Chef's Shanghai Cuisine, Shinjuku シェフス 新宿
Chef's is a small, family style Chinese restaurant tucked away in a fairly non-commercial part of Shinjuki 1-chome, not far from where Gaien Nishi Dori ends. It's been around for years and on a friend's recommendation I decided to try it for dinner in a party of three.
What a great choice! Although it's an unpretentious little affair of a restaurant the food is quite innovative and, as there is a clear European influence in the cooking, I would confidently label a lot of it as "fusion". The service is friendly, but service ends early so that everyone can get a good night's sleep. I'd recommend you get there no later than 7. Chef's is not cheap, but I have no objection to paying a decent price for food that has a lot of thought and love put in it. I'd definitely recommend you give them a go for an informal dinner if you're in the area.
Our gracious serveuse serving our egg and tomato. This was really sweet!
Peppers and olive oil. Is this Chinese? Do we care?
Chinese sausage
Clams (asari) in butter and white wine sauce. One of my dining partners gave this the gold medal of the evening. 
Lamb cutlets were very tender.
Excellent shu mai. The spring rolls (unfortunately not pictured) were the best I've had for a long time!
Slow cooked pork belly with black bean sauce. Sinful but delicious.
Stir fry of squid and fungus. Excellent and refreshing.
A clear ramen with lots of negi finished the savoury course. It's not pictured here but we also ordered some "goma dangoes" (sesame balls) in soup as well as some basil ice cream for dessert. Both desserts were better than good! 
Tel: 03-3352-9350
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