Results tagged “kitchen”

The corner of Fumin Lu and Julu Lu is a hotspot for expat diners: Nepali Kitchen, Shintori, Guyi, Otto, Coconut Paradise, and Mesa. But smack dab in the middle are also a handful of Chinese restaurants that don't get much mention in our beloved English-language rags. We checked one of them out recently and have now added Hui Yuan Fang (汇元坊) to the list of worthy destinations located within that intersection.

Heading south down Hengshan Rd from Dongping Rd, turn trustingly left down a dark lane with a large ad for Yang's Kitchen on the wall. Keep walking till you see an old villa on your right-hand side where there is a faded brass plate with the faint engraved lettering "Le Garcon Chinois." (Actual address is No.3, Lane 9, Hengshan Rd). Go up the stairs and you are there. Le Garcon Chinois restaurant has a cosy and unpretentious bar that serves good quality drinks at very reasonable prices. There is an extensive cocktail list with most drinks priced RMB35-55. House spirits are mostly RMB35-40, including Bombay Sapphire and Tanqueray gins, both at RMB35. Vodka sippers can enjoy Grey Goose for RMB55, while Tequila massacists can revel in self-destruction by slamming down shots of Jose Cuervo 1800 at RMB45 a pop. Even though the bottled beers are run-of-the-mill, they are good value priced between RMB20-25 (Qingdao RMB20; others RMB25). For those on the wagon, soft drinks are also priced RMB20-25. Wine drinkers will be pleasantly surprised, with several wines available by the glass priced from RMB45-58, with the pick of the bunch being a fine Bordeaux red at RMB58. Should you wish to indulge in a bottle, a good selection is offered with this scribe noticing Vasse Felix merlot, Petaluma chardonnay and Henri Bourgeois sauvignon blanc. Being located close to many other well known expat bars and restaurants, this place should be on many more drinkers' drinking circuits. Go give it a try.

Here, Shanghai, were your favourite stories for the month of November:

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....

Someone told us recently that there was a new Mexican burrito place called Cal Kitchen that opened up not that long ago on Dagu Lu, and being long-time residents of California, we decided to see if it lived up to its billing as place for authentic Californian/Mexican food. Long story short, it doesn't. We ordered a big chicken burrito that in better days, might have been a contender—but as it was, it was a soggy...

China issued a sweeping denunciation of Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian on Thursday, accusing him of stirring animosity between the sides to divert attention from his personal scandals.

Kitchen fetishists, we know you're out there: For those of you who enjoy cooking at home, now you can add sexy cookware to your kitchen arsenal. Pantry Magic, which calls itself Asia's favorite place for specialty kitchen supply, is opening their first store in Shanghai in the middle of this month. From their press release:

The second day of the JZ Festival went well, with another bout of perfect weather and slightly cooler temperatures. The afternoon crowd was about the same as the first day, nearly filling up the relatively small amount of space in between the buildings at the New Factories where the concerts are being held. The musical pattern set on day one seemed to hold through the second day as well, which was: begin the day with some solid, swinging straight-ahead jazz; from there move into an eclectic mix of Scandinavian groups for the rest of the afternoon; then start the evening set with a local blockbuster group and finish it with some popular Chinese pop-rock.

While in America a non-delivery Chinese restaurant is an oxymoron, in China the most famous restaurants choose not to serve the lazy. However, everything is about to change!

We remember, a few months ago, walking to Embre on Changshu Lu only to discover it had closed down, after decent reviews and six months of existence. We were exploring the restaurant options near our new apartment, and our second choice, a tapas place on Huashan Lu, also was no longer in operation — really, the building had been leveled. Food and beverage places disappear quickly here in Shanghai ... but sometimes they reappear quickly, too.

A couple scoops on the local dining scene from SH mag's Jarrett Wrisley, one scoop that looks more promising than the other.

Tired of getting stood up by people who call to reserve cabs and then fail to show, Shanghai's taxi drivers will implement a customer rating system, reports the Shanghai Daily (via CRIENGLISH.com). Customers who habitually leave taxis hanging will have their phone numbers blacklisted and will end up like the rest of us, running around frantically trying to find a cab during rush hour in the rain because the taxi line at the Portman stretches all the way to California Pizza Kitchen.

We all know that California is famous for its pizza. Wait ... no it's not. Still, the California Pizza Kitchen, a mainstay in malls across America, is a welcome addition to the Shanghai restaurant scene, even though they tend to put some crazy shit on their "hearth-baked pizzas." CPK, as they refer to themselves, opened an 88-seat branch in Shanghai Center on Tuesday. It's right next door to the Haagen-Dazs.