Zhenning Lu 375
Shanghai, China
021.5239.7878
Consistently listed as one of the top restaurants in Shanghai, Fu 1088 takes up three floors of a 1930s mansion, with guests seated in private rooms that can accommodate from two to 12. I had my concierge make the reservation at the fusion-style restaurant, and received word back that accommodating vegetarians was no problem and that the minimum charge per person was about US $40.
Upon arriving, I was immediately taken upstairs to my private room. I saw no other guests, as they were all tucked away behind doors in their own private rooms. Based on the small floral-print Victorian wallpaper and size of the room, I figured it was perhaps a small bedroom in its former life. My server handed me a rather extensive menu, but then gave me a printed sheet indicating they'd already selected the dishes I'd be having. I would have preferred to select my own dishes, and perhaps I could have made some changes, but I figured I'd go with it.
The first plate (above) had an interesting combination of fungus, vegetables and taro. Each item was good, but none worked particularly well with the other. 
The next knock on the door - the servers always knocked before entering - brought wild mushrooms baked in a bag (above) with truffle sauce and served with mushroom consomme. These were quite tasty and the preparation was interesting as was the presentation.
My favorite course was crispy "monkey head" flavored mushrooms (above) flavored with fried oatmeal. I loved the crispiness the the delicate flavor of the mushrooms.
This bean curd dish had a firm layer over the softer cake of bean curd. Served with asparagus, mushrooms and in a soy sauce, it was quite good.The restaurant did serve one course that I'm quite confident was vegetable soup in chicken stock. I've grown to expect that some of the foods I get in Asia that are referred to as "vegetarian" often aren't what I consider "vegetarian". I could tell the server wanted to ask why I didn't touch it, but our inability to speak the same language didn't make that possible.
Upon leaving Fu 1088, I did ponder how much of the experience of going out to eat is the meal, and how much of it being around other guests. Somehow, tucked away in a private room left me feeling like I was missing the experience of dining in a restaurant. I enjoy seeing other diners - what they're eating, what they're wearing, who they are.
In any event, Fu 1088 is a fun, novelty restaurant to try in Shanghai and is would be great for small groups looking for privacy, but I honestly can't say my $40 meal there was better than the $4 meal I had later in the week, served outside in a lovely riverside setting. And I did feel something was missing by not eating in a dining room, surrounded by others.
