Four to Try on Red Rose's New Winter Lunch Menu

It was a bold move for the new team at Red Rose to reinvent as a gastropub. After all, the Xingfucun restaurant had long been a popular Xinjiang eatery, under the same name no less.

Thankfully, the new team has some serious backup courtesy of Matthew Ona. If you’re unfamiliar with him, then you’ve haven’t had the pleasure of diving into Shanghai’s dining scene, where Ona has made quite a name for himself with a range of restaurants. Be it high-end spots like The Shook or The Roof, or fun and humble joints like the now-defunct Truck Stop Grill, the Culinary Institute of America trained chef has an eclectic repertoire in the Pearl of the Orient. We tried some of the dishes he made for Red Rose's new winter lunch menu and found them to have the fun and flavorful approachability of Truck Stop, along with some of the fanciful flourishes that make his upscale spots so special. Here are our favorites:

New York-style lunch set (RMB 88)
For this meal, we recommend choosing a favorite from Truck Stop: the New York style beef pastrami sandwich. It's stuffed with tender meat slices bursting with salty flavor, and the bread is soft but sturdy. Though that sandwich is our favorite by a mile, you also have the option to try a chicken tender melt or a Red Rose signature triple stack instead. The set meal is rounded out by aged cheddar and ale soup, old-fashioned chicken soup, or mushroom soup, the latter of which we thoroughly enjoyed thanks to its creamy texture and roasted mushrooms.

Brick oven pizza set (RMB 78)
The oven that cooks these bad boys up is prominently visible upon entry at Red Rose, making for an eye-catching addition to the restaurant's already fun and upbeat modern bistro ambiance. On a more practical level, it leaves the pizza dough pillowy soft with a few seared spots that make for a pleasant variety in texture. For this set meal option on the new lunch menu, you can choose the following toppings for your 11-inch pie: spicy pastrami triple cheese, smoked salmon, three cheese, or the chef's weekly special. The smoked salmon pizza makes for a refreshingly light alternative to meatier toppings, rounded out by parmesan, lemon, arugula, and capers.

Roasted chicken lunch set, RMB 98
This tender juicy chicken is spice-rubbed to give it a few enticingly hot notes that stop short of overpowering your palate. The side of mac n’ cheese is equally satisfying – gooey enough to stick to your ribs and ward of winter chills for ages. The option to cap this meal off with any soup on the menu is a nice final touch.

Rosie's Light Lunch Set, RMB 68
While the other options on this lunch menu are mostly hearty indulgences, Ona also realizes how tough it can be to not pack on the pounds in the dead of winter. To that end, he's readied a satisfying salad option that is light and healthy but packed with enough veggies to leave you happily full. This menu item also comes with a cold pressed farmhouse juice in either kale, spinach, romaine, apple, cucumber, lemon or ginger varieties. Our only gripe: we wish the price would be increased a bit so small servings of their mouthwatering soup could be served onside to balance out a cool crispy salad in the wintertime. 

Read: SH Heavyweights Revamp Xingfucun's Xinjiang Mainstay Red Rose Into a Bar and Grill

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Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
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Photos: Uni You