The New York Times finally reviews Shang

Add one more to the stack of tepid reviews of Susur Lee’s Lower East Side fusion restaurant. In today’s New York Times, critic Frank Bruni summarized his experience at Shang thusly: “Pleasant, but inconsistent and uneventful. The magic that Mr. Lee reputedly made in Toronto hasn’t followed him here.” Ouch. Read on to find out how many stars were awarded to the restaurant.

While Bruni was taken with the curry lobster bisque and lamb chops served with carrot-cardamom chutney, he found the food “busy and unfocused.” The long climb to the second-floor space was also a problem:

“The staircase was the first befuddlement and miscalculation I encountered—and a clue that the evening and restaurant might not be all I’d hope for. It’s a long, drab, foreboding rise of steps from the sidewalk to the host station, an entrance less inviting than aerobic. I’ve gone on runs that didn’t leave me as winded.”

In the end, Bruni awarded Shang one star (out of five), a decision he expands upon on-line in an audio slide show.

• It’s Chinese, rather loosely translated [New York Times]