lost for words in Lost Heaven, Shanghai

Mankind's search for an altered state reaches back to the very start of our existence.  

My search for an altered state, culinary and otherwise, came full circle at the magnificent Lost Heaven in Gaoyou Road (another Lost Heaven exists near the Bund with a superb rooftop bar) http://www.lostheaven.com.cn/main.html .  

The Mekong region was kept vibrant by the Tea-and-Horse Trail from the soaring heights of Tibet through Yunnan to Thailand and Burma.  Lost Heaven celebrates this exotic blend from the plate to table to walls to wait staff.  It's dark wooded magic with spotlit tables, and colourful, traditionally clad waiters and waitresses are calming, breathtaking and well worth a visit.  Lost Heaven will take your breath away. 

As did the spray of green peppers sitting atop of the delicately braised mandarin fish which i enthusiastically (albeit unintentionally) stuffed into my mouth mid-sentence.  First, an extraordinary burst of salty citrus, then peppery heat, followed by a sensation that i can only describe as the equivalent of a million tiny garra rufa fish in my mouth, scavenging from every possible surface area.  Then my tongue starts to swell, then my cheeks.  For once, I'm lost for words.  It wasn't particularly unpleasant (apart from not being able to drink) and was intriguing enough for me to feel the need to share with my (patient) fellow diners.  They took advantage of the (relative) silence, and managed to ignore the dentist-chair contributions, while i explored ways of soothing the spacefizzing of my tongue - i even created soda water by sticking my tongue into a glass of water.  After 30 mins, normality looked within reach.

Many of the dishes on the menu looked familiar with thai influences but other combinations were entirely new.  We started with "Burmese Crab Cakes"

These delicate slivers of crab mousse sandwiched between crispy bean curd sheets are served with a swirled sauce which had us all guessing.  The green was mint and pineapple, fresh and sweet.  The gold has us still debating.  Yellow pepper?  It wasn't as sweet but, combined, this was a fabulous introduction to the contradictions of Yunnanese food.

Another special regional ingredient is the use of tea leaf sprouts so the salad was a must.

 This burmese style coleslaw drew mixed reactions - i loved the slightly acidic flavours and found it refreshing but a couple of the others at the table found it a little bitter.  

The vegetables with shrimp paste were highly recommended and our choice of green beans with shrimp paste lived up to the pressure. Crispy greenness accentuated by the funkiness of the dried shrimp.  Heaven.

Then the deadly but "interesting" braised mandarin fish (i couldn't taste it due to my embracing of the green peppercorns) plus a beautiful "Golden Triangle fried rice".

3 bottles of Cape Mentelle Semillion, 3 Tsing Tao, 2 Evians plus food for 5 and the bill came to 2182RMB (that's about AUD60 ahead plus the extra half hour of LJ silence which is...priceless)

PS try to ignore the temptation when you sit down to place the plate covers which look like tibetan bells on your head.  It's nigh on impossible....