Ayesha de Kretser

The InterContinental Pudong Hotel’s new vodka-themed brunch is a better reason than most to get yourself to Pudong on a Sunday.Just make sure it’s not after a heavy night on the town Saturday.

Executive Chef Mark Bannon of the InterContinental Pudong Hotel prepares for another vodak-themed brunch.

Cumin-spiced snapper.

Executive chef Mark Bannon has devised an impressive range of dishes which use vodka to add or enhance existing flavors. The alcohol content is mostly diffused during cooking, so guests needn’t worry about staggering home from the hotel, unless they decide to hit the cocktail menu.
Van Gogh Vodka Company has provided the training for the InterContinental’s bar staff in mixing a creative list of cocktails. We sampled the Rasmopolitan, a variation on the drink made popular by “Sex and the City,” the Cosmopolitan, which features raspberry infused vodka.
The buffet comes with one welcome cocktail and it wasn’t very strong but this is to ensure everyone will be able to enjoy the welcome cocktail without getting tipsy.
A seafood bar offers glistening fresh treats such as oysters, king crab legs, juicy fresh prawns, smoked salmon and much more. This is some of the best seafood in town and supplies are more than amply refilled often to ensure freshness.
Gazpacho cucumber vodka shooters and Bloody Mary oyster shooters provide the perfect accompaniment to the seafood spread.
The smoked salmon gravlax was fresh and combined the flavor of vodka with dill to perfection. Chef Rex Zhou explains that the focus is on using vodka really only in the strong flavored foods, such as lamb and salmon.
Some of the more surprising dishes where vodka can be used to great effect are the goats cheese with wilted spinach and bell pepper fritata and the breakfast tortilla wrap with caramelized onion. Different flavors of vodka, usually apple and other less obvious varieties are used in the preparation.
One of the many “vodka-free” dishes on offer was the perfectly cooked fillet of beef with white beans and chorizo. Next door, the crisp and tasty snow peas and asparagus provided proof that food served out of a bain marie need not be over-cooked.
However, those who want food tailored to their taste buds have the option of visiting the grill, where chefs will prepare lamb cutlets, salmon fillets and a range of other prime cuts of meat to order.
The Level One restaurant occupies a very large area but doesn’t feel like a canteen. The buffet spans different types of food, including mal a ton (a Chinese soup where you choose the ingredients and have them cooked in front of you and put into a spicy broth with peanut sauce), dim sum, a carvery and grill.
Interactive open kitchens are becoming more and more popular with restaurants in Shanghai, probably because people like to see how their food is being prepared. This particular restaurant has plenty of life, probably generated by all the large groups of cheerful Chinese guests and visitors enjoying the food.
Worth a visit if you’re looking to impress guests with a great brunch with Asian influences and you can also catch a chamber concert organized by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra if you’re there on the first Sunday of each month.

Opening hours: 11:30am-2:30pm
Address: Level One, 777 Zhangyang Rd, near Laoshan Rd, Pudong
Price: 198 yuan plus 15 percent service charge
Tel: 5835-6666 ext 3166