All of Shanghai has been waiting expectantly for Ultraviolet, Paul Pairet’s ultra high-end dining concept, and after two years of delays, it’s finally open and it’s spectacular.
The restaurant was conceived as a full-on assault of the senses, a 10-person private dining venue that would pair every ... Read More
Nestled in a corner of Shanghai Centre, Crêpes & Co is a relaxed and friendly café serving up great dessert pancakes and some passable savoury ones too. Their 40-strong savoury menu (ranging from RMB45 to RMB93) offers variations of what is a perfectly thin crêpe wrapped around almost any combination of ... Read More
While Pyongyang Tangun does not have the best North Korean food in Shanghai, we had a decent dining experience. If you have an obsession with North Korea—and we know a few people like that—or are looking for a novel venue to take visiting tourists for dinner, this is ... Read More
Jiu Jiu is a Japanese restaurant buried under a Mount Fuji of mid-upper range all-you-can-eats in Shanghai so large that it will take a couple more stars than snow crab and foie gras to help it rise above.
A RMB298 ticket provides unlimited supplies of sashimi, sushi, tempura, grilled meats ... Read More
There are two things we want from a bánh mì shop: good prices and authenticity. Mr. V satisfies on both counts at his wee sandwich stand.
Simplicity is king here, with a sparse menu of five Vietnamese sandwiches and seating for two diners, tops. You can choose from meatball, skin ... Read More
Noodle Bull made its name with value eats in a trendy environment, but its new upscale offering, Grill Bull, is still working its way there.
Set in the new extension to the always quaint Ferguson Lane, Grill Bull is nonetheless set up to feel a world away. They’ve taken ... Read More
Village du Chocolat is, at best, a work in progress at this point. The three-floor complex has a brightly lit first floor showing a glass case of desserts, an oddly colorful second floor with salon-like seating and a third floor wiht a surprisingly lovely open patio with a bar and ... Read More
At Shi Cai Yi Tang, a new offering from the Shu Fu chain, you can expect a dining experience that will set your taste buds on fire and keep your lips tingling way after the meal is over. The menu is friendly to both locals and foreigners (foreigners that are ... Read More
The décor at The Greatest is two parts country kitchen, one part Panda Express. The skittish, eager-to-please, server / cook gave the distinct feeling that this small cube of a space could very well be a front for a mafia operation.
Serving up serviceable coffee and sushi that borrows liberally from ... Read More
At first glance, Shuta Kamezaki, the head chef of newly opened Tsukiji Aoasora Sandaime, looks like a mischievous school boy. But just under that boyish swagger, it’s clear he’s a serious chef with serious talent. Always bending the rules—not enough to break them but just to make ... Read More
Kitted out like a Sultan’s dining room, Adiva is going for bling. If you can get beyond the gaudy décor and inconsistent menu, there are a couple of jewels in the crown.
To fully represent all of the Mediterranean region in one restaurant is quite a challenge. Twenty-one countries ... Read More
Blend makes a great first impression. With an inconspicuous entrance, dim lighting in the front foyer and and a charming hidden patio in the rear, this is one of the most welcoming of any of the new cafés we’ve seen recently.
Service is genuine and warm, led by the ... Read More
Walking through the corridor of Bund 22 towards Tenya 22 feels like walking through a movie set. This is fitting as omakase, the style of dining offered here in which the chef selects the dishes, is really about the theatrics of dining.
Tenya 22’s chef, Matsuki-San, is a stout ... Read More
The latest addition to the Bund 22 building is L’Ecailler, a seafood restaurant featuring contemporary French cuisine. The restaurant’s ocean-blue walls and the dashes of shell-shaped patterns invite you for a dive into a feast of gourmet seafood, but the giant red lobster standing in the middle of ... Read More
Specializing in quick and delicious French fare with Wagas-like counter service, Ô delice! is a worthy contender for Shanghai’s best crêpes.
Upon entry, we were immediately delighted with Ô delice!’s casual and friendly service and mouth watering creations. Tempted by the buttery smells of the open kitchen, we ... Read More
Many inside the vegetarian community are skeptical of “fake meat” dishes, but after our visit to Veg Inn, any negative impressions we had were wiped away. Veg Inn serves up traditional Shanghai and Sichuan dishes with a vegetarian twist. It’s helmed by Lv Lezhi, a devout Buddhist who opened ... Read More
Bocca, a new fine dining addition set on the Bund next to the new el Willy, is only a few steps away from delivering the quintessential high-end experience.
The restaurant carries an elite swagger, with an alluring bar by the entrance surrounded by their extensive 220-label wine list. Unfortunately, designers ... Read More
This tiny four-person bar offers a different twist on fish and chips. Clad in mirrors and driftwood, it’s literally just a 10 sq. meter room in which the jovial chef gets busy with the fryers. The menu is simple, scrawled on a sheet of A4 stuck to the wall ... Read More
Set at the other end of Anfu Lu opposite The Center, this new Italian restaurant offers a lively atmosphere, a quirky menu and reasonable food that won’t break the bank.
Italian Kitchen 26, also known as Seasalt, is of the Italian-by-numbers mold. There are wine boxes stacked in the ... Read More
We’d heard good things about Fudede, but our recent experience did not match up. Some dishes are decent; others are worse.
The two dishes we enjoyed most were the penghao cai (artemisia) with wine sauce and vinegar (RMB16) and the grilled pork neck (RMB46), but both were imperfect. The ... Read More
This tiny new shop ain’t much to look at, but based on early returns, this very likeable soup and pasta kitchen will do well.
Like its name 群 (“the collective”) suggests, Chun’s base recipes are taken from the Singaporean owners’ friends and family members, then gussied up slightly ... Read More
Don’t expect to be greeted by a menu of Spanish tapas when you enter El Camino. The Japanese chef who mans this kitchen studied his craft in France, and he’s cooking up Continental fare at this new spot.
It’s half restaurant and half lounge with a cozy-looking ... Read More
It’s quite possible that we’ve stumbled upon the best lunch deal in downtown Shanghai (at the very least, in the Xintiandi area). Sure, you can find cheaper Chinese lunch sets, but everything we tried at Mi Xiang Yuan is delicious and most everything is organic.
This spartan spot ... Read More
This new café is set in one of the most attractive new spaces we’ve seen in a while. It’s big and simple but split with a central bar so you feel there’s something to explore around the corner. It’s stuffed with Art Deco furniture—dark wood ... Read More
When Umberto Bombana set up Otto e Mezzo (8½) in Hong Kong, the gastronomic sphere went into frenzy. Michelin awarded it two stars in its first year, then another. History was made—it was the world’s first three-star restaurant outside of Europe.
Bringing his right-hand chefs, building contractor and ... Read More