Shanghaiist: Best all you can eat Japanese in town (and other food news)

Pirx

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:05:56 +0800

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.

T

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:17:15 +0800

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.

Eric Hu

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:06:36 +0800

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

thewaythingsare

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:41:25 +0800

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...

thedonald

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:20:37 +0800

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.

Buck Rogerz

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:14:41 +0800

Yeah, just joking. I do appreciate your imminently practical columns and will check it out! Thanks.

snowisred

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:36:40 +0800

Looks delicious but jeez no to that wasabi.

Eric Hu

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:33:56 +0800

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.

Buck Rogerz

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:29:25 +0800

Hey, nice picture. I could shit a more attractive plate of sushi!