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Spending a Fortune at Fortune Restaurant

written by John Chow on March 20, 2009

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Enough with the $1 lunches! It’s time to show the “To Get Rich Is Glorious” side of Shanghai. In addition to being the biggest city in China, with a population of nearly 20 million, Shanghai is also the richest. And there is a large segment of businesses that cater to China’s new rich.

One such place is Fortune Restaurant. I think this place exist just so newly minted Chinese millionaire can take their friends there to show off their wealth. I’m pretty sure they don’t go there for the food because it’s merely OK. For the prices they are charging, I expected a lot better.

Fortune Restaurant is impressive, with its 20 foot ceiling and a wait staff that outnumbers the diners. The price of the dishes range from expensive to insane. Our five course dinner came to the equivalent of 1.3 months salary for the average Chinese factory worker. Don’t expect to see many factory workers dining at Fortune Restaurant.

Fortune Restaurant

Fortune Restaurant

Fortune Restaurant

Fortune Restaurant

Fortune Restaurant

Fortune Restaurant

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Your all posts about your food forced me to have some good thing to eat. But seems to me that video of this post does not contain all the recipes.

I'd rather order the steak.Never tasted Shanghai steak.I think that will be a real food pleasure.

I really like how they set that jar up. And now I want some food.

I'm starting to feel real hungry just looking at the food. The sparribs look delicious. Absolutely Yummy!

Peter

Damn John , its definitely worth the fortune spent!

20 million is big population, imagine very crowded, $ 1 is cheap

Because of all the style of food from Asia countries, it is not affecting restaurants here in US :) I just love the placement and how the food looks in China at a fraction of the cost...like Sea Harbour.

-Mike

awesome, miss food in Shanghai. about the price, well, averaging means almost nothing for a 1.3 billion people country, enjoy in China.

Hi John,

At least the restaurant look awesome, maybe thats also why they are charging a lot of money, you are paying the building and the waiters, lol.

Hey, that animation is from one of andrew kramer's tutorials.....I'm just so impressed by the tea..lol

This is a clear example that a larger price doesn't mean it necessarily tastes better--which is kind of a bummer..

Some of the best places to eat are mere "holes in the wall.."

Nice! I'm hungry now.

looked really good!

Now that you had this food and the $1 meals in China, do you think its worth the money? i mean just comparing food only rather than decor and service quality.

Fortune Restaurant is not worth it. However, there are some high end restaurants that are worth it. I'll be featuring some of them in the days ahead.

nice! looking forward to hearing of those.

When you said 1300RMB? at the end, what is that in western currency??

1300RMB is about $200 USD

3 years ago.. $1 USD equals $8.2 RMB now.. it's like $6.8 RMB..Economists wants it to be in $4-5 RMB range.

Average people in Shanghai make about $2500-$4000 RMB per month.

nice! learned something new today. Thanks.

Can't wait to see them. High quality food makes me giddy.

Sometimes the best food is the cheapest street type food.

I hear you, every time I go back I find myself wondering on the streets looking for stinky tofu or tomato noodles. Locals on the other hand want to drag me to the best Western styled restaurants... so bizarre. However, as I get clients from Asia visiting Finland, they always want to eat Asian food. I think they just want to make me feel like home there. :)

Woo...That's really a luxury meal in shanghai! ^^

John do you ever feel weird being video tape, due people around you look at you funny?

They weren't looking at me funny. They were more smiling and giggling.

They probably think he's a foreigner, even though he looks exactly like them.

They can tell right away that John's not a local. Most people who have been North American-ized look out of place in most major cities in Asia. :)

That doesn't look any better than the average place in America with half decent pricing.

Yeah, that meal costed him $200, insane.

I have to join you guys with this one. Dishes are not displayed especially invitingly. This sort of place should at least have the show even if they fail the taste.

I've never seen an average place in America that had food like that. That's higher than average.

Cool video. Shanghai must be a really interesting city.

You also order your steak by percentage in Chinese restaurants in Vancouver/Richmond. 60% is medium-well. If you wanted medium-rare, you should have ordered 30-40%.

Will keep that in mind for next time. The steak was still pretty juicy.

Mmm, looks good. Now I'm craving steak. Might have to go to the Keg this weekend or something. :)

That is a very interesting way to order steak, at home I measure steaks "doneness" by internal meat temperature.

That really looks yummy. Will visit Shanghai one day

Some really yummy food there.