Results tagged “taicanglu”

Closing Dish: Cafe Transat fought the good fight with its relaxing terrace and inviting happy hours. Unfortunately, it appears that not even a Shanghaiist endorsement was enough for it to sustain the business that this high-rent district demands. We were taking a break at Bellagio on Taicang Lu over the weekend when we noticed that Cafe Transat across the street had closed shop (picture of the storefront on the left). According to the Bellagio staff, the restaurant stopped operating around two weeks ago.

Here is how we ended up at Cafe Transat over the weekend. We were planning on taking a friend for dinner at A Future Perfect, but they were hosting a private function. So, we started leafing through our Enjoy book to find a replacement and, well, restaurants are listed alphabetically, Cafe Transat starts with a "C", the description sounded pretty good ... and we were hungry. (And, as usual, we ended up forgetting to use our Enjoy coupon anyway.)

Next time you’re in the Xintiandi area and are looking for lunch/dinner ideas, try Lan Ting Restaurant (兰亭餐厅). A block away from the tourist hot spot, on the corner of Taicang Lu and Songshan Lu, Lan Ting is perhaps one of the most well known eateries in Shanghai you’ve never heard of. The restaurant serving mostly the local crowd, doesn’t exactly grace the listings sections of City Weekend or Shanghai Talk on a regular basis. And with a décor that’s more Chun than Crystal Jade, Lan Ting isn’t a likely venue for client functions with your local vendor/supplier partners either. But that’s where we come in, with the scoop.