By Bidisha Bagchi (Shanghai Star)
Updated: 2007-04-03 11:05

The Spice Market at Jinan Road, with its combination decor of Southeast Asia, offers
a vast assortment of the region's cuisine.

The decor reflects the individual countries as bronze figurines of Buddha, cane mats, natural plants and as the name of the restaurant suggests, a huge bag of a variety of spices placed artistically on the floor, bringing tradition and ethnicity together.

The best part is actually the wall, which is a mirror, and reflects one entire side of the restaurant, thus giving the feeling that it is double the size.

From the choice of Thai, Malay and Indonesian cuisine, we chosethe last one, to get the feel of its aromatic spices and fresh sea food.

Indonesian cuisine has been appreciated worldwide lately because of its health factor; coconut milk, which is used perhaps in every second dish, and traditional aromatic spices like cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, galangaland black pepper cool the mind and help with our indigestion.

We started with Gado Gado Bandung, (30 yuan) a traditional salad of mixed vegetables with peanut sauce. This worked as a unique appetizer as the crispnesof the fresh vegetables appealed to the taste buds. Cap Cai Jakarta (38 yuan), a mixed vegetable dish, was very tasty. The aroma of the spices was mild and even though the vegetables did not contribute much to the "zing" factor, the entire combination was very good.

For our main dishes we chose the Nasi Goreng (48 yuan) - a typical Indonesian fried rice cooked with slices of egg and chicken. Traditionally, Nasi Goreng is a breakfast item but its popularity around the world has forced it to be a common sight on all lunch tables. Mie Goreng (48 yuan) on the other hand was fried noodles with shrimps and vegetables. This item tasted excellent as each string of the noodles were cooked right up to proportion, yet remained firm and the usage of fresh water shrimp and shredded vegetables brought out the unique flavor of the dish. Accompanying the main dish was the Pepes Bumbu Bali (85 yuan), an exotic preparation of steamed fish, aromatized with special spices from Bali. "Bumbu" is a signature spice paste and "Pepes" refers to a similar version of the grill. The specialty of this dish lay in the fact that the entire fish was cleaned and stuffed with a unique spice combination of coconut and garlic, and then garnished with coriander, turning it into an excellent dish all by itself.

For desserts we chose Bubur Injin (30 yuan), a Japanese style black rice pudding. This combination of black and white rice soaked overnight and cooked in water over a slow flame with pandan leaves and palm sugar, and then later garnished by a pinch of sea salt and handsome helpings of coconut milk, turned out to be an exotic dessert with a totally new approach of "not so sweet yet still a sweet dish."

The Spice Market also serves set Indonesian meals, comprising of vegetables,meat, rice, noodles and a dessert priced at 68 yuan.

The Spice Market
Location: West building of Somerset Grand Shanghai, 8 Jinan Road
Tel: 021-63846838