June 5, 2007
Element Fresh coming to Hongqiao Airport in July
We have whined before about the dearth of decent restaurants in Shanghai's airports. Pudong travelers are still better off brown-bagging it, but it seems relief will soon be on the way for domestic travelers: Element Fresh is opening up shop at Hongqiao Airport. From their website:
Element Fresh Express coming to Hong Qiao airport in July!Finally there is an alternative to airline food & drinks: the Express will offer fresh juices, smoothies and coffee along with fresh snacks – and not at airport prices. Whether you are on your way out or back, stop by the Element Fresh Express inside Arrival Hall A.
This is great news, since Shanghaiist will be a doing a decent amount of domestic flying this summer. (On Sunday, we had pretty good, albeit overpriced, jiaozi at the Qingdao Aiport, washed down by a Haidao Black Beer.)
And here's the Shanghaiist Tip of the Day: Don't bother waiting in line for a taxi at Hongqiao Airport (the taxi line can get really, really long). Just on the other side of the taxis, you will see some big, white vans. They are metered, too, starting at 16 kuai and then 2.1 kuai per kilometer. There are rarely any lines for these vans. "I don't think many people know about us," the driver said. If you don't feel like spending 50 kuai to get home, walk towards McDonald's and hop in a bus. They will take you to Jing'An Temple for around 4 kuai.
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The airport is the most appropriate place for Element Fresh, because you will never miss the flight given they are always in such a hurry to bid you farewell before you have even finished eating your meal.
Both airports already have a decent international restaurant, the local Japanese chain Chalon. It would be better if Chalon served the full menu and it is not as good as the branch in Itokin Department Store. I have never had a bad meal at Chalon whereas I have eaten plenty of dry mediocre food at Element Fresh.
"Not at airport prices" - rrrrrrright then. Looking at their online menu, Chinese chicken salad (very easy to prepare, a defrosted chicken breast, some garnish and a few bits of leaf chopped up) costs 58rmb - that's about 4 UK pounds - sounds pretty much the same as what you would pay at an airport back home. And this menu is for their restaurants in town which are nowhere near airports.
Foreigners in Shanghai really pay through the nose for western grub and beer. I bet everyone reading this spends a far higher proportion of their income on food and drink than they did back home - thought Shanghai was supposed to be a cosmopolitan international city? Judging from the prices we pay, you'd think it was some remote hardship outpost where burgers and hot dogs are air-dropped to the starving colonists every month.
The tax on the Chinese food-phobic continues!