Sashimi [Photo provided to Shanghai Star]

There is also a private teppanyaki room for those who want to make an impression. A stylish sushi bar offers a wide range of sushi and sashimi, and the platter that came to our table included slices of toro, tuna, bream, yellowtail and a peony prawn.

Sashimi is all about freshness, and here, the fish seemed to be still twitching. It was a tactile experience with every bite.

For that perfect lover’s meal, though, it is the teppanyaki baby lobster that sings like a French chanson. The lobsters are small baby blues, and are at their most tender, unlike their larger, tougher cousins.

The chef splices each into two and then proceeds to cook the crustacean while you watch, daftly extracting the meat and leaving the shells to send out the smoky fragrance of grilled seafood. Lightly buttered and seasoned with nothing more than salt and pepper, the lobster is then presented on a platter so pretty that it will win any susceptible heart.

Tatsumi also has another signature dish that is perfect for lovers, a Korean ginseng chicken soup to be shared by two.

It is prepared with a young spring chicken stuffed with six-year old white ginseng, angelica root or danggui, Chinese jujubes, chestnuts and glutinous rice, all gently simmered for several hours to extract all the goodness.

Tatsumi, Shanghai Marriott Hotel Parkview, 333 Guang Zhong Road West, Zhabei district. 021-3669-8888.