stronghold. Lunch customers have a choice of three pastas - spaghetti, fettuccine, or penne - with a Bolognese, basic tomato, pesto, tomato-based seafood sauce, or white sauce with chicken and mushrooms. Sherry orders the Bolognese and I'm hit by food envy when it arrives - it's dense and meaty and lovely. Sadly, my pesto is thin and oily and not much improvement on the pesto I spoon out of a Carrefour-bought jar at home.

Chef Rudolph - owner Isabelle's younger brother - also dishes up a plethora of main courses, mostly classically-prepared French and Italian dishes like osso bucco (at 128rmb, the priciest on the menu), herbed chicken served over ratatouille (48rmb), a version of bouef au poivre (98rmb) using Australian beef, and a half rack of lamb accompanied by a parmesan-potato puree (108rmb). The house specials include a stewed lamb shank (85rmb) served with pumpkin puree and beans, a grilled sole fillet (88rmb), a fisherman's stew (88rmb) with sea bass, mussels, clams, shrimp, and squid, and a captivating foie gras roll (42rmb) appetizer.

The wine list is as extensive as the food menu; one notable (and popular) option is the house wine (98rmb), a Torres-vineyard 2004 Syrah bottled for Trattoria Isabelle and a favorite of regular customers. There is also a full bar offering.

The service at Trattoria Isabelle deserves a distinct kudos. Our server was discreet to the point of being inconspicuous, helpful, and attentive despite covering what seemed like all the tables on the floor. We barely noticed her; a positive thing because I can be somewhat picky (I think of it as observant) about timing and attitude. The other staff members I spoke to were friendly and seemed to have a handle on passable to excellent English, for those unable to request yellow oil in Mandarin themselves (guilty).

My overall experience at Trattoria Isabelle was such a refreshing break from the mean streets of Shanghai, I'm happy to overlook my pesto experience and return to sample the rest of the menu, friends in tow.

Trattoria Isabelle
Address: 139 Xing'an Rd, near Yan Dang Rd
Tel: 021-53860827