This week in Shanghaiist
Shanghaiist had an interesting challenge: do a restaurant recommendation for a restaurant that doesn't really have a name. Well, at least one that we recognize. We got a business card but the Chinese name is simply "烧肉" (grilled meat) and we didn't know how to read the Japanese characters.
On a tip from a friend of a friend who had spent most of his life growing up in Japan, we decided to check out the aforementioned nameless Japanese grill-joint that specialized in serving Wagyu beef, otherwise known as Kobe-style beef.
Starting off, there were a couple of strikes against making it out there for dinner. First, it's in Hongqiao. Second, it's damn expensive, with one order of beef clocking in at 65 RMB for about 7-8 bite-sized pieces.
But after that first bite of tender, glorious flavor, we were sold. Like most teppanyaki restaurants this one was self-service, with the grills placed in the middle of the table for easy access. Quickly enough, the meat had been cooked and devoured, and orders for more portions were being called out to the wait-staff. We also had a fabulous turnip salad with huge chunks of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers to ease the guilt of chomping down on beef known for its high percentage of oleaginous unsaturated fat (thanks Wikipedia).
From the looks of it, the restaurant caters mostly to Japanese customers, as most of the dining parties were speaking Japanese from what we could tell. The place was packed on a Friday night, and like us it seems the diners were here mainly for the beef.
After some quick online research, we learned that real Wagyu beef, of which Kobe is a sub-set, can't really be called Wagyu unless the cattle was bred in Japan. We asked and learned that the beef at this place is from Australia, so we guess the appropriate name would be "Wagyu-style" beef. Regardless, the hefty price and sometimes flippant service justify it as an occasional treat for beef-lovers. Total bill came out to be about 180-200 RMB per person, including drinks (Asahi draft for 20 RMB).
Nameless Japanese restaurant has two locations. Puxi: 382 Shui Cheng Lu, Bldg. No. 2, 2nd Floor (close to Xian Xia Lu). 水城路382弄2号2层。Pudong: Pudong Da Dao 908-912. 浦东大道 908-912号。Apologies for the crappy quality of the cell-phone pic.
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"Wagyu-style" beef, as it is often called here, is often just good ol' fashioned beef that is then injected with beef fat, or tallow, and sometimes a tenderizing solution. It is served in many upscale restaurants in Shanghai, and has a curiously tender texture and fat content that doesn't seem entirely natural.
It's unclear whether or not that's what's in the photo - but this is true. Most chefs find the stuff a bit disgusting, but many consumers love it.
Does shanghaiist only cater to english teachers and hippies (sorry if I'm splitting hairs), but since when is 68 RMB damn expensive? Apparently shanghaiist can't hit a sweet demographic like it's big brothers in the gothamist web ring.
I believe in a world of added value, and that means sucking back on vinatge Champange not sparkling wine, using Q tips not cotton swabs, and drinking Coke, not cola. I'm fucking pumped that the pack of Li Ning-wolves and has taken down the Shaq-elephant to bring some much needed branding here.
Real wagyu at a decent place is about 600 RMB, not this backwater kangaroo meat. Even if the pseudo shit is injected with garbage then so be it, a premature death would be a welcomed option to reading this leftist response.
In my eyes this site is preaching to the lost souls of shanghai, I'm switching my homepage back to
http://www.caijing.com.cn/English/
Naomi Klein will always be the disgruntled critic in the front row while the producers are laughing and getting sauced back stage.
My qualm is not with Eric Hu, who seems to be a capable writer and thus weeded out this hoax of a restaurant, but the editors of this site. They need to stop riding an improperly arbitraged currency and get real jobs.
Please shanghaiist editors, do like the Chinese, when in doubt, emulate. I suggest gawker.com for starters.
How can a response about injecting beef (rather than growing the real deal - Wagyu is a breed, after all) be leftist?
This isn't a political beef.
Commenter #2 does make one very valid point however. Shanghaiist's readers (and contributors) seem to be shrinking into one very jaded subset of penny-pinching-white-male-with-a-yellow-heart-pseudo intelligentsia. A little pith that isn't taking the piss at conspicuous consumption or a nipple slip here and there would be welcome.
Jesus. Gawker? If that's what you want to aspire to, that's a pretty low target.
I would note, however, that you are quite correct that 68 kuai isn't that expensive. Heck, my local colleagues have lunch at 35-45 RMB.
I am taken aback about being painted with "penny pinching white male with a yellow heart" - as long as I've been aware, I ain't white.
If you want to review a high class, non-"leftist" RMB 600 beef place on your own, feel free to do it and send it in to the site. If it's good, maybe the editors will publish it. It's easy to forget that the contributors write out of their own pocket and time, and I'm sure aren't rushing out to review the fanciest places in town for you (though there was that Volar review earlier). For me, I like reviews of the no-name (literally, in this case), hard to find places that I would have never discovered if it wasn't for this site.
Hasta la victoria siempre!
I thought the author was referring to 65 RMB per plate; didn't he say that a full meal per person was about 200 RMB? I assume he's saying that to actually have a full meal there, it's not that cheap. Unless you consider "7-8 bite-sized pieces" to be enough of a meal.
Guest #2 & co, he's talking about per plate. Everyone who has been to bbq places will know that you have to order much more plates than just one because they are damn small. Second, we are in Shanghai. If you want to pay NY prices for bad service, shitty locations, crappy food and overpriced beers, you are welcome. Keep living your elitist life. But some prefer to get the best value for their money.
As the chairman of the Society of Penny-pinching-white-male-with-a-yellow-heart-pseudo Intelligentsia (SoPPWMWaYHPI), I take offense at the comments of Guests #2 and #3. Your outright discrimnation against our 129,417 registered PPWMWaYHPI's in Shanghai and another 438,519 in the rest of China is appalling. Please take your words back or prepare for our lawyer's letter.