Fusion Thai Restaurant at an Art Display Mall

With the disappearence of Simply Thai, essentially a Shanghai monopoly on Thai food, smaller restaurants serving fusion or authentic Thai cuisine has increased (at least from what i can see). To check if they're any good, I visited Eka art space to try out reinvented and fusion-ized Thai cuisine.

With a besieged castle design, Eka delivers in differentiating itself from traditional malls around Shanghai. As a hybrid indoor-outdoor mall, Eka is very spacious and only holds a few shops: usually quality restaurants and clothing brands.

Since this is a restaurant blog, let's move on from blabbering about the mall. As soon as you enter the restaurant, a striking painting of majestic elephants drawn with a tropical backdrop greets you. The elegantly positioned lighting illuminate parts of the painting while casting a dark shadow over other sections. The flowers, temple, and vegetation are so vivid.

When you sit down at your table, you're able to glimpse through the windows to observe palm trees and tropical plants they planted outside the restaurant. The windows' wooden frames provide an antique feel and transports you to a cabin.

The interior design of the restaurant as a whole focuses on creating a warm and cozy atmosphere, with plenty of vibrant green colors (plants, cutlery, etc...) to cut through the dullness of bricks and wood.

Dishes:

Complementary Shrimp Crackers - 0 rmb

With a crunchy bite and a pungent shrimp flavor, these crackers are amazing if you're too hungry to wait for a main dish. They're almost buttery, but still dissolves on your tongue like an airy and savory cotton candy.

Barbequed Pork with Lettuce Wraps - 70 rmb

Grilled to perfection, the pork itself has just the right amount of smokiness, juiciness, and decadence. I hate to use the cliche phrase of "melts in your mouth" but I don't know how else to describe it. The crisp iceberg lettuce on the side pairs with the pork like peanut butter & jelly. With its slight bitterness and refreshing crunch, it adds texture to the dish along with a balance to the indulgent taste of meaty pork.

Pad Thai in a Egg-wrap - est. 50 rmb

The presentation was a talking point as soon as the dish arrived. Personally, it wasn't mind-blowing because I spend too much time on YT shorts scrolling through food videos, my family members loved it. The rice noodles, basted with fish sauce, dried shrimp paste, and tamarind juice packed a punch. The crumbled tofu in there was flavorful and blended into dish nicely. The egg-wrapping wasn't all for decoration either, providing an extra creaminess to the dish.

Fusion Green Curry - est. 50 rmb

With an overly dominating flavor of coconut cream, and mild spices, the curry here did seem a bit modified to fit the local palate. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. The curry still tasted fabulous with pieces of succulent chicken and tender okra. With a steaming bowl of Thai rice, it's a dish worth-trying.

Vermicelli Noodles with Seafood Toppings - est. 30 rmb

Chewy, bouncy, and very apt at soaking in different flavors - vermicelli noodles are so versatile. Paired with fresh shrimp, mussels, and squid, the dish was overall cooling and refreshing. However, I've seen many other restaurants do it better and it wasn't a highlight dish.

Overall Summary:

Touring Shanghai on a rainy day, Eka Mall might be a nice escape from the tourist hotspots of Shanghai. With so many different options, this Thai restaurant is only one option. Garlic Barbeque mentioned on another blog post also has a joint at Eka. The Thai restaurant here serves all of Thai cuisine's classics, with modifications to suit the local palate. Most of the food here was a large hit, especially the BBQed pork. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, and the prices were surprisingly affordable, coming out to around 100 rmb/person. Try the place out for a stress-free family meal.

Address:

Pudong New Area, Jinqiao Rd, 535 hao, Eka Mall Building No. 37