Thanksgiving dinner is usually an exercise in abundance: a crowded table, familiar sides, and enough turkey for tomorrow's sandwiches. At Jade on 36, high above the Huangpu River at Pudong Shangri-La, Shanghai, they take a more measured route. This year, Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, and the restaurant's six-course menu puts French technique to work on the holiday's familiar flavors, with touches of Asia and a view across the water to the Bund.
There is a particular pleasure in watching the Bund lights come on while someone else takes charge of Thanksgiving dinner. Here, it's the food that commands attention.
Small Plates to Start
The menu is interspersed with little surprises — amuse-bouche that pop up along the way.
The Foie Gras Lollipop looks like a sweet, but bites back with the buttery richness of foie gras, tucked beneath a brittle sugar shell. It is playful, and just rich enough to make you glad it is only one bite.
Gravlax comes next, cool and silky under a dab of horseradish cream.
The Prawn Tart is contained within crisp pastry, bright little cubes of tartare inside — a pleasing snap before the soft sweetness of the seafood.
Small things, carefully made.
Sea Urchin & Caviar Tart
The Sea Urchin & Caviar Tart comes out on a huge plate with a small, careful arrangement in the middle: four lobes of Dalian uni bring a sweet, ocean-deep flavor, softened by sour cream and a pale, sweet purée. The sea urchin sauce makes the whole thing both creamier and more savory; Kaluga caviar adds little salted bursts, while peas give the mouthful something to push back against. It is delicate, but in no way timid.
Dover Sole "Meunière"
Dover Sole "Meunière" follows as a sort of very posh fish sandwich, and we mean that as a compliment. A crisp piece of toast sits on top; underneath is tender sole, with pressed Carabinero shrimp tucked into the middle. The contrast is the fun of it: crunch, softness, then the shrimp's sweet, concentrated flavor. A lemony Gewürztraminer sauce brings a sweet tang and cuts the richness.
Thanksgiving Roast Turkey
The Thanksgiving Roast Turkey is the menu's most direct nod to festival traditions, arriving glossy and bronzed, with the aroma of a proper roast. The meat is remarkably succulent — the result of a five-hour marinade with soy, butter, sage, and garlic, followed by a three-hour roast. The soy is the clever part. It does what a brine does, but with a savory depth mere brine cannot reach, and the meat is seasoned to the center.
Warm potato salad brings smoky ham and a sharp vinegar note; the cranberry compote is spiced and made with turkey juices, tart enough to wake everything up. That tart, savory-sweet sauce is an especially good foil for the tender meat. The plate feels recognizably festive, yet more finely tuned than the usual holiday spread.
Australian Wagyu Beef
The beef course offers Australian Wagyu Tenderloin M4 or Sirloin M7. We had the M7, a compact, deeply satisfying portion with rigatoni filled with foie gras and celeriac ragù. Yunnan black truffle is in season, and its earthy perfume winds through the dish, with a little more grated over the top. The celeriac brings a soft sweetness; foie gras lends its decadent, velvet richness; beef jus gathers everything into one gloriously savory mouthful.
Pink Guava Granité
A Pink Guava Granité in a martini glass is the reset: it pairs guava sorbet with orange and basil, capped with airy mascarpone champagne foam. The guava is sharp and clean, the foam rounds its edges, and basil lifts the fruit with a green, fragrant note. Palate cooled, appetite restored — the perfect interlude at this stage of proceedings.
Dessert: Tart or Cigar
Dessert is a choice: tart or cigar.
The Granny Smith Apple Tart tastes like the holiday, a layer of mille-feuille pastry shattering to reveal tender apple filling. A delicate almond flavor runs through it, supplying nutty richness, while vanilla ice cream and Greek yogurt temper the fruit's sharper edge.
The Chocolate Cigar offers the more theatrical finish. The cloche is lifted, and a drift of smoke wafts over the table; inside, Valrhona Guanaja 70% chocolate meets a dreamlike Grand Marnier foam. A smoky note runs through the dessert, but the lighter, fragrant elements stop the chocolate from becoming too weighty, while a berry-and-tea sorbet sits on the side. It's a playful flourish that earns its reveal.
Jade on 36 gives Thanksgiving its own polished expression: ingredients — familiar and unfamiliar — handled with precision, and enough warmth in the cooking to make the occasion feel like a real celebration.
No leftovers, so no sandwiches the next day. What you get instead is the whole holiday, cooked with far more care and flair than usual, and handed over one course at a time — with the Bund lighting up across the water.
The six-course Thanksgiving menu is RMB 1,188 per person.
Reservations: +86 21 2828 6888
Jade on 36 Restaurant, 36/F, Grand Tower, Pudong Shangri-La, Shanghai, 33 Fucheng Road.
Downstairs at YICAFE: The Thanksgiving Buffet
Downstairs at YICAFE, Thanksgiving opens out into a buffet with room for every appetite. Live cooking stations carry the meal across a dozen cuisines, from roast turkey and the familiar trimmings to slow-cooked short rib.
The holiday classics are present, but they have plenty of company. Chinese seasonal dishes bring their own warmth; nearby, hotpot bubbles away, while Indian curries perfume the air and Middle Eastern meats cook over open flame.
The range would be impressive on its own, but the cooking gives the spread its character. Sushi and sashimi are arranged with the care of a dedicated bar: glossy salmon, deep-red tuna and pale slices of snapper, each piece neatly prepared. It is a small detail that says a lot about the attention paid across the room.
There is no prescribed route through it all, which is rather the point. Take a plate, follow your curiosity, and leave enough room to double back. For the finish, festive desserts and themed cakes offer a cheerful last stop.
YICAFE makes abundance feel considered, with enough variety to keep the table exploring and enough polish to make the occasion feel special. Some Thanksgiving dinners are built around one centerpiece; here, the pleasure is deciding what to try next.
The buffet is RMB 487 per person.
Reservations: +86 21 2828 6888
YICAFE, 2/F, Grand Tower, Pudong Shangri-La, Shanghai, 33 Fucheng Road.
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