Tycoon’s interior is easily Shanghai’s most garish. Given the small windows and copious use of mirrored surfaces, it’s almost like dining in the first class section of one of Snoop Dogg’s Soul Planes. Still, Tycoon’s lovely service and Hong Kong diner-inspired menu make it quite charming. Plus nobody seems to mind a chatty table taking advantage of RMB10 bottles of Heineken and Tsingtao on a weeknight.

The food ranges from amazing to could-be-better. The shrimp wonton soup with noodles (RMB23) features plump little parcels of shrimp and pork with toothsome noodles in a shrimpy broth. The stuffed vegetables—bitter melon, green pepper and eggplant filled with shrimp and pork meat (RMB38)—were also delicious. These guys clearly have a way with ground pork and shrimp.

The barbecue platter (RMB78) is not as good as those at Cha’s or Crystal Jade. The goose is flavorful, but the barbecue pork lacks the sweetness you expect. And while the pigeon has a gamey richness, the metallic taste of iron is overpowering. We also prefered Tang Gong’s roast pigeon to the option here (RMB38). As fans of fried milk, we were stoked to see it on the menu (RMB32). Too bad it was a major letdown with a weak batter and the unnecessary addition of chili flakes.

The sweets picked up the slack. The chocolate mousse (RMB15) was surprisingly good, and we loved the toast box with honey and ice cream (RMB28). The contrast of soft and crisp bread with honey, condensed milk, cherries and ice cream is decadent. Our only complaint is that they could use higher quality ice cream. Overall, dinner at Tycoon is an experience that’s very much worth the reasonable prices.

DETAILS

What: Tycoon’s

Where: 2/F, Chang Jiu Building, 945 Jiaozhou Lu 胶州路945号长久大厦2楼

Tel: 6277-7826