Dinkum down under food(2)

Wattleseed crepes with caramelized apples and vanilla ice cream [Photo by Matt Hodges/Shanghai Star]

The restaurant is split into several zones that one reporter cleverly identified as its "lagoon" (fish tank-backed seating area), "desert" (another dining area with ocher walls and a glass roof) and "rainforest" (the small garden out back). Queensland-born owner James Sing never planned it that way. He's just an accidental artiste.

"We just wanted to use all Australian colors," he says, in between downloading Guardians of the Galaxy on his laptop and explaining why the emu carpaccio is dark red. Answer: it's a running bird and thus requires more iron.

Mick Dundee would feel at home necking oversized pints of Hoegaarten and tequila shots while chatting to the garrulous English-speaking staff during the daily double happy hours. At the end of the week, British wealth managers hold raucous liver-marinating contests here and then recover the morning after with an all-day Aussie breakfast or Sirloin steak and eggs.

As his current menu favorites, Sing recommends the wild Australia salt-bush lamb loin stuffed with semi-dried tomatoes and served with pepperberry jus, or roast goose and mushroom crepes.

I ordered the former. Then I ordered it again. Why have three medallions when you can have six, especially if you have an Olympic-size appetite? Some of the meat can be a bit gamey, especially the wild Australian goat.

The yabby ravioli in scallop consommé is also a little light in flavor. But the menu has dishes to suit all tastes. Do try the grilled crocodile from a farm in Fujian with mushroom and mashed potato. Like every other obscure animal, it tastes a bit like chicken, but the teriyaki sauce and fatty aftertaste to the meat cuts are sublime.

"You wouldn't think of a crocodile having that much fat," mused one diner. Crocs have a slow metabolism – six months – so what they eat is what they taste like, says Sing.

And, like most Chinese people, they prefer chicken. "It was common to eat crocodile in Shanghai 200 years ago," says Sing, ending the night with some quiz-night trivia. "There are still some in the Huangpu. They swim up occasionally from the Yangtze." Average expenditure is about 200 to 300 yuan per diner.

IF YOU GO

Address: 8 Jianguo Road Middle, near Chongqing Road (and Fuxing Park)

Tel:021-5468-0118