Remedy has since closed its doors, due to financial issues on their parent company, Eu Yan San’s part.

Remedy 365 is a chain of restaurants in Shanghai, owned by the Eu Yan Sang traditional Chinese medicine group. To be honest, when I first learnt of this, I thought the food must be very chinese, medicinal and healthy. That combination often translates to boring and bland tasting food. Boy was I in for a surprise when I visited Remedy 365 for a media tasting.

Eu Yan Sang is a company specialising in traditional chinese medicine, founded in Malaysia over 130 years ago, and currently headquartered in Singapore. Currently, they have retail outlets in every major south-east asian city. Throughout the years, they had experimented with F&B outlets in Singapore and Malaysia, Remedy 365 is their first foray in F&B in Shanghai.

As of the time of writing, there are 3 Remedy 365 outlets in Shanghai. Firstly, a big thanks to Touchi App for the invitation to this media tasting at Remedy 365’s Hong Qiao outlet.

Remedy 365 is current run and managed by Mr Sam Tung, a Hong Konger, who like myself, is a passionate foodie who loves to cook and enjoys eating globally.

The menu is a combined effort between Sam and Hong Kong based Michelin 3 star-winning chef, Alvin Leung. The focus on the food at Remedy 365 is eating healthy, and living healthy. Much energy has been put into the soups they offer, many of which are traditional cantonese double-boiled soups infused with nourishing herbs provided of course, by their parent company.

That said, their cantonese soups and drinks are pretty much the most Chinese element of the cuisine that is offered at Remedy 365. Westerners and globetrotters will be no stranger to the offerings such as Caesar salads, cold thick soups like Gazpachos, as well as Mediterranean offerings like a delectable Grilled Norwegian salmon and a seafood platter. Enough with the pleasantries, let’s dive right in to the review.

Decor

The decor at Remedy 365 is clean and modern. They did not try to create a fine dining atmosphere, because that is not their goal. Rather, we have an almost bistro-like restaurant that is comfortable for dates, and accessible for family lunches. 8.5/10

Service

As this was an invited first visit, as usual, I will give a non-biased score of 7.5 for service. That said, I noticed no problems regarding service on other tables that evening. Food was served politely and promptly to all customers.

Food

Our tasting started with some traditional chinese ‘herbal tea’. In my case, I opted for the Chrysanthemum and wolf berry drink (¥18). It tasted like what my mum used to make at home, and not the super commercialised and over-sweetened chrysanthemum tea you find in convenience stores.   Western diners might find this drink somewhat of an acquired taste. That said, it is very, very good for the body. 8/10

Next up was the soup. Mine was the ‘Panax’ Energy and & Lean Pork Soup ¥50. Generous pieces of lean pork with strands of cordycep flowers. This soup was done in a traditional cantonese double-boiled style, which results in a high extraction of flavours, while maintaining an almost crystal clear broth.

Lean pork is preferred in this case over bones, because meat gives flavour, while bones add body. So what is this double boil I speak of? Basically it means that the soup was never cooked using direct heat; Often the actual soup is placed in a special 2-layered jar, which is then immersed in boiling water. The heat from the boiling water then gently cooks the contents of the soup. This results in very minimal evapouration, and thus very little nutrients and flavour is lost during the cooking process.

The Panax soup at Remedy 365, while containing high medicinal value, tasted delicious and well seasoned. It was especially soothing and comforting on that cool rainy day. 9/10

Caesar Salad ¥35

I thought that a caesar salad was a really generic item on the menu. However, it tasted very good; One of the better caesar salads I’ve had around town, and there are so many good caesar salads in town. Parmesan shavings were plentiful, lettuce was crisp, fresh and sweet tasting. Instead of using chicken, the caesar salad at Remedy 365 used fresh bouncy little shrimp. The salad was well dressed. That said, I thought this item lacked innovation, compared to the other dishes. 8/10

Beets and Tomato Salad ¥42

Next up was a beets and tomato salad, featuring also some creamy goat cheese. I’m not a fan of goat products, so I can’t say much about the cheese. That said, the beets were very sweet. Combined with the sesame dressing and goat cheese, it was an interesting blend of flavours. All of the components were fresh and crisp. Based on all the above, I give this an 8/10

Seared Australian Grass-fed Beef with Thai Spiced Tabouleh Salad ¥78

This was the spiciest dish of the evening, and also the dish with the strongest flavour kick. The beef slices were flavourful and just lightly seared to prevent overcooking. The tabouleh tasted almost exactly like an authentic Thai Papaya Salad. This salad was mouth-wateringly and numbingly delicous! 9/10

Time for some mains.

Pan-seared duck breast with lotus root and celtuce ¥45

Moist and flavorful duck beast, cooked perfectly with a light but smokey sauce. I didn’t think much of the lotus root and celtuce, and regarded them as garnish. For the duck breast alone, 8/10

Tender braised veal with Sichuan Pepper Sauce ¥130.

I must admit, I was intrigued when they said this was paired with a sichuan pepper sauce. But what really got my attention was that the sauce was a bright green. In the end, the sauce was quite a let-down. It definitely had flavours, but I just couldn’t place my finger on a specific flavour. It seemed too complex, and didn’t go very well with the protein. The protein itself was tender, but this dish on the whole just didn’t excite nor impressed me. The cordycep flower salad was interesting, but felt quite detached from the dish. 6.5/10

Sweet and sour pork shoulder ¥98.

This was Remedy 365’s take on the classic cantonese ‘Gu Lou Yok’, AKA sweet and sour pork. The pork was a little bit dry, but the sauce made up for it. Bright, sweet and sour. Lets just say the sauce gave a dead-looking piece of pork new life.

The rice that was served with it was called ‘Dirty Rice’. It tasted very strongly of various spices, but again, it felt overly complex. A muddle of spice notes. Maybe that is why it is called Dirty Rice? Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it at all. Based on the excellence of the pork alone, I give this a 7.5/10

Grilled Norwegian Salmon with Quinoa, sweet potato mash and a red fermented bean curd sauce ¥148

This was the highlight of the evening — Paper thin, crispy salmon skin, which when broken apart, revealed a medium cooked, tender salmon flesh. I hate to use the term ‘melt in your mouth’, but the salmon flakes really, melted in the mouth a couple of seconds after being eaten. The red fermented beancurd sauce gave a very nice kick and accent. This was easily, one of, if not the best salmon dish I’ve had in Shanghai by far. 9.5/10

Last but not least, the Grilled seafood platter with Saffron rice wine sauce ¥138. This was a medley of sea bass filet, clams and a large tiger prawn. The seafood was fresh and nicely grilled, charred throughout. However I thought the saffron rice wine sauce tasted a little weird for my liking. The sea bass also had a lovely crisp skin with a tender and moist interior. However, this paled in comparison with the grilled Salmon. 7.5/10

Salty Lemon Cheese Cake ¥32

I have to admit, this was a very beautifully presented and assembled dessert. Kudos to the dessert chef. However, it was really quite salty for a dessert. It reminded me of the salty lemon 7-up drinks we have in Hong Kong. The cheese part of the cake was light and not overly rich. I thought this  would have gotten a point more if they toned down the saltiness, and based on that, I give this a 7/10

Coconut Panna Cotta with Mango ¥28

I love panna cotta. It reminds me of soy bean curd from home. The coconut panna cotta at Remedy 365 was sublime. However I felt the assorted fruits overshadowed the clean and pure coconut flavour of the panna cotta. I would have preferred this just on its own with a simple jam/sauce that would complement the coconut flavour, that’s it. In the end, I scooped away the fruits and enjoyed the panna cotta on it’s own. 8.5/10

Last but not least, soft brownie with walnuts and house-made vanilla ice cream

Another beautifully presented dessert. Brownie was light and flavourful. Paired classically with vanilla ice cream, it was a match made in heaven. The vanilla ice cream is also worth noting, because it is made in-house and you could see actual vanilla seeds in it. It also melted quite rapidly, which is a sign of good ice cream.

Conclusion

It was an eye-opening and extremely satisfying meal. The motto behind Remedy 365 is Eat Well to Live Well. I believe you definitely will live well, together with some exercise after eating at Remedy 365. Their price range is quite affordable, and quality of ingredients and portions have me wanting to return, months after eating there.

Time to give away 300 RMB worth of prizes!

Leave a comment below on which are the 2 dishes that you want to try the most, and I will pick TWO lucky winners in the middle of May.

The two lucky winners will each win a ¥100 voucher to Remedy 365, and on top of that, another ¥50 voucher for ordering on the Touchi App.