Sabatini Ristorante Italiano opened this past November to an overwhelmingly positive reception, with many dubbing it their new favorite Italian restaurant, and not just in Shanghai.
Sabatini Ristorante Italiano: Transcends Shanghai's Western dining sphere
Stay away from Laiyifen fruit preserves
The commonly seen Laiyifen, which sells titbits, sweets and preserved fruits, is now embroiled in this new food safety scandal along with other preserved fruits retailers. Laiyifen's rapturous logo won't reflect the moods of their shareholders and management anymore.
Journalist Wang Xiaofeng on China's medicine and food safety
"Countless events have proven the fact that real innovation in China does not exist in culture, but in food and medicine. If only just 1% of this creativity was applied in the film industry, Chinese films would no doubt be the world's best."
Centipedes, scorpions, and tarantulas! Oh my!
Upon hitting a certain section of the street, our nostrils were accosted by the familiar scent of fried must, and we turned to the stand responsible: a cart of tarantulas, big black scorpions, green centipedes with red heads, and other exterminator's night terrors, all speared on sticks.
Leather yogurt and the power of Weibo
Zhao Pu, a CCTV anchorman, made enemies in the yogurt and jelly industries early last week when he spoke his mind on Weibo, advising consumers to stay away from the possibly suspect confectioneries: “You never eat solid yogurt or jelly ever again, especially the kids. The inside story is horrible, but I won’t go into details.”
Dish of the Day: Abalone @ Dongjun Seafood Restaurant
After double-checking the sign on the abalone tank to ensure that our critters were of the Qing Dao variety (and not the bulkier Australian species which run you 58RMB a piece), we chose to have six of them stir-fried in black bean sauce, one of the three options listed on the sign.
Infographic: Everything you ever wanted to know about ramen (but were afraid to ask)
In a noodle-nourishing infographic that keeps going like the Energizer bunny, Hack College has compiled a variety of data (and recipes!) on ramen, which is now an essential food staple of the modern world thanks to the proliferation of its cheap and delicious instant ramen incarnation.
Canadian PM Stephen Harper sparks new food craze in Beijing
US vice president Joe Biden's "noodle diplomacy" act in August last year led to booming business at the Beijing eatery where he spent RMB79 for him and his group of five, as locals came in search of the ‘Vice President's Meal'. Apparently, Canadian premier Stephen Harper has also sparked off a similar food craze after his recent visit to the capital.
Restaurant Week reservations now open!
Reservations opened this morning for the fifth edition of Shanghai Restaurant Week, an event where our city's best restaurants offer 3-course lunch and dinner options at a set price. Put on by DiningCity, this round will run from March 5-11. It's a great excuse to skip your usual place and try something new, different, and hopefully delicious. Better reserve yourself a seat quick, though - some places are already fully booked!
McDonald's, Starbucks and Pizza Hut raise prices
McDonalds is set to raise prices for the fifth time in two years. Citing the pressures of rising food and rental costs, McDonalds said it would increase the prices of some of the items on its menu by between 0.5 and 2 RMB. With the changes, a 5-piece box of McNuggets now costs 1 kuai more at 8RMB, and a Big Mac 18.5RMB, up from 17.5RMB previously.
Photos: Fake "rubber" bouncing eggs found in Shandong
2012 is looking to be par-for-the-course in China's food industry. So far we've already seen cancerous peanuts, flies mushed into pork jerky, and condoms both in yogurt and made of yogurt. This time around, the fake egg scare has come back again with a vengeance, as a man in Yantai, Shandong has unfortunately discovered.
Food safety woes: Dead housefly in Shanghai pork jerky
Like a black fly in your chardonnay pork jerky... isn't it ironic? A Shanghai netizen uploaded photos today showing a dead fly sealed and smushed into their Laiyifen brand pork jerky - adding yet another sad story to China's ongoing battle with food safety.
Restaurant owner gives out free shark's fin to save the sharks
Mr Shangguan Junle, the chairman of Haomen Jipin Restaurants, wrote on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo last week that he had decided to stop serving shark's fin from the beginning of this year to 'protect sharks and the environment'. But the 34-year-old entrepreneur felt it would be too wasteful to throw away his remaining stock.
Cancer-causing mildew found in peanuts and cooking oil
Food safety regulators in Shenzhen, Guangdong, say they've found carcinogenic mildew in peanuts and cooking oil
Allergens to be included on China's food labels
Rarely do we see a positive story in the stream of food safety headlines in China. Fortunately, some new regulations regarding allergens will be put on the books this spring. Food authorities will soon require prepackaged food producers to list all potential allergy-inducing ingredients on their product labels.
Suggestions for Christmas Eve dinner this Saturday
Christmas is just around the corner! For all of you who couldn't make it home for the holidays, as always Shanghai will keep you swimming in sumptuous Christmas meals. Below we've selected a few options that caught our eye, from the non-traditional to the best bang for your buck. Make sure you call for reservations, as many places tend to fill up. Take a look, and take your pick!
How Shanghai's North Korean restaurateurs are responding to the death of Kim Jong Il
James T. Areddy of the Wall Street Journal paid a visit to some of Shanghai's most popular North Korean restaurants following news of the demise of the "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il. Here's what he found
Sasha's Prime 1921: Globally-oriented cuisine and a whole lot of meat
Housed on the second floor of Sasha's, the recently resurrected Prime 1921 promises customers a more international and certainly more meat-oriented approach to food than the former dining spot. Along with a new chef, Sacha Hernaus of the Grand Mercure Hongqiao, the venue also touts a fresh motto, "cuisine designed with wine in mind." We hiked over to the historic pink townhouse located on Dongping Lu to see if the fare is designed with quality in mind as well.
Amici's Pizza is coming to Shanghai
Shanghai already has New York Style Pizza, but do we have San-Francisco-style-New-York-style pizza? We will soon. We just heard from a devoted Amici's pizza fan that the popular chain of California-based "East Coast Pizzarias" is set to open up a location on Huaihai Lu called "Ello Amici's".
More glowing meat found near Beijing
A man living in Tongzhou District in Beijing this week reports a story very similar to that of a Pudong woman in April: after purchasing a chunk of meat from a local vegetable market, he later discovered that it was glowing blue in the dark!
What Yao Ming's expensive Cabernet Sauvignon says about China's wine market
What does the Yao deal tell us about China? That everything the wine industry has come to believe about tackling the Chinese market is on target. Brands matter. Prestige matters. Celebrity matters. Why do Lafite and Mouton still reign supreme there? Because they have the reputation. Artisanship (with all due apologies to that press release) is irrelevant. Terroir is irrelevant — although the overall brand power of Napa Valley certainly holds sway.
Shark-finning banned in Taiwan from 2012!
Wow. If this can happen in Taiwan, what are the chances that it'll happen in China too?
The restaurant may have originated in Song Dynasty China
The restaurant could be be the latest item in a long list of revealed-to-be Chinese inventions! Formerly misattributed as Western creations, gunpowder, printing, and even New World exploration have all been claimed thoroughly as Chinese in origin.
Evian and Volvic among 420 imported food products that fail Chinese quality tests
China's top quality watchdog has done it again, protecting us from substandard food products that foreign mercenaries are trying to put in our mouths. Mineral water from Evian and Volvic have been named among 420 imported food and cosmetic items that failed quality inspection tests on entry into China:
Watch: Conan O'Brien delivers Chinese food in NYC
Conan O'Brien salutes the Yankees-hatted Chinese food delivery men of New York City for a comedy bit, by experiencing a hectic day of running around with hot orders of sweet and sour soup and chicken fried rice. Along the way, he deals with rude customers, spilled drinks, and other assorted hi-jinx.
Lipton recalls toxic Tieguanyin tea, Shanghai quality watchdog still laying low
Lipton, the most prominent brand to be named by China's top quality watchdog among the 19 tea labels found to contain excessive rare earth content yesterday, has scrambled to action, recalling and destroying one batch of its product from supermarket shelves:

