Results tagged “beijinglu”

As far as I know, the street names in Shanghai downtown work like this: East to West roads are named after cities (Nanjing Lu, Beijing Lu) and the ones that run North to South are named after provinces (Shaanxi Lu, Tibet Lu). Since most place names in China are two syllables, that keeps the size of the street names to a pretty manageable level. So this one must be pretty unusual.

If you love pizza, pasta, risotto and the rest, then no doubt you've come across some shocking examples of pseudo-Italian cuisine in Shanghai. However, the experience of one Shanghaiist reader at Babela's Kitchen, the newest establishment in the Food Park on the corner of Beijing Lu and Jiangning Lu, was truly scary. "I found a shard of glass as big as my little finger in my risotto, after I'd already put it in my mouth....

And in Shanghai...
• John Pasden talks about his (Chinese) wife freaking out over his fever.
• Swiss James of ISpyShanghai recommends the Ganzhi Blindman Massage on the corner of Beijing Lu and Shaanxi Lu.
• Marc van der Chijs (of Tudou fame) shares with us the inconveniences that the cancellation of a recent China Eastern flight brought him and how he was handled.

Yes, it's hard hitting reporting like this that has people wondering how we avoid the censors. But we recently found ourself in need of an ACE bandage, known in some parts of the world as an elastic bandage. Back home, we would have just headed to the local drugstore to buy one, but we had heard some people having trouble finding them in Shanghai — so we figured we'd tell you how we found ours yesterday.

Back in January, we told you how much we loved the food at Southern Barbarian, the great Yunnan restaurant that some people complained was too far away because it was north of Beijing Lu. Well, we are happy to report Southern Barbarian has moved farther south, and now resides amongst a cluster of art galleries and shops near the intersection of Maoming Lu and Jinxian Lu (just one subway stop from Shanghaiist headquarters). The grand reopening party, with requisite amounts of free food and booze (and live music from The Cardinals), was last night, and some photos can be found above.

We were leafing through the latest City Weekend* over breakfast this morning when we realized we forgot to tell you something very important: We love Southern Barbarian (南蛮子). It's a Yunnan restaurant that opened in the fall (we have mentioned it briefly twice before). It is easily one of our favorite restaurants in the city, Chinese or non-Chinese. The food is fantastic — tasty and plentiful — and it is cheap (especially when compared to another Yunnan restaurant that opened recently). An added bonus is that Feng Jianwen, the owner (yes, he's from Yunnan), is a lover of beer — the result is the best selection of bottled beers we have ever seen at a Chinese restaurant. There's Hoegaarden, Chimay, Coopers (Sparkling Ale and Best Extra Stout), Leffe and a bunch of others. They are priced reasonably, too. Hoegaardens are 28 kuai; Coopers are less than that. Or you can always just get a tall bottle of Suntory for 6 kuai — they have that, too.

Moon River looks like a diner. It feels like a diner. And, most importantly, it tastes like a diner. The people behind this place got the details right -- the black and white tile floors, the red swivel-top stools and even the colorful curly straws. And we love the huge retro neon sign out front -- it's perfect. They've even got a jukebox (the same one they had out in Gubei) but it no longer works, and -- we just learned this -- did you know jukeboxes are technically illegal in China? An old Cultural Revolution law that never came off the books, we were told.

We first found about the Sandwich Express on Smart Shanghai and decided, after reading their review, to give it a try. We ordered a sandwich with the stuff we like: pesto, eggplant, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes. It wasn't half bad, but we're not sure we would agree with SS's conclusion: "their manager 'promised with her tongue' that their sandwiches are among the best available in town, so naturally we had to see for ourselves, and pleasingly, she was spot on." We haven't exactly had a representative sample of sandwiches in Shanghai, and years and upon years of peanut butter and jelly from Mom has created a palate only nominally more refined than that of a caveman, but it was undoubtedly a decent sandwich -- or was it just a case of pesto working its magic?

James Brown might be the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, but yesterday Shanghaiist felt like the Hardest Working Man in Shanghai. Which is why this post is a day late. And because we were recovering from the "Sex Machine" after-party at Mint.

CJ Chicago on Beijing Lu