Douglas Williams/Shanghai Daily News

Japanese chef Taira Tetsu oversees the nouveau cuisine at Ambrosia. — DW

Sashimi with ark shell, salmon and tuna spiced up with homemade wasabi. — DW

Ambrosia could probably make a good case for being one of the finest Japanese restaurants in China but it wouldn't, it's far too well-bred.

Not that there's anything understated about this restaurant at 150 Fenyang Road, there isn't. From the moment one claps eyes on this elegant historical villa, through the first mouthful right up until waddling down the marble spiral staircase on the way out there is never even the merest soupcon of doubt that this might be anything other than a thoroughly top-drawer establishment.

Ambrosia means the food of the Gods as most people know but for some, such as me, it also has strong connotations with a tinned rice pudding desert ideally suited to completing a camping meal since it requires the minimum of preparation. Ambrosia, the restaurant, has had maximum preparation; it had US$4.5 million spent on it in the year before its opening in May 2002.

Many of the elaborate features are original and date back to the building's construction that began in 1919 and was completed 11 years later. The original owner was a very wealthy French businessman and he had the extensive marble imported from Europe.

During the 1940s the villa was home to Bai Chongxi, a Kuomintang general. Later, in the 1950s, it became the Chinese Painting Institute, the Shanghai Yueju Opera House in the 1960s and the Yue You Restaurant from the 1980s. The current owners, Shanghai BaoLiNa Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the Taiwanese Namchow Group, took over in 2001.

Conde Naste's Traveler magazine recently voted Ambrosia among the top 75 restaurants in the world and in the top four in China.

The ground floor of Ambrosia consists of a long, long Tepanyaki bar at which mesmerized diners watch as wizardry chefs with carefully calculated movements conjure up magical morsels.

The second floor has the great dining hall which can double as a dance floor. The old terrace, called Coelus, is now covered and diners can look out over the ample and verdant gardens resplendent with camphor, pine, holly and of course magnolia trees. There are also two wing rooms, Diana and Flora, that can be semi-private, the first like a state room, the latter overlooking neighbor Paulaner.

This floor has the sashimi bar with fresh seafood brought in every other day from the coastal city of Dalian in North China's Liaoning Province and Japan. There is a cocktail bar that also serves the deliciously dry and light Paulaner beer, brewed across the way.

On the third floor the bedrooms have been converted into several private rooms seating from two to 12 people in utmost luxury and privacy.

All in all, all bases are covered. A cozy, romantic meal for two, some Tepanyaki with a friend, a board meeting and perhaps most pertinently and appropriately a wedding, what with the photogenic, sweeping stair, the dance hall and the romance of the place. The father of the bride might need an understanding bank manager.

Taira Tetsu, executive chef and overseer of the nouveau Japanese cuisine, is a jovial gent from Tokyo with 35-year experience cooking across the world. He mustered up for us a range of delights.

An appetizer of shredded seaweed smoked salmon, mozzarella with cherry tomatoes and mint and pickled swede gets things off to an interesting start. Sashimi with ark shell, woomi, salmon and tuna all spice up with homemade wasabi made from the actual root itself and all the better for it.

Then it was time to spark up the burner in the middle of the table to proceed with Yakiniku, a special grill which in Ambrosia's case is made all the more special by deign of the powerful extractor fans underneath.

The Dalian scallops were the largest this avid scallop fan has encountered and were only topped by the evening's coup de grace - Kobi beef. This meet would surely convert vegetarians and if possible I think I'd like to return as a Kobe cow. Fed on a diet of beer and massaged with sake daily, their meet tastes like nothing else. We had a fried tofu with spinach dish and were done by the time the South Korean iron pot of noodles, rice and egg arrived.

The food was delicious, the quality of the ingredients shining through, the setting sumptuous and the service exemplary. The only criticism I might level would be one that could apply to many of Shanghai's high-end restaurants. What is it about classic jazz that makes it obligatory erring on ubiquitous in every dimly lit, classy eatery. Of course it's safe but that sax and the earnestly tastefulness of it all gets a bit much. Modern food, modern setting and a modern city, why the same old music?

Dinner without drink can be had for between 300 (US$37) and 400 yuan per head, less in the Tepanyaki, more with one of the set menus. Staff are on hand to help with both the choosing and the cooking.