Memorable food explodes with flavor

The bombardment of my palate started with the Australian beef carpaccio dressed with black truffle sauce, rocket leaf and cheese. Everything is served in the traditional way: paper-thin fresh beef, cold but not teeth-chilling frozen, shavings of cheese and an appropriate amount of rocket to balance the heavy proteins.

It turns out revenge is not the only dish "best served cold".

As the restaurant's hulking pizza oven has been undergoing "safety checks by the government" for some months, the restaurant has developed a menu of handmade pastas and raviolis to sustain the business. And as it turns out, every cloud has a silver lining.

I tried the black squid-ink ravioli with seafood, served with tomato, zucchini and balsamic dressing. It was love at first bite. The juicy seafood fillings conquered my taste buds immediately. The secret to the elastic pasta pouches is that the chef has replaced water with squid juice and egg to make the dough.

The winning "blast", however, is the dessert, camouflaged in an assortment of the simplest ingredients including chocolate, cherries and cheese. But the combination is killer.

There is also the crispy chocolate cracker. Atop it is frozen ice cream, sided with sweet-sour strawberries and blueberries. But as you hit the cracker with your spoon, the sticky coconut rice pudding "lies in ambush" quietly with the warm chocolate syrup. With one spoonful of all that, one's determination to diet crumbles completely.

IF YOU GO

The Terrace

Open till 2am. 23 Anfu Road (near Changshu Road), Xuhui district, Shanghai.

021-5404-3109

Open till midnight. 693, Huangjincheng Road (or Golden City Avenue, near Yinzhu Road), Changning district, Shanghai.

021-5283-2766

Average cost per head: 150 yuan ($25)

The Anfu Road eatery offers a discount if you show waiters same-day tickets for plays at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center

Recommended: Black-ink Ravioli with Mixed Seafood, Australian Beef Carpaccio with Black Tuffle Sauce, Coconut Rice Pudding with Chocolate, Cheese Sauce and Fresh Cherry.