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Walking into Steak & Eggs, Shanghaiist was flooded with fond childhood memories of chowing down on big greasy breakfasts at truck-stop diners during family road trips along Interstate 10. Sure, we love Moon River and its classic 1950's theme, but Steak & Eggs is the first place we've eaten at in Shanghai that fits the mold of the no-frills American roadside diner.
The owner is a friendly Canadian named Paul, who opened the first two Steak & Eggs restaurants in Beijing, and has now brought the popular diner to Shanghai. With its prime location (on Xikang Lu right between Plaza 66 and Shanghai Centre) and expansive menu targeting all sorts of appetites (6 a.m. omelettes to 22 RMB all-day cocktails), the place is sure to be popular throughout the entirety of the day.
How's the food, you ask? Authentic, uncompromising, and gritty. Literally: this is the first place we've ever dined at in Shanghai that serves grits (didn't try yet). We thought that the steak, roast beef, and country ham were all a little on the dry side; perhaps the chef didn’t quite have his timing down. On the plus side, one Shanghaiist claimed that they served the best breakfast sausages he has ever had in China, made with real meat and spices that made the whitish and bland sausages served in many a western restaurant, ahem, pale in comparison. The sausages, corned beef, and ham are all specially made in Beijing and flown in. Paul also knows his potatoes; the home fries and hash browns were delicious. We hear from friends who’ve visited Steak & Eggs in Beijing that the freshly baked breads, cakes and desserts are not to be missed. The dessert selection was certainly enticing, and we locked in on fact that we can now have decent pumpkin pie year all year round. 
One area where Steak & Eggs will undoubtedly differentiate itself from its neighboring competition is the quality of the service. Eight staff members from Beijing were actually relocated to Shanghai, and from the efficiency and professionalism with which they took, remembered, and correctly served our orders we could tell they were old hands at western-style service. That is to say, service was not riddled with mistakes and obnoxiousness. Paul himself supervised our orders, and made it clear (without knowing we were elite city bloggers) that he welcomed any criticism and advice in the name of providing the best dining experience for his customers. Sure, we know we’re in the honeymoon phase, but at reasonable prices (55 RMB for a roast beef sandwich, 80 RMB for the steak and eggs, 19 RMB for pie) for straightforward food that reminds us of home, we’re already madly in love with him.
Steak & Eggs - 99 Xi Kang Lu, Bldg. 3 near Nanjing Lu (西康路99号, 近南京西路) - Tel: 6279-2201, 6:00am-midnight
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.
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As much as I hate to say it, I must warn those that dare to enter the place that the food really is quite average and probably not worth the trek (unless you work at P66 or live in the Portman). Other than the cheapish decor and freakishly wobbly second floor (which together make for an interesting sideshow if your into fire hazards), I found the food to be several notches below tasty. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. Also, service was definitely nothing to write home about. I saw Paul roaming around the dining area the day I ate there. he was explaining to patrons why the restaurant shut off the a/c -- apparently there were too many people ordering too much food, which somehow was overloading their electrical supply. Really strange.
is the bacon crispy? that's effin' key here. i need a listing of all restaurants in shanghai that serve bacon the way it should be... dark and crispy. not pink and limp.
Agreeing with guest about the bacon. That's the way we always do it at home, hard to believe it's so hard to find outside.
Interesting about the servers, but this is key: do they bring all the main dishes out at the same time?
for $10 for steak+eggs, I think I would prefer to eat them in the US.
Moon river aint cheap either. Last time I ate there, an omelet and a shake set me back 75 or 80 rmb(again, over $10 with the exchange rate these days) AND all the food was swimming in oil.
After publishing this post this afternoon I decided to go back and try the dinner. Now that I've doubled my sample size, I have to agree with birchman2: the food wasn't that tasty. I had the meatloaf and tried the beef kebab; both were dry and bland (although the gravy helped). I reiterate that they know how to do potatoes, but that hardly justifies a special trip.
I still liked the service. Micah, all main dishes were brought out at the same time, and staff response is prompt. Although, it's worth mentioning that most of the restaurant was empty. Also, my baseline is probably skewed, since I'm comparing it to City Diner right down the street. Moon River has always had great service.
Margarita was cheap. All cocktails are 22 RMB, and they don't mess around with gimmicky concoctions; very basic drink selection. Had the chocolate peanut butter pie: it was sweet as hell and delicious, although I am now suffering from post-dessert depression.
Guest #4: I'd rather eat at a diner in the States, too, but given the choices we have for this type of food, we probably can't expect prices to be much lower than this. We miss Rendezvous!
Flown in from Beijing? Ewwww...
Rendezvous! Yes! :,-(
7.50 USD for a roast beef sandwich? Give me a break...
The prices of Western food in this city is ridiculous. My favorite Western restaurant in Harbin could make similar dishes for 20-25RMB.
This isn't Harbin.
You get what you pay for. You think it's too expensive, don't go there. Think western food prices are too expensive here, eat locally.
BTW, I agree, in general ;)
@Eric- most the stuff that these diner restaurants make can be purchased at one of the many supermarkets in Shanghai for a portion of the price and made at home if you have any iota of cooking skill whatsoever.
I really have it in for any restaurant anywhere in the world that serves me food 1)less tasty than I can make 2)at an inflated price and tries to tell me that 3)'you are paying more for the atmosphere and because you can't get this anywhere else around here.'---
normally I tend to view claims of Shanghai being a 'cosmopolitan city' with a wary eye but we have definitely made it to the point where nowadays we can go to the supermarket and buy eggs, bacon, bread and cheese and cook it at home so I really don't see the reason to pay $7-8 bucks per meal to eat such things outside of the house.
Guest 11: In this day and age, who the fuck cooks for themself?
#12 about 99% of the worlds population.
I just tried this place this afternoon. The food is okay, but to be honest the place is really dark and my girlfriend and I were the only people there. I'd probably just take the extra 30 minutes and walk to A Future Perfect. It's got better food and much better atmosphere for almost the same price.