House of Flour

Perhaps emboldened by our recent Beijing safari, Shanghaiist decided to venture into the Heart of Darkness to Pudong--OUTER Pudong, no less, to the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Zone of Line 2 fame. (Unlike other Line 2 stations, its name has not changed in recent weeks.)

Why venture into such wilderness? We wanted a new place to work on our MBA essays (also known as our own personal black pit of despair) and House of Flour seemed the perfect place in which to do it. We've been meaning to come out here for over a year now since it first opened - it's rumored to have the best bread in Shanghai, and unfortunate friends living in the area (Hi Pete!) have raved about it.

Shanghaiist has a reputation among certain friends to be a bit, well, high maintenance discriminating in our tastes, and we expected to be disappointed--just another product of the Shanghai hype machine. But it's great! Who knew!

The muffins are FANTASTIC--light, flaky, buttery, full of blueberries, and--get this--5 kuai! The 20 kuai cappuccino is rather less of a deal, but good nonetheless. The most pleasant surprise of a the place so far (We've only been here an hour--did we mention there is free wi-fi with which to blog!) is the MUSIC--not too loud, no Kenny G, and full of our favorite tunes from college--Counting Crows, U2, Oasis, forlorn female vocalists, etc. We just had a Chicken Curry Masala Painini which was excellent--crispy bread, and a good curry-tasting filling.

The balance of good food and a pleasing atmosphere is a hard one to master. Most places in Shanghai have trouble doing just one of these well. House of Flour is one of those few places that strikes the nail right on the head. It really isn't all that far to get here--a straight shot on the number two line. We know Pudong is a little scary, but this is one destination that makes the journey worth it.

House of Flour is right next to the Zhangjiang High Tech Park Station (Line 2), 1/F, No. 2, Shanghai Legend, 635 Bibo Lu. Delivery available in Pudong. Tel: 5080 3103. 碧波路635号1楼近春晓路, 地铁2号线张江高科站