Tan Shiye, chef of T'ang Court. (Photo provided to China Daily)
Restaurants in Shanghai that have just been added to the famous Michelin guide have aroused great interest from diners, along with doubts from netizens that a Western company could fairly rate diversified Chinese food.
Amid great anticipation and speculation, French tire manufacturer Michelin launched its first restaurant guide on the Chinese mainland, The Michelin Guide Shanghai 2017, on Wednesday, giving 26 restaurants in Shanghai from one to three stars.
"Michelin has developed the mythology for more than 100 years, and it is trusted by people all over the world," said Claire Dorland Clauzel, vice-president of Michelin International. "Today, the Michelin guide is really the unique guide in the world."
The 224-page guide, priced at 168 yuan ($25), was released in both Chinese and English. By Wednesday afternoon, it had sold more than 2,000 copies on Tmall, one of China's largest online shopping platforms.
Among the 26 restaurants that earned stars, 19 are Chinese restaurants. The others serve Italian or French cuisine as well as innovative, vegetarian or barbecued foods.
T'ang Court, which serves Cantonese food at The Langham hotel in the Xintiandi area, is the only one awarded three stars in the Shanghai guide, meaning it serves "exceptional cuisine" and is "worth a special journey".
Tan Shiye, chef of T'ang Court, described his reaction as "overwhelmed" after receiving the "unexpected" award at Wednesday's release ceremony. The cook from Guangdong province said that keeping the original flavor of the ingredients is what helps his restaurant standout.
On the food rating website Dianping.com, users showed great fervor toward the newly starred establishments. T'ang Court, where the average bill is 539 yuan ($80), received hundreds of comments on the website in the hours after its three-star award was announced.
"I made about 50 phone calls to reach an operator at T'ang Court and finally made a reservation for Oct 3," a user named Kongtai said on Dianping.com.
Michelin's Clauzel said that finding appropriate reviewers proved to be the biggest challenge for the Shanghai project, adding that most of them are Chinese.
