After only 9 months since its grandopening in October 2009, Cristal Restaurant & Bar has been voted BestMediterranean Restaurant in Shanghai by readers of City Weekend Magazine and FirstRunner-up in Best Dessert and Newcomer of the Year categories.

Open throughout the day, Cristaloffers breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch and tapas. The restaurant and barconveys a strong Mediterranean theme through the use of light, earthy colorsand natural materials. Covering an area of 460 square meters, it has a totalseating capacity of 86. Characterized by a spacious terrace that offers abird-view of Nanjing Rd (W) Commercial Street, it has floor-to-ceiling windowsthat can be removed so that the restaurant can be completely open to theoutdoor terrace. Other than the main dining room that is adjacent to a swimmingpool, there are four other rooms that can cater to a group of 30 down to anintimate dinner for 2 persons.

General Manager and Executive ChefAlexandre Molina, is originally a native from Nice, an ancient town on theFrench Riviera (Cote d’Azur). He grew up in the midst of Mediterranean scentsand tastes and he developed an early passion for cuisine through watching hismother and Spanish grandmother cooking French and Spanish specialties. Typicalingredients of Nice gastronomy like olive oil, anchovies, fresh vegetables andaromatic herbs still hold a fundamental role in his recipes. Of greatimportance in influencing his style of cuisine were his two formative years ofworking and training with international culinary Maestro Alain Ducasse, in the3 Michelin starred Louis XV Restaurant,Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo.

Cristal’s cuisine is based on theMediterranean diet, known all around the world to be tasty, yet healthy andbalanced. Special emphasis is placed on the use of fresh, seasonal ingredientsand light condiments. The recipes, that draw their origin especially fromFrance, Italy, Spain and Greek, but also from North Africa and Middle East, rangebetween more traditional to innovative ones. They incorporate also touches fromAsiatic cuisine.

At Cristal, the signature dish isSpanish Fideo - a mixed seafood dish. The recipe is directly passed down fromAlexandre’s grandmother. A lot of restaurant diners order this dish as it hasbeen described as being “simply awesome” by many people including a foodreviewer and also the fact that nowhere else in Shanghai can you find this dish.Cristal sells about ten “Fideo” daily.

Cristal’s cuisine has been very popularwith the western community in Shanghai, as well as the Asian community. To beuser-friendly, its menu has three different languages – English, Chinese andJapanese.

The Cristal cuisine is alsocomplemented by an excellent wine list that includes both a selection ofboutique wines and an assortment of widely acclaimed wines. Besides the winelist, each dish on Cristal’s menu has a wine pairing recommendation. Moresurprisingly, both full glass and tasting glass are available for guests totry.

Cristal operation hours are as follows:

Lunch: Monday-Friday 11:30 am to 2:30 pm

Dinner: Monday-Sunday 6.00 pm to 10:30 pm

Brunch: Saturday-Sunday 11.00 am to 3.00 pm

Tapas and drinks: Monday-Sunday 5.00 pm to 11.00 pm