Results tagged “restaurants”

One recent Saturday evening, we and a few friends enjoyed a happy hour at Just Grapes on Dagu Lu, admiring the hodgepodge of expat DVD hunters and pajama-clad locals passing by each us and each other on an unbelievably gorgeous day. Little did we know that Masala Art, the fantastic purveyor of some of Shanghai's best northern Indian cuisine, would soon be put out of commission by a smoky kitchen fire. Last night we rode past and noticed the storefront covered in canvas and plastic. Dear Masala Art, proud Dagu Lu stalwart, we wish you the best and hope you come back soon. If not, there's always your little cousin on Yandang Lu.

Well, would you look at that - The Miele Guide, which is like Zagats but with an all over Asia focus, has listed five of the best restaurants in China and three of them are in Shanghai! Who made the cut? Jean-Georges came in at fourth place, beat out just barely by fellow Bund institution M on the Bund at third. Though Beijing's Da Dong Roast Duck took second, it was ultimately David Laris' Laris that grabbed the top spot. Laris is also located on the Bund. While those three are fine restaurants indeed, did the Miele people never go anywhere outside of the Huangpu district?

• It’s Mid-Autumn Festival time and you know what that means, yes mooncakes! By now you’re probably swimming in them, why not share the wealth and donate some of those delectable morsels to someone who really needs them. [City Weekend]
• If you’ve grown tired of the usual eats or if you have adventurous taste buds, there’s a bunch of new restaurants in town. Bon appétit! [Smart Shanghai]
• Need a good workout after sampling all that food, well waltz your way over to ballroom dance phenomenon Burn the Floor. How can you go wrong with Viennese Waltz, Tango, and Swing thrown into the mix? Simple you can’t. [Shanghai Talk]

A few weeks after Chris St. Cavish's epic breakdown of Stardog, we revisited Channel One mall to see how things have progressed for Shanghai's pioneer in the field of Asian contemporary hot dogs.

Fans of China's roaring 50's and all its rosy cheeked proletariat propaganda may want to take a trip down to Shanghai Stadium to try 9 Che Jian (9车间). One of several restaurants that wrap around the rear of the stadium, this Sichuanese establishment decks itself out as a 1950's era Chinese factory; the name itself refers to a factory's internal segmented workshops. The place is quite a sight; huge windows stretch from its floor its very high ceiling, from which thick beams and industrial lights dangle. The wait staff wear factory overalls, socialist slogans pepper the walls (there's nothing like the words "unity is strength" to spur the appetite), and propaganda ditties blare incessantly from the overhead speakers. Oh, and a large statue of the esteemed Chairman Mao casts a serene look over all.

We kid you not. This is a genuine post on pho, the beef noodle soup, and not another smart-alecky headline pun post.

You know where we’re going to be tomorrow, but if for some in explicable reason you don’t have a hankering for some Kelley Lee BBQ and rapturous Boxingcat brews, here are a few other options in town. We’re not including the AmCham bash because Sheshan isn’t quite “in town,” plus we think it’s just a tad criminal to spend 350 RMB (non-member price) for an American Independence Day bash in this wretched economy.

Recently, we stumbled upon an invite from fancy schmancy French Concession restaurant, Sasha’s, begging us take a (free!) sneak peek at their newly renovated dining room while sampling their upgraded menu. Without much thought, we blew off our happy hour dates and made reservations.

Before one even gets out of the taxi, it's fairly evident who the celebrity is on the small restaurant stretch of Guyang Lu. Ji Heng (吉亨), an undersized eatery specializing in Taiwan-style beef noodles, is the only place on the block with a line of fans queuing up outside the door.

So after last night's festivities, City Weekend revealed the winners of its Readers' Choice Awards. Most of the entries weren't too surprising: Jean Georges won for best French in the city, Cantina Agave swept up Best Mexican and “Newcomer of the Year,” and Whisk was the crème of the crop for desserts. We were surprised, however, by Element Fresh's win for Best Wi-Fi. Really? While the Jinqiao location's wi-fi isn't bad (though nothing to write home about), the Portman-Ritz Carlton one only works on the second floor most of the time, and spottily at that. Oh well, we guess it was a hard to quantify category to begin with. Read who won what at the City Weekend site.

The new Barbie flagship store aims to capture the attention of more than just those with blonde ambitions, and nowhere is this effort more apparent than the Barbie Cafe.

We recently caught up with Shanghai-based independent filmmaker Luis Tapia of Daedalum Films, who is currently busy preparing for the May 9 premiere screening of his new documentary short about Shanghai band Hard Queen and the life of indie rock musicians in China. Seats are still available for the screening. Advance tickets can be purchased here.

• Just a reminder: Gourmet Month is almost ending! Book a restaurant today. IMMEDIATELY! [City Weekend]
• A group of residents are now protesting the destruction of prolific Shanghai writer Eileen Chang's grade school. The area, which was supposed to be a protected heritage site, is now almost completely a pile of rubble. [Xinmin (Chinese)]
• Shanghai may be extending what would become the longest and fastest Metro route to Kunshan, a commercial center in Jiangsu Province that's 50km away. Talk about one helluva commute! [Shanghai Daily]

McDonalds ain't messing around with its China strategy. Having already spread out its home delivery service last year, and then lowered prices for its popular items on the China menu two months ago, it's now announced plans for a major hiring spree.

Over 25 restaurants have signed up to the idea, each offering a fixed price menu showcasing the best that their kitchen has to offer.

Proving that our friends to the north have nuthin' on us when it comes to cuisine, places that had actually gotten their start in Shanghai were extraordinarily well represented at The Beijinger's 6th Annual Reader Restaurant Awards, presented a couple of days ago.

It's almost as though Shanghai restaurateur Kelley Lee is reading our mind. First she opens Shanghai's best Mexican place, Cantina Agave, a short stroll from Shanghaiist headquarters (and she always has the flat screen tuned into classic NBA games). And now, we learn (from her) that she is opening a Boxing Cat Brewery almost next door to us. (If next Kelley takes over the Iranian consulate building and turns it into an art house movie theater, the wife may start to get suspicious.)

Now that we’ve been able to put to bed our 5 year long obsession with finding a decent burrito in this town, we’ve moved onto our next elusive obsession: a decent bowl of pho.

The demise of the stalls and vendors on the eastern portion of Wujiang Lu has been rumored for a few months now. While the modernization of the popular food street might very well come to fruition in 2009, it's apparent that Yang's fried dumplings (小杨生煎) will maintain its Wujiang Lu roots for quite a while longer.

            

While most of the Hengshan Lu bars spend their time trying to attract customers with Thursday night offerings of "little girls and little boys" (no joke), The Melting Pot has been putting on a weekly show of Inner Mongolian country bluegrass blues players named Tom and Jerry. The musical super duo mix authentic guitar chops with mandolin, fiddle and a pleasing Chinese drawl to warm even the most frigid of nights. With the help of talented local musicians, Tom and Jerry recreate anything from Johnny Cash's "Cocaine Blues" to a convincing southern-style take on Nirvana's "Something in the Way". While the bar could use a price check (we're not there to show how rich we are--or wish to be), the setting is both comfortable and spacious. Come check them out at The Melting Pot on Thursdays, starting at 9:30 PM. Definitely not your average Shanghai (or Kentuckian) Thursday night.

Yes, people are crazy and times are strange. Two days ago, a fashionably dressed young woman ate a RMB280 lunch at a Japanese restaurant somewhere near Nanjing Xi Lu and Chengdu Bei Lu. When it was time to get the bill, she told the wait staff that she had no money on her and needed to withdraw some cash. A restaurant employee followed her to a nearby China Construction Bank (CCB) ATM, whereupon the woman locked herself inside and forbade anyone to come near her, saying she had a knife and would kill herself if anyone tried to force their way in. CCB staff tried persuading her to come out but met with no success. Eventually the police were called in and the woman was finally brought out after three hours of self-imposed captivity. The woman is now being subjected to psychological tests to see if she is mentally sound.

Someone in Shanghai is looking out for us Californians. First, Cantina Agave arrived and delivered Mexican food the way we remember it. Now, a cafe on Jinxian Lu has brought us New England clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl.

This post was almost going to be a full-throated recommendation of La Dolce Vita’s business lunch. Starting at 78 RMB, the new Italian restaurant offers lunchers a pasta or pizza course, coffee or dessert, and access to an antipasto buffet that would be worth the money all by itself. Upgrade to 88 RMB and you can choose a main course instead (108 RMB gets you both).

CCTV 9 reports on a newly opened Beijing restaurant that is inspired by the super popular online game World of Warcraft. You can see both the clip and the transcript of the report online. We checked out the Dianping reviews, which didn't take us very long since there are only 3 (2 ho-hum, one positive). We've never played the game ourselves but have witnessed enough zombied kids playing at Internet cafes to recognize its power. Perhaps this restaurant owner is getting a headstart on the rest of the online gaming business bandwagon. According to China Tech News, Changzhou in neighboring Jiangsu province will be the home of world's first online game theme park, the Universal Digital Carnival Valley. WoW.

"Nearly 1,000 workers staged a rare sit-in protest outside a Shanghai factory Tuesday in the latest sign of strain in China's manufacturing industry, which has been hit hard by the economic crisis."

                                                 

A nice crowd of beer lovers gathered at Southern Barbarian on Saturday afternoon to ... well ... drink beer. Very good beer. And eat food. Very good food. Mission accomplished. For attendees who left with minds foggy thanks to the strong beers, these photos should jog your memory. Yes, you did drink that much.

Around three hours until our craft beer tasting at Southern Barbarian. Plenty of time to take in "A Better Brew: The rise of extreme beer," Burkhard Bilger's story in the latest New Yorker. That should get you in the mood. See you soon.

Updating yesterday's list of Lucky Draw prizes for Saturday's beer tasting at Southern Barbarian, Sherpa's has generously offered RMB 500 in vouchers as a prize. See you Saturday. Come thirsty.

Our big beer event at Southern Barbarian this weekend is just a few days away, so it's time to give you a few more details. Below you will find a complete list of the beers on offer for unlimited tastings. But first, let's run down the event's lucky draw prizes (everyone who attends will automatically be entered into the drawing):

Adam Schokora of Danwei points us to this audio recording of a "disgruntled customer lecturing a telephone operator at a well-known, city-wide food delivery company based in Shanghai". Do a bit of research and you'll find there's only one food delivery company in town that delivers Blue Frog and it happens to be an advertiser on Shanghaiist. Does the voice of this douchebag sound familiar to any of you readers out there? We say unleash the foreign internet mobsters on this guy!