Though this is not the finest Cantonese food in Shanghai, the restaurant has an unbeatable location on the 55th floor of the Jin Mao Tower.

Customers can enjoy the beautiful scenery which, frankly speaking, attracted me more than the food.

Still, the food presentation was impressive.

A modern plate with silver trim is topped by an oval-shaped silver bowl. Unique china and cherrywood chopsticks are placed on elegant silver holders to make the food look more tasty.

The tea glass is a contemporary Shanghai Art Deco design in silver to match the black porcelain teapot encased in a silver container. "These things improve my appetite," my dinner companion said.

Canton's creative menu selections are a combination of Shanghaiese appetizers and Cantonese main courses, plus Western desserts with a Chinese touch.

Mango pudding made from fresh mangos was my favorite, while the barbecued pork with honey glazing uses the tender meat at the neck rather than the traditional ribs.

A wide assortment of dim sum selections for lunch include shrimp spring rolls, steamed glutinous rice with dried scallops wrapped in lotus leaves and chilled red bean cake with coconut milk.

Authentic menu items include delicacies such as shark's fin served in papaya encased in a custom-made silver container.

The taste of papaya in this dish seems even more delicious than the shark's fin itself.

You can also try the braised whole abalone to be eaten Western style with a knife and fork and double-boiled imperial bird's nest with almond and coconut milk.

Under the direction of Chung Fai Man, chef de cuisine Chinese, Grand Hyatt Shanghai's Canton specializes in the "King of Chinese cuisine," the Cantonese cuisine.

Chef Chung has mastered traditional dishes, especially in seafood and shark's fin and has worked many years in the renowned Sun Tung Lok Shark's Fin Restaurant in Hong Kong.

(Shanghai Star 04/26/2001)