[New Eats] We Visited SH's 1st Upscale Irish Restaurant – YEATS

New Eats is a semi-regular articles dispatch from Shanghai's eternal buffet of the brand-new. This city doesn't just open restaurants, it speed-runs them: concepts launched with Champagne toasts and hashtags, then quietly retired to the big KTV in the sky. In between? Absolute gems. We're here to catch the sparkle before it fades – the bowls of noodles worth worship, the bars mixing more than just overpriced gimmicks, the spots that might actually survive past their first rent cycle. Strap in. Shanghai's appetite doesn't nap, and neither should you.

The Place:

A modern Irish bistro by Irish chef, restaurateur and university lecturer Curt Evans. If you aren't from Ireland, you might have some preconceived notions about what constitutes Irish cuisine. Evans is here to shatter those notions. In short, this is not a pub. Says Evans, "I think Ireland hasn't been represented yet in a slightly more upscale manner."

The Space:

Despite any pretense of not being an Irish pub, Yeats still feels like... well... an Irish pub. Think: stained glass windows on the doors, brass fixtures and polished green granite surfaces that hark back to the island's emerald hues. It's not your workaday variety, mind you. It all feels a bit more elevated. You don't come here to tie one on. Getting tipsy is the side effect of great meal; it's not the central mission.

The Food:

The first things that likely come to mind are stick-to-your-ribs staples that are best washed down with a pint of Guinness. And yes, you'll find plenty of Irish classics, like colcannon or house-smoked bacon with cabbage, on the menu. But Evans also sees in Yeats an opportunity to showcase ingredients.

"We have a strong use of seasonality in Ireland," he explains. "We have really good oysters. We have scallops. We have razor clams. We have everything you'd expect from a small island in the northwest of Europe."

But it's more than just seafood. "I grew up eating a lot of the food my father would have been hunting for," he continues, "like venison or rabbit."

Yet, Evans has no interest in coloring within the lines. "When we can get an Irish ingredient, I'm going to be more creative with how we serve it," he says. "When we can't get it from Ireland, I want the cooking methods to be more traditionally Western European… I want some balance of Irishness, whether that be through technique or through origin."

On our visit, Yeats was offering a soft-opening menu. Here is a taste of that.

A dense and crusty soda bread baked with Guinness and treacle. It's savory, yet sweet, with a rich malty bitterness from the beer. It's served with a quenelle of miso nori butter, which adds an irresistible umami note.

That venison Evans mentioned above gets slow cooked, mixed with creamy potatoes, and fried into crispy, horseradish-laced croquettes that look like this:

The kinds of wild fowl his father would have hunted are not so easy to come by in these parts. Free-range pigeon from nearby Nantong, however, proves to be a solid stand-in. Evans gives the bird an elegant treatment with a stuffed leg and wing, a breast cooked to a perfectly juicy pink center, puréed parsnips, pickled beets and a pigeon jus. Each element is positioned on the plate like a number on a clock.

Turning our attention seaward, we have sous vide halibut. Evans removes the skin, dehydrates it, and then deep-fries it like a prawn cracker, giving a balance of crispy texture to the delicately flaky fillet. It sits in a shallow pool of tangy beurre blanc with just a hint of Sichuan peppercorn alongside ribbons of pickled celtuce and salmon roe.

Sweets (at least what we tried) are surprisingly light, like strawberry sorbet and rhubarb with a goat cheese panna cotta and shards of meringue. "What's Irish about it?" you might ask. It's sauced with a syrup made with Irish gin.

In fact, all gins (and vodkas) on the menu are Irish made. This may make you wonder about the whiskey selection. You'll find plenty of quality bottles on offer – the kind meant to be sipped and savored, not shot. We tried a single malt Bushmills, for example. It was fantastic.

And Guinness? Of course. It's the only beer on tap. And they pull one of the best pints in town.

The Damage:

That Guinness and treacle bread goes for 38 yuan. The venison croquettes will set you back 98 yuan. Mains range from 148 to 288 yuan. Sides like colcannon are 48. Sweets like the strawberries and rhubarb are 78 to 88. Here's the full menu of their soft opening, with a few new dishes they've added since our visit:

Good For:

A new taste of the old Emerald Isle.

If you go

Address: Rm 202, Bldg C, 98 Yanping Rd (second floor, turn left after the small staircase next to 98 Creative Park)

延平路98号C幢202室（98创意园旁小楼梯上二楼左转）