(smartshanghai.com)
Updated: 2007-04-18 09:15

I first stumbled upon Castle Oktober on St. Patty's day. My friend and I had attempted to stop in on O'Malley’s for the traditional festivities, but were dissuaded by the crowds at the entrance; 30-50 demographic men and lack of any outdoor music. Of course, I am told it was the place to be that night, but luckily off the beaten path (and across the street) we discovered Castle Oktober. My Irish ancestors probably turned in their graves that night, but this German concept mansion in the French concession (double turn) provided for a fabulous St. Patty's precursor to Bar Rouge (third turn).

Castle Oktober encompasses both a restaurant of hearty German food (with some random additions like tomato, mozzarella, and balsamic salad) upstairs and a bar downstairs, all in a beautiful manor house. There are 3 floors - the top two are restaurants and the main floor is a pub. The establishment is warm and inviting in tones of cream and blackened wood, and there is a smaller room off the main dining area where the seating is picnic benches. The main reason to go is of course the micro-brewed beers, produced in the back garden in large copper canisters. There's one light lager, one amber ale and one dark Guinness-esque Pilsner. For around 60 RMB you get a half liter pint - which is literally as big as your head. You can step it up to a liter for around 100. I tried all three, which definitely contributed to my end of the night proclamation, "this place gets an A+!"

As for the food, I went back another night to try what I thought would be a selection of various bangers & mash type entrees. They did have one, the Grill Platter, which gave you chicken (bland), sausage (moderately good) and veal schnitzel (delightful) over a bed "Bavarian mashed potatoes" (which were actually Eastern European style scalloped potatoes sautéed with crispy bacon, caramelized onions and dark mushrooms) - the best I've had outside of my Polish Mother's kitchen. The local waiter also has a slight German accent, I swear. It was very authentic. Surprisingly, other options for entrees were rather light for German food (which was nice as there were fishy girly alternatives to the many hunks of manly meat). The second entree we experimented with was the halibut - which was melt in your mouth good, not too saucy and lay over a bed of steamed veggies. Definitely the diet-friendly option. To start with, we had the "caramelized goat's cheese" (which was actually just two large portions of un-cooked goat's cheese on a baguette, over a vegetable/olive tapenade type thing. Very good though) and the Scandinavian fish platter (excellent thick smoked salmon, but otherwise just mayo-drenched fish that deserved less).

Portions, as to be expected in such a place, were gargantuan, and entrees were very well priced at about 130-170 rmb; the appetizers we had were 68 rmb. On top of all this we had desert: the apple strudel and the crème brulee. As a seasoned Shanghai crème brulee connoisseur, I have to say it was very disappointing. Although it was presented well, like what you see at the French places on Xinle Lu, it can best be described as gelatinous and flavourless, under a thin sugar shell. The apple strudel was very good, but would have been better if it was more apple interior and less strudel exterior. Deserts were also very fair priced.

In terms of atmosphere, the place is still very new and rather empty, especially in the upstairs restaurant (which is a shame as it's definitely a place to check out). I am sure however that in the summer when the garden is more enticing there will be crowds gathered watching football on the large outdoor plasma screen. With beer, schnitzel and potatoes that can't be beaten, all in a warm manor house locale, Castle Oktober is a French concession keeper.

Castle Oktober
Tel: 021-64312668
Address: 39 Tao Jiang Lu, near Hengshan Lu and Wulumuqi Lu