LOOKING for a good steak in Shanghai? The city offers a wide range of choices when it comes to the carnivore’s favorite dish. From the classic rib eye to the special aux sarments, the steakhouses and grills from some of the hotels in the city are firing up the perfect steak ideal for any occasion.

VUE Restaurant, Hyatt on the Bund

VUE Restaurant’s signature dish, aux sarments, is a century-old special cooking style of steak, originated from the countryside of south west France, where cuisine is known for its authentic and delicious down to earth flavors, which are best enjoyed with friends and family.

The prime cut of meat is simply grilled on dry vine shoots and served with freshly chopped shallots and sea salt. Traditionally, the rib eye steak is grilled on the vine shoots of Cabernet-Sauvignon, Cabernet-Franc and Merlot, and VUE uses the same ingredients that are grown from the vineyards in Ningxia and Shanxi.

The VUE aux sarments samples aged Diamantina wagyu rib eye with marbling 7+ which has been grain-fed for 500 days.

The dish is priced at 880 yuan (US$127.5) for a serving of two people and 1,380 yuan for three to four.

VUE Restaurant is a classic European restaurant designed to create an elegant home-style dining experience. The 270-degree view over the Huangpu River, with the Bund on the right, contrasts with modern skyscraper-lined Pudong on the left, and is the venue’s raison d’etre. Created by acclaimed Japanese interior design firm Super Potato, home-style dining takes place in an open space comprising a “kitchen,” a “library” and a “living room.” The decor transitions seamlessly from hanging racks stacked with culinary paraphernalia to book-lined shelves and sofas alongside eclectic collections of model cars, pipes and vintage corkscrews. Prices are subject to 15 percent charge (inclusive of service charge and tax).

Address: 199 Huangpu Rd

Tel: 6393-1234 ext.6328

Opening hours:

Set lunch: 11:30am-2:30pm (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays)

Dinner: 6-11pm

Sunday champagne brunch: 11:30am-3pm

JW’s California Grill, JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai at Tomorrow Square

The JW’s California Grill, on the 40th floor, offers ingeniously inspired food art for a captivating culinary experience that travels beyond taste.

While overlooking the stunning Shanghai skyline, JW’s California Grill hosts refined lifestyle dining in a relaxed and classic setting decorated in creams with red accents that call back to the main offerings of red meat, red lobster and red wine.

The chef de cuisine believes in market-fresh seasonal produce cooked to perfection. Join him for a business lunch set as he works the exciting open kitchen, or enjoy dinner with premium Australian grain-fed wagyu, Iberian pork, fresh oysters from France, Boston lobster and fine wines.

Discover sophisticated chef-crafted cuisine on the main floor or enjoy exclusivity in the European-styled private room with friends or business partners.

Ascending 60 stories high over Shanghai in downtown Puxi, the international luxury JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai at Tomorrow Square cultivates enriching experience for the guests.

The hotel is in a prime location close to the People’s Square, Shanghai Grand Theatre, the Bund, the affluent Xintiandi, Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, the central business district and subway lines connecting Pudong (east Shanghai) and Puxi (west Shanghai).

Address: 399 Nanjing Rd W.

Tel: 5359-4969 ext. 6455

Opening hours:

Monday to Sunday

Lunch: 11:30am-2pm

Dinner: 5:30-10:30pm

XTD elevated, The Langham, Shanghai, Xintiandi

This summer, XTD elevated of The Langham, Shanghai, Xintiandi is a cool outdoor place to be for enjoying outdoor BBQ dinner fired with premium hard wood charcoal.

In the intimate terrace setting, patrons can enjoy superb dining experience as food offerings are of premium quality and all ingredients are prepared a la minute.

The new menu of XTD elevated features different kinds of premium meat cuts including tenderloin, sirloin, Mulwarra veal cutlet and Bultarra Saltbush lamb rack. The highlight of the menu is Killara wagyu, beef secondary cuts exclusively butchered for XTD elevated.

For a party of two to four diners, a Tomahawk steak (1kg) or Bone-in Ribeye (500g) can be shared. All meats are carefully chosen and imported from those first-tier cattle farms in Australia and New Zealand.Chilled oysters, New Zealand premium scampi, roasted Atlantic halibut, Boston live lobster and Atlantic salmon fillet are also available.

All meats and seafood are grilled to perfection on the open-air barbecue grill with provision of side dishes, salads, sauces and dips. Homemade sauces include red wine reduction sauce, porcini mushroom sauce, black pepper sauce, Chimichurri and Asian barbecue sauce.

Every Saturday, the restaurant offers something extra — patrons may enjoy the XTD elevated signature whole roasted chicken from the rotisserie oven. On Sundays, special teasing platter is available as diners can choose a combo of five items (100g each) from the superb range of offerings to share.

XTD elevated also has a special New World wine category while diners can also have cocktails and craft beer.

Address: 5/F, 99 Madang Rd

Tel: 2330-2426

Opening hours: 6pm-1am

The MEAT, Kerry Hotel Pudong, Shanghai

The contemporary steakhouse and specialty grill at the MEAT owns one of the largest meat aging rooms presided over by the restaurant’s house butchers, serving generous marbling of premium beef.

To marvel at the well-sourced grain-fed Australian angus beef in the restaurant’s elegant, upscale yet cozy vibe can be a truly pleasant and memorable affair.

The signature steak, Ningaloo Tomahawk, and triple cut beef rib are an all-time favorite. The Ningaloo Tomahawk is a 1.8-kilogram hunk of prime rib good for four people, which is brought to the table and expertly carved upon serving.

The triple cut beef rib, weighing at 1.8 kilograms, employs an unconventional cooking method — the rib is immersed in a house special spiced broth while cooking in the oven at low temperature for an entire day.

The maple smoked steak uses Australian angus beef that has been aged for 35 days, which maximizes the concentration and saturation of the natural flavor, as well as the tenderization of the texture. The meat, once taken out from the restaurant’s aging room, will be first baked at 240 degrees Celsius, rest in room temperature, then placed on a high heat cherry wood oven for another two to three minutes. Only rose salt is used as seasoning, as Otto Goh, executive chef of the Hotel, puts it, “we use most natural ingredients to wake up the flavors of the steak.”

The smoking part comes when the steak is about to be served. The cooked-to-perfection beef is covered in a glass dome, which seals in the flavors created by the smoky maple wood that is infused into the steak with smoke gun. Once the dome is removed at the dining table, the show begins. The smoke slowly waifs in the air, capturing all your senses in no time. The maple smoked steak is the third creation on the menu.

Address: 1388 Huamu Rd.

Tel: 6169-8886

Opening hours: 5:30-10pm

Weekend brunch: 11:30am-3pm