The Italian restaurant Mercato has quite a lot of attractions: a sweeping and spectacular view of the Bund, the chic rustic interior design created by famous architecture studio Neri & Hu, the beautiful Korean American chef Sandy Yoon, and the second restaurant for Michelin-three-star chef Jean Georges in Shanghai.

But these are just flowers added to the brocade of its purely divine food. Named after the Italian word "market", the restaurant features an unusual variety of ingredients from both West and East, like a fun bazaar. And apparently, the French celebrity chef has been very good at mixing and matching them into nice treats.

Kicking off the dinner is a steamed-bun lookalike, dotted with basil and a slice of lemon. Burrata cheese, the actual name of the dish and an Italian traditional specialty with cheese wrapped in cheese, is a surprising and stimulating appetizer. The secret is the sea-salt seasoning and the light-as-a-cloud homemade mozzarella.

Another surprise as well as the must-have starter is the warm seafood salad, topped with avocado, lemon and parsley. It looks simple: generous chunks of shrimp, lobster and octopus topped with a beautiful swirl of avocado slices. But after the first bite, the creamy, rich taste lingers, arousing your curiosity about the recipe, which includes vegetable broth, white wine, chili powder and dill.

There is always the dilemma at Italian restaurants between pastas and pizzas, or essentially, weight versus diet. At Mercato, you may want to just go on a binge of both and go for a whole lot of exercise afterwards.

The pizzas, coming hot out of the gigantic oven standing in the center of the restaurant and a dish seen on almost every table, may explain why there are people willing to choose seats by the oven over those overlooking the Bund view: to snatch a mouthful of the pizzas seconds earlier.

Thin as the crust is, the chewiness is perfectly preserved. The pizza is puffed to a moist, yeasty fullness, while the topping, spicy salami and broccoli is spread over the house-made ricotta.

The homemade pasta is less impressive than the pizzas, but still among the best in its class. The shrimp and lobster ravioli, for example, excites the palate with a lemon-and-herb seasoning that keeps you automatically forking one bite after another until you finish the whole plate without feeling heavy.

Like the other dishes, desserts are presented in large, family-style portions, so you'll only have room for one. The palm-sized tiramisu is a safe choice but makes little impression. The chocolate souffle tart, moistened with cherry jam and ice cream, all fresh-made from the restaurant's own kitchen, justifies the reputation of Jean Georges, especially his playful, bold takes on desserts.

From top: Warm seafood salad with avocado is a signature dish served at Mercato. Meatball rigatoni served at the restaurant. Mercato features a gigantic oven in the center of the restaurant. Photos Provided to China Daily

(China Daily 10/19/2013 page12)