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Shoka Reduxa: Back when little Shoka opened up as part of the Loft 98 trifecta early this year, most saw the restaurant as an attempt to move in on Haiku's turf. Specifically, upscale and modern sushi wrapped up in a trendy dining experience that attracts tons of business. Months later, with too many conspicuously empty tables, Shoka started offering an all-you-can-eat-and-drink special on certain days of the week to jump start business. Now, we've discovered, the special is an option on any day of the week.
The food at Shoka was never its problem. Like Haiku, Shoka slickly presents well crafted cut rolls and quality sashimi and nigiri. Now, with its unlimited ordering option, it has combined the best elements of the two successful strands of Japanese dining in Shanghai: the nouveau concept and the old-fashioned gorge-fest. At 188 RMB (there's an even more inexpensive option with a far more limited menu at 148 RMB), it's not too far off from most unlimited Japanese joints in terms of price, and the quality far exceeds the rest of the pack. The selection may not be that fulfilling, the house sake (bleh) and the limited beer selection (one) may garner some grumbling, but Shoka is well worth the visit (and re-visit) for your next all-you-can-eat-and-drink adventure.
Happenings: A few recent updates on what's going on around our fair little village:
- Boxing Cat Brewery is having a hoedown on Wednesday night, September 10th, starting from 7pm until "late," in order to wrap a tidy bow around the summer and look ahead to the fall. For 165 RMB (50 RMB for the kids), guests can enjoy an unlimited supply of Kelley Lee's quite excellent American BBQ. An additional 65 RMB will get you free flow of Boxing Cat's very good microbrewed beers and sangria. It's worth the trek, trust us
- Many of you may have noticed that the Paul at Xintiandi has been out of commission all this week. That's because it's getting renovated and will re-open at 3 times the size on September 15th. Those of you craving your Paul baguettes can head west down Huaihai Lu to their Maoming Lu branch.
- The date has been set for Bubba's third annual Chili Cook-off. It'll be October 11th, with proceeds going to Shanghai Sunrise Charity. Like last year, public entry will be 100 RMB, and a chance to taste all the entrants' chili. Hopefully, we'll get to go this year.
Things look a little sweeter: We're definitely late with this news, but Baskin Robbins is coming!
The company has signed an agreement with Shaanxi Stellerich Food and Restaurant Co., LTD to open the first Baskin-Robbins store in Shanghai before the end of this year, with another 50 across the city as well as the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shaanxi Provinces within the next five years, and a total of 100 stores across the regions by 2018.
According to its own press release, Baskin Robbins is the world's largest chain of ice cream specialty shops. It was our ice cream parlor of choice while growing up in southern California. So let's see, Fatburger, Carl's Jr., Krispy Kreme, and now Baskin Robbins (we're probably missing more). Shanghai is looking more and more like the place we left 5 years ago to come here.
Shoka - 2/F,Loft 98, 98 Yanping Lu, near Xinzha Lu (延平路98号98创意园 , 近新闸路), Tel: Phone: 5175-9819, Hours: 11:30am-2:30pm, 5pm-10pm
Boxing Cat Brewery - 453 Jinfeng Lu, Minhang near Baole Lu (金丰路453号, 近保乐路), Tel: Phone: 6221-9661, Hours: 10:00am-1:00am
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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Hey, nice picture. I could shit a more attractive plate of sushi!
This is what happens when you stuff your face and then say to yourself "oh shit, I forgot to take a picture with my crappy cell phone camera."
The food IS good though, despite the pic.
Looks delicious but jeez no to that wasabi.
Yeah, just joking. I do appreciate your imminently practical columns and will check it out! Thanks.
All-you-can-eat: every american, british and aussies idea of fine dining. You have to be suicidal to eat eat a meal of unlimited raw fish meal for a [modest] set price. It sounds like something out of a dare.
Although a strong stomach is a prerequisite, you have to have a poor sense of taste to eat all that farmed chemical-laced sake and defrosted discolored low quality maguro.
Haiku? Please.
When the bar is raised on the quality of expats, maybe Shanghai will finally get a quality sushi bar along with real fine dining instead of the joke that is larisjeangeorgessens&bund.
i whole heartedly agree with thedonald, an all you can eat sushi and sake place
screams low quality and stomach issues the following day, id be more apt to enjoy street food at any outdoor streets than dine at one of these low end establishments. once again though it actually shows, and i have seen this on so many levels, what the majority of expats see as a good deal, and when i say good deal i mean cheap meal, is actually nothing more than a meager attempt to make quick money off uneducated and cheap expat diners
, and although i have dined at Haiku because its seeminly the only "sushi" we have, i also yearn for a community that prefers qualtiy over quantity and will pay for it...
Shoka is different, it's like a Haiku with all you can eat and drink. That's the whole point of the post.
For a more refined experience, go to Tian Jia. http://shanghaiist.com/2007/10/09/tian_jia_heaven.php
And don't go here: http://shanghaiist.com/2008/07/15/matsuri_food_stadium_overwhelms_not.php
Why does this (and I mean the proliferation of all you can eat Japanese eating) have ANYTHING to do with Expats? There's far more all you can eat places than expats in Shanghai. And as most businesses quickly find out - catering to expats will mean you're putting out the "closing business" sign soon enough.
Blame a lack of educated diners overall, but I can't see why it would have to do with EXPATS.
Haiku is decent for rolls, but I don't find their sushi especially good. And Eric - stop giving away Tian Jia's location! And I always hear stories of a hundred different almost-Japanese-only sushi places out in Gubei and Hongqiao which you have to know Japanese to order, or have to slip an extra 200 kuai to Suzuki-san to have him divulge the location or somesuch chicanary to get in the door.
I have been to Shoka last week and it completely failed to impress.
The offerings are average at best, the service is unattentive, and even if you order from the menu tanpin (single items), not tabehoudai (all you can eat), exquisite items like Otoro not available, and it is probably the only Japanese restaurant in Shanghai that manages to run out of Unagi.
We were the only customers on a Thursday night. Shokas future looks uncertain.