Back (in the very recent past), when it was named Daojianghu, this little Japanese izakaya restaurant quickly became one of my favorite spots on Sinan Lu. It boasted a snazzy interior, a decently priced menu and 20rmb Asahi drafts. It's now been renamed Shoga (perhaps it thought its previous moniker was too confusing), but it retains all those things that made it great, only... the drafts have become even cheaper! more ›

I'll admit: this restaurant is mainly worth going to for novelty's sake. There are a multitude of sushi-go-rounds with the same quality for similar (or lower prices), but there's something to be said about getting your discount rolls delivered by a toy shinkansen. more ›

Issimo does lunch: The popular high-end Italian restaurant inside the JIA hotel is offering a lunch set dubbed 'Expressimo,' promising to get diners in and out within 45 minutes of ordering. 88 RMB (plus service charge of 15%) will get you a small salad, a pizza or pasta, and coffee. We love dining at Issimo, and this lunch set would be very seductive if only the pizzas were just as good during the day as they are in the evening. Hopefully, they'll get there before the deal ends at the beginning of May. more ›

On the eastern stretch of Guyang Lu, straddling the border between Gubei and Xuhui district, is a somewhat hidden block of Taiwanese and Japanese restaurants. We've tried a handful, all of them worth writing about it at a later date, but the standout for us so far is Yamatoya, which, while retaining some izakaya-ish features (there is a separate shochu bar and plenty of Japanese business folk talking shop), is popular because the food is pretty damn good. more ›

The Japanese restaurant En on Taikang Lu serves regional Okinawan cuisine, which is stamped with the imprints of its Chinese and other southeast Asian neighbors. Amidst the fresh sashimi, fermented cuttlefish, and crispy yakitori that En's menu shares with its mainland Japanese brethren, you'll also come across the quintessential Okinawan goya chanpuru (40 RMB), a stir fry with egg, tofu and chunks of bitter melon clinging to thinly sliced pork belly. Or a somen version of the chanpuru (38 RMB), with thin angel hair-like pasta swimming in meaty fragrance. Pork plays an important role in Okinawan cooking, and at En there is no better manifestation of this than the negi chashu (45 RMB), thick slices of pork with streaks of fatty goodness, smothered in green onions and miso. Wash all that down with , the island's wonderful wheat-based shochu. more ›

Jarrett Wrisley first wrote about Matsuri 123 in a post on Shanghaiist earlier this year. We thought we'd check it for ourselves and share our thoughts. more ›