When similar things are brought together, the comparison makes it easy to find out your favorite one. But when different kinds of lobsters gather in Yilong Court, you will be lost in the sumptuous dishes.

In the seasonal menu of the Chinese restaurant in the Peninsula Shanghai, the Chinese executive chef Dicky To designed eight dishes made of premium lobsters from around the world.

To chose Australian lobster, which is renowned for its thin shell and plump meat, the rare and tasty Brittany lobster, widely loved Boston lobster, which has mild flavor, and small yet succulent African green lobster.

The lobsters were cooked in different ways - baked, stir-fried, sauted or braised - to make the most of their tastes.

"For instance, I braised the Boston lobster with leeks and ginger because Boston lobster has relatively mild taste, so I used mild seasoning to make the original flavor of the lobster stand out," To says.

"For the Brittany lobster with its stronger taste, I fried its tail coated with spiced sweet and sour sauce. The rich sauce will not overpower the taste of lobster, but helps to enrich the complexity in the mouth," he adds.

It was really difficult to choose a favorite, but the one that impressed me more was a dish without lobster: the lobster soup Inaniwa udon with sliced marble grade beef.

Since a number of the lobster dishes only used the head and tail of the lobsters, To used the remaining lobster meat to boil the soup.

You can imagine how delicious the soup was, which collected the true essence of the various lobsters. The marble grade beef was so tender that it almost melted in the mouth. The dish was not only beautiful in appearance, but also in its taste.

Another impressive dish was the steamed lobster dumpling with truffle, which put together the Boston lobster and the diamond of the kitchen, and was displayed in the delicate Cantonese dim sum.

The menu also features deep-fried South African green baby lobster with mild chili sauce, stir-fried Australian lobster tail with assorted vegetables, and steamed lobster claws with ginger served with sauted egg white with fresh milk and crab roe.

The special lobster dishes, which are available from now till the end of May, are priced between 298 yuan ($50) and 1,980 yuan ($315) plus 15 percent service charge.

yangyijun@chinadaily.com.cn