Hengshan Lu, once referred to (by our estate agent!) as the Champs Elysees of Shanghai, is a road of expat bars and tacky western restaurants slicing up the otherwise haute French Concession.
The stretch closest to our place, near Wulumuqi Lu, features a jungle-themed terrace bar, eurotrash nightclub, bland brazilian steak house, overpriced turkish kebab shop... and probably the best japanese restaurant in Shanghai.
It's new to the area, in fact soft opening at the time of writing and has both a Japanese and Chinese menu. Par Le Garcon Chinois used to be in the grounds of a french mansion a stones thrown away and noted for it's escapist appeal. Here, up some stairs next to "1001 arabian nights shisha bar" and you're a million miles away from the tourists.
Inside has a very well-dressed appeal (reminiscent of The Hospital), that has you nodding at the fixtures around the room in appreciation. In essence a super place to enjoy some excellent dishes, we could fault nothing from the miso, chilled tofu, chef's sashimi & sushi selections to a perfectly cooked aubergine and bonito - quite the other end of the spectrum from Tairyo.
A couple bottles of very well selected Spanish white later (thankyou) and without realizing it we were the only people left. The sign of a great restaurant.