Until recently, Sushi’O was little more than a delivery stand on Yanqing Lu with a few seats at the sushi bar. It’s now moved its operations into a much bigger venue on Yongkang Lu, and the early returns are promising.
The new Sushi’O is a full-fledged restaurant ... Read More
Robatayaki Ryunosuke celebrates fire with its two sweating, red-faced chefs hunched over charcoal grills, ready to grab skewers at the right moment while their colleagues (and you) watch them. This tableau of drama—the dragon-breath plumes from industrial butane torches, the chefs balancing, delivering food and ice-cold beers (Asahi or ... Read More
When Vedas was open in its gorgeous old location just off Jianguo Lu, it was one of our favorite places for Indian. It’s moved now, but thankfully, we enjoy the food as much as ever. The décor has kept its luxurious maharaja feel in a new spot across the ... Read More
We were fans of Luneta’s Filipino cuisine when they were located on Julu Lu. So after they shuttered that shop, we were happy to hear that it was a relocation and not a full closing. The bad news is that they are now in a mall on Sichuan Lu ... Read More
Tucked away on Ronghua Xi Dao, this restaurant is one of Dianping’s most popular Japanese spots and caters largely to area’s business clientele who drop in for a sip of sake (RMB50 for small bottle, RMB500-700 for large) to entertain clients.
Westerners who stumble upon the obscure location ... Read More
When you first walk into the vast, empty cavern that is currently the Bund 22 building, it’s impossible not to fear the worst—that Willy has sold out for a few extra bucks. Fortunately, that’s not true in the least.
Where Willy’s old mansion was a grown-up ... Read More
Oozing luxury, this recently renovated spot has the five-star ambiance and high-end service of a seriously swanky Italian restaurant. Issimo is still working on one thing: phenomenal food. Perched over Nanjing Dong Lu, with more designer furniture than Design Republic and recently helmed by Michelin-star chef Stefano Pace, our expectations ... Read More
At the former KIN Café, the pork dishes were the highlights, so it is exciting that the revamped spot’s new focus is squarely on the swine with a pronounced Vietnamese influence. They’ve kept the original spot’s casual feel and a small selection from the old menu, but ... Read More
Tycoon’s interior is easily Shanghai’s most garish. Given the small windows and copious use of mirrored surfaces, it’s almost like dining in the first class section of one of Snoop Dogg’s Soul Planes. Still, Tycoon’s lovely service and Hong Kong diner-inspired menu make it quite ... Read More
This restaurant proves that if you want truly authentic international cuisine, you have to pay the price. Duo Le Fang serves up great Korean fare that’s a refreshing departure from the hum-drum Korean barbecue and bibimbap options in the city, but the trade-off is you might be pulling your ... Read More
Kota’s Kitchen is one of those “hidden secrets” that’s not really all that hidden anymore. But its food remains solid, and its second venue on Yongjia Lu gives diners more of the same: great, affordable fare with Beatles tunes playing 24 / 7.
The menu is the same here ... Read More
Organ, the Japanese café on Xinye Lu, recently closed up shop, changed its name to Trip and relocated to the old Ohana spot on Hongmei Lu. We voyaged out to the new location and were happy to discover that the legendary food and service of Organ still lives on.
The ... Read More
Adherents to a diet rich in whole grains struggle in Shanghai with white rice, dumplings and white pasta taking up the majority of the city’s menus. Thankfully, the large Japanese population makes life easier with soba (buckwheat) being one of their healthiest options. That’s not to say it ... Read More
The menu at the Soup Expert is huge and bound into two booklets, but you’ll find it full of polished, homestyle Cantonese fare. The only downside is that it takes some effort to ignore the ostentatious glinting chandeliers and bright sateen tablecloths.
We immediately went for the double boiled ... Read More
Its menu has just been revamped and reduced in scope (it was a little scatterbrained before), but Fossette still provides decent dishes and hearty portions with enough variety to suit a big party with diverse tastes.
We started with a chicken Caesar (RMB56), which was large, though like a pall-bearer ... Read More
Shoga, formerly know as Daojianghu, is the Japanese izakaya member of the Ginger restaurant group and, like Ginger, you leave feeling good about what you ate.
There’s a spa-like quality to the MSG-free menu enhanced by the lounge music and the limited number of patrons (at least on our ... Read More
Tucked down one of Jing’an Villas’ excruciatingly quaint alleys, Vale has been serving up Italian food under the radar for a while now. We went along to find that if you can stay awake long enough for the food to arrive, their simple menu has a lot to offer ... Read More
Souper Fresh on Hongmei Lu is a schlep from downtown, but once you take it all in–comfy chairs, alluring dessert case and rainbow of a salad bar–the trek fades into memory, replaced by hunger. You’re at Shanghai’s best salad bar.
The casual, American-style eatery is all ... Read More
Le Bouchon is not particularly trendy or contemporary. It just serves good quality traditional French fare in a casual, quirky setting, and that is why it has survived Shanghai’s rugged F&B scene for the past 13 years.
Correctly anticipating generous servings, we ordered two starters and one main ... Read More
One of these lovely summer nights, make it over to El Patio to sit out on one of their terraces–they’re great for both date nights or dinner with friends. We strolled over around noon to catch their lunch special–a small but decent selection of starters, mains and ... Read More
Century Park is not typically the first place that comes to mind when we’re thinking of dining options. But on our way to Ganlanba from the Metro we saw more than a few places we would like to try, and the food at Ganlanba itself is definitely worth the ... Read More
Bubba’s is just about to celebrate its fifth birthday, quite a feat in a fickle city like Shanghai. We recently went back to check up on the barbecue joint / Texas-themed sports bar, and we’re happy to say that things haven’t changed a bit. Bubba’s is still ... Read More
Le Petit Saleya is the newest dining venture from the people behind Le Saleya, and the casual, bistro-style eatery offers an abbreviated version of the original location’s reasonably priced southern French menu. The starters all come at RMB48, while the mains are RMB62 and desserts are RMB38. Add a ... Read More
Organ is an excellent café with Japanese leanings. It’s two stories, but the first smells and looks like a fish and chip shop. So go up a floor, where friendly staff greet you in Japanese, with a hint of surprise that you actually found the place. The second floor ... Read More
Having just turned 10, Isola Bella is one of Shanghai’s oldest Italian restaurants. So we took a stroll to the back of Huaihai Lu’s lane 864 to check back up on it and found that, after all these years, it still has 100 percent Italian blood coursing through ... Read More