Issimo
2/F, 931 Nanjing Xi Lu,
Nanjing Xi Lu
near Taixing Lu
南京西路931号2楼
近泰兴路
3302-4997
Open Mon-Thurs 11:30am-3pm, 6:30pm-11pm, Fri 11:30am-3pm, 6:30pm-12am, Sat 6:30pm-12am, Sun 12pm-9pm
Price Y300-Y399 per couple
- City Weekend
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This trendy Italian restaurant sits cozily in JIA Shanghai. A blend of authentic Neapolitan appetizers, soups and salads, delicious pastas and hearty mains as well as pizzas cooked up in a genuine wood-fired oven. Don't forget to try one of the desserts which, of course, feature Italian ice cream and sorbets.
Reviews Been there? Add a review!
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cityweekend
Most Recent Reviews
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Issimo is hands down my favorite Italian restaurant in town.
I've searched far and wide (into Pudong) for a good pizza joint, and pizza doesn't get better than at Issimo. If you think Da Marco has good pizza, don't talk to me. If you like Marzano, ok, I like Amatriciana, too, but Issimo's is better. If you like Alla Torre and Pan di Vino's pizzas, try Issimo's - I think it's slightly better than Alla Torre's, and it's on par albeit different in style from Pan di Vino's.
Incidentally, Issimo's osso bucco is infinitely better than Da Marco's, and its cod is the best prepared fish I've had in Shanghai.
The only food that I think needs work on the flavoring is the pasta/risotto, but I do like the pumpkin ravioli.
Tiramisu here is also one of the best in town although my favorite dessert is the apple semifreddo.Service here is great - but is really, really slow. Docking a star just for that. Don't come here if you are in a rush, unless you just want to get a pizza and bounce.
Otherwise - highly highly recommended.
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Was there last night (Feb.28th 2011)with a friend and the service really sucked. We sat down at the dinner table and my friend asked for a glass of white wine. So the waiter got the order, kindly asked if we need still or sparkling water and started to turn away, ignoring me as the lady sitting right there and the possibility that I might want a glass as well.
As a woman I find it disrespectful and the negative feeling carried on through the night followed by a series of little things the supposingly restaurant manager/deputy manager of the day?(a medium build Chinese guy with an arrogant smile) has done over the whole meal who ignored my empty glass sitting on the table and went serving my company right away when I ordered a second glass and waited quite a while.
Overall I will not recommend this place for romantic dinner.
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we had dinner there and the food was great, the steak for 2 was superb! bravo
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Absolutely disappointing. The worst pasta I've ever tried in an Italian restaurant, so salty and when the manager approached asking whether everything was OK and we complained, he just laughed at us and made jokes (even worse, very bad jokes!). The price/quality ratio made me feel completely cheated!!
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I dont know how true these reviews are but I know one thing...
They have an ARROGANT Manager.....
Brags that he used to work in Hyatt.... So, why the change?
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They had a FANTASTIC pumpkin risotto when I went for lunch last week. Lunch menu changes every few days though, so call ahead and ask about first if you're hankering for it.
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Brilliant and creative italian cuisine.
An outstanding variety of antipasti, vegetarian or not.
They had a good plate of wagyu beef ragout and a dominant osso bucco.
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Mixed experience, food was okay but could be good and waitstaff needs improvement. Most of the dishes from the octopus to the pasta were swimming in oil leaving small pools of it on the dish. Lamb was poorly executed with too much gristle and lacking flavor. When asking the wait staff about the menu they gave prompt replies that turned out to be completely wrong. With some tweaks and hard work this could be a good spot to eat.
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Overrated. The ambience and music are excellent but this is not enough. Set lunch ordinary: pasta uncooked (and I love it really "al dente") and cold: my wife makes a far better amatricianas. Appetizers just ordinary (were are the great ingredient?). Pizza is very good (but for Shanghai standard). Service very well-mannered but we got our glass of wine after the pasta. There is better in shanghai if you want honest home-made food.
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We had a lunch there few days ago.My boyfriend is italian,and he like it very much!octopus for appetizer was great...im not a big fun of italian food (except homemade italian),but i like there more,there anywhere else.I think,for lunch is good .
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But just revitalize the menu is of no use to the dinning experience of the customer. The food is still not impressive and is very salty. And the most important of all, they don't even want to listen customers' feedback. If you don't believe me, try it by yourself and wish you good luck. I really recommend you try the Pane e Vino if you have not done so.
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In fact I had blacklisted this restaurant since they disappointed me in messing around my dinner appointment because they had a private party. This time, I was invited by my friend to go there again, but this is awfully experience. The food is so salty, and the risotto that we ordered, all of us agreed that this is not acceptable. We asked for the restaurant manager to try the food, so that he/she can give the kitchen comment for improvement. No one showed us and when we asked the waiter again, we were told the manager was off and he had told the No. 2 in the restaurant. I have never experience such treat that they just ignored the customer. Very Poor! I recommend the Pane e Vino instead.
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This was a great place! I had my first date here. Now she is my GF. The price was a bit expensive but it was all worth it. Th Wagu was the ishhhhhhhhhh.
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This hidden away gem sits within the chic doors of JIA Boutique Hotel. Issimo is helmmed by celebrity chef Salvatore Cuomo and boasts Italian/Western fare. It's a wonderful place to escape to during the freezing months of Shanghai winter - the interior is dark wood and cozy, with lounge chairs and luxe decor. On the downside, it's notoriously expensive. However, there is a special Sundissimo menu available during Sunday brunch, that is 198元 and definitely more value-for-money than the regular menu.
The idea is, you pick 1 appetizer, 2 pastas, 1 main, and you're served a selection of desserts. The portions are small, granted, but they really do add up and we were full at the end of the meal. The food was, overall, very good. Quality ingredients (though in too-small portions) and I was impressed that the dishes were delicious - often with set menus or specials, the quality drops dramatically. Not so in this case. The quality was consistent and impressive.
The only downside was the total confusion of the waiters. I suppose our large table (around 14-15 of us) threw them off, and they took orders from most of us, but forgot to take orders from the other end of the table. The dishes also were all mixed up - delivered to the wrong people, or just totally random dishes were served that nobody ordered. It was a little irritating for those that got wrong orders and had to wait for their food - good customer service would have been to apologise with a smile, then offer a freebie to placate - unfortunately, we didn't have that.
But all in all, it was a pleasant dining experience, and I really enjoyed the food. I would love to see more reasonable prices on the regular menu, then I'd definitely go back for dinner :)
PHOTOS HERE: http://beverly.livejournal.com/772647.html
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I had a chance to stop by last night. I thought the service was wonderful. They did try to give us a 5 person table for 2 people. However, we managed to get a 2 person table. The chairs were kind of awkward to lean back on but I didn't mind it to much.
The food was delightful! However, like most people here, I found it to be a bit over priced.
2 appetizers, 1 entree, 1 bottle of wine, 2 cocktails came out to be around 1100 rmb (for 2 people)
If money is not an issue, it is definitely worth trying!
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Be there once and found the food is great. Booked a table and was informed on the day that they have a private party and have to sit in the bar counter. What a lousy management team there! If they can take the booking, tell the customer upfront, but don't try to switch them to an undesirable seating area and try to do more business. This doesn't work! Next time you book, ask them if they have a party on that day, just in case.
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Overpriced. Homestyle Italian food should never be this expensive. The offerings were quite uninspiring. Interestingly, the menu draws a distinction between handmade pasta and otherwise unremarkable pastas. Kudos for the entrees to share concept but even the portions for 4 do not commensurate with the outrageous prices. The wine list was appalling without a single offering below 400rmb.
The ambience and service are indeed superb - we will be back to enjoy it after winning the lottery.
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Went there last nite, The food was superb. The wait staff are so knowledgeable and very friendly. Seafood risotto was so creamy and tasty , every scoop I digged out filled with clams, shrimps. Pizza was a bit too soggy with olive oil. The food was served really quick and we didn’t have to wait for long. The cheese bread served before meal was extremely pleasurable, nice crispy crust and soft crumb with bits of tasty cheese.
The ambience is superb.
The only thing I may comment here is the toilet is poorly lit. Way too dark.
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We celebrated a friend's birthday here yesterday. The food was fantastic. The place was lovely. The staff and service - beyond our expectations. It was thumbs up all the way.
There were 8 of us and we had a nice corner to ourselves, where we ate and sipped prosecco from early afternoon till night fall. We left the place well fed and very happy.
Kudos to everyone! It was a bellissimo Sundissimo indeed.
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Went for lunch loved it. They offer set lunch menus at 108rmb for 3 courses with coffee or 148 rmb for 4 courses with coffee. Perfect for business and leisure with wifi.
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Winning accolades from many of our Italian friends, this Italian ristorante, now just a few months away from its one-year anniversary, became the ideal choice for a leisurely weekday lunch. Chef William Di Nardo has recently revamped nearly the entire menu and consented to give us a tour de force of some of his choice items. A spread of appetizers yielded some fast favorites, but none were devoured quite as quickly as the caprese salad with cherry tomatoes, imported buffalo mozzarella, basil, oregano and extra virgin olive oil (YY128 fo a single portion, YY198 for two and YY378 for four). Buffalo mozzarella, one of Italy's most famous delicacies, is made from the rich milk of water buffalos rather than regular cow's milk. As such, its flavor is likewise very rich and simply shone through brilliantly in this dish. Subtle salinity offset by the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes and the scent of fresh basil melded seamlessly with the clear taste of olive oil and the wonderful texture of the mozzarella. It's worth moo-ing over.
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Enjoyed our Friday night dinner here in mid July 2008. The ambience is very nicely done, and the Italian concierge (Claudio) keeps a close eye on his staff who are still learning how things should be done but seem to be quick studies. The meal was very nice. The main entrance isn't on Nanjing Lu, as one would think from the address -- walk down Taixing Lu, pass the entrance to the Jia boutique hotel with which it is affiliated, and you'll find the entrance at the next corner. I have already recommended this place to others.
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I don't know how long ago they opened the place, but they are still not organized at all. I went there last friday at noon with some customers of ours and, apart from the warm welcome and very nice place, we left disaapponted at 2 o'clock after having managed to eat only the first course out of the full lunch we ordered. after 1 hour and a half I asked them to cancel second course and the dessert because we could not afford more than two hours for a business lunch. The waiters were totally confused, bringing dishes to a table then to another one without any clue of who ordered what. Maybe they had just a couple of cooks, and the place was packet full, but they should plan their resources... As for the quality of food... well... I'm italian and we managed to have a pasta which was not that bad. The starter was a rocket salad with four (4) shovels of parmesan... well... it does not take that much to prepare a starter like that. Won't go any more even if i live in front of them (and I am italian) -sorry, warmth cannot replace service.
Second Bite | Scrumptious
This hotel restaurant stands as one of the city’s top stops for great pizza, but they recently revitalized their pasta menu with several new dishes. We loved the homemade orecchiette pasta mixed with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, black olives, asparagus and a smattering of coarse-chopped parsley (¥108). Delicious nubs of baby gnocchi were camouflaged in a creamy gorgonzola sauce blended with sweet, equally petite chunks of yellow pear (¥98). A wet seafood risotto (¥128), cooked with saucy tomatoes, generous shrimp and fish was a vibrant and very tasty addition to our table. A favorite of the night was the roast suckling pork (¥168) with a bulb of roasted garlic. The combination of crispy fried pork skin, juicy white meat eaten with just a bit of the naturally buttery garlic was a heavenly pairing. Our dinner ended with some outstanding profiteroles (¥65), each with vanilla cream centers and rich chocolate mousse piled on top.
Joanne Yao