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cityweekend

Chow Down Like an Animal

If you've ever visited legendary Yunnan Province, you may find yourself occasionally dreaming of pan-fried goat's cheese slices or a steaming bowl of Over the Bridge Noodles. Fortunately, with this new addition to the Chinese dining scene, you needn't cross any mountains to get your fix. Located in a nondescript neighborhood off of Metro Line 1 near the North Railway Station, Southern Barbarian is worth the effort of finding. The food is, simply put, delicious and affordable. Our feast of Over the Bridge Noodles (¥15), grilled eggplant (¥12), a crispy potato pancake (¥15), wild mushrooms with pork (¥40) and salt and pepper fried Yunnan goat cheese (¥28) put us back less than ¥120. Bring an extra sweater as in winter the minimalist space gets a tad drafty, although a few rounds of Yunnan beer could equally do the trick. With an English menu packed with yummy di she s we didn't have room to try, we'll definitely be back for more. - Courtney Woo

 

lola

Best chicken wings in Shanghai! Fantastic food here -- their bbq is unbelievably tasty, especially the chicken wings and beef kebabs. Interesting dishes, including a delicious rosti-like potato pancake, and yummy wild mushroom hotpot. Definitely worth visiting!

1 year, 10 months ago

hfranchineau

Friendly place and great food You want to keep warm on a cold evening? Try the Southern Barbarian: the friendly owner will explain to you the various dishes, the atmosphere is very relaxed, and the playlist amazingly good. The food is surprisingly cheap (even the beer), considering its quality: try the roasted goat's cheese, the bbq beef, the fish, the rice cakes in chili oil, and the tender pork ribs... I will definitely come back!

1 year, 10 months ago

fatcow

great food, spot on review definitely worth finding. the food is terrific and the service, as mentioned above, is helpful and attentive. check out the cold eggplant starter... very nice, and the whole bbq'd fish is fantastic.

1 year, 9 months ago

ritashanghai

Environment lacking but good food. The eggplant was just soso but the mint salad incredible as was the beef sauteed with mint and chili and the salt and pepper goat's cheese. Prices reasonable and they don't try to gauge you....bring mosquito repellant though...

1 year, 2 months ago

fatcow

Yeah I agree, the new digs are a step down, a little too much of an industrial feel. And definitely bring the bug spray.

1 year, 2 months ago

lwjava

even though the new location is a bit rougher - the location is still much better and wonderful food & service hasn't changed!!!!! don't miss this shanghai favorite :)

1 year, 2 months ago

whendy

we wanted to visit the yunnan province, since we couldn't we checked out southern barbarian.

The owner was extremely helpful with suggesting dishes to try, and everything was great! We tried spicy yunnan roots (very unique and good), over the bridge noodles, fried goat cheese, and really tender chicken wings and pork rib skewers (honey marinade).

no problem with mosquitos for us! The location was warm and inviting, not to mention the owner's warmth and concern for his customers approval.

 

1 year ago

tallulah

1. Take a bunch of their barbecued selections, some of the fried shredded potatoes
2. Order whole lot of beer.
3. Enjoy with friends. Burp!

12 months ago

miss_ng_in_action

I just got the new Sherpa's menu and found that they deliver Southern Barbarian now! While the food is delicious in the restaurant, there's something special about being delievered amazing, spicy food to your doorstep when you're nursing a killer bout of sinus congestion. The chicken broth soup as just what the doctor ordered.

11 months, 3 weeks ago

mbe

The owner is great, and the imported beer list is well priced. Mojitos for 25rmb are another bonus. Salt and pepper goat cheese, potato pancake, pork fried with preserved cabbage in lettuce leaf (sp?), mint salad, stir fired seasonal veg, are all great. I like the grilled cold eggplant app but that met with mixed reviews at our table. Beef kebab was a bit tough but well seasoned, deep fried dumplings are not bad, I found the noodle bowls (not the crossing the bridge noodles, the other ones with all the fixings already included) a bit on the bland side but the texture of the rice noodles is great. A really fun place to come for drinks and good food and a fun menu to explore.

 

10 months, 3 weeks ago

jpr520

The food here is absolutely out of this world. Like nothing I've tasted before in Shanghai. The service is wonderful. The staff is knowledgeable. And the beer list superb to wash down that spicy Yunnan cuisine. I will go here again and again.

 

8 months, 3 weeks ago

mike007

Unfortunatly I can't agree with the previous writers. From the temperature point of view the place is like any other chinese restaurant. The BBQ ribs were hardly to find on the plate and dry, the (usually chicken) broth of the typical Yunnan Soups with glass noodles and so on tasted like nothing. Only the starters (Goat cheese and aubergine) were ok. Btw, prices are double as mentioned on this side.

8 months, 2 weeks ago

emta

Interesting, the only reason I'm not giving 4 starts is the atmosphere. It's so industrial - concrete walls, concrete floors almost no decorations at all. Big, somewhat uncomfortable chairs to sit in.

But the food is really quite good. The bbq skewered food was juicy and tasted great. We also had a mushroom dish that I thought was great, but my husband disagreed. The noodle soup we ordered had good flavor. They also have a really interesting selection of imported beers. Service is great, we had a very friendly, helpful waiter. The only real problem is the location, it just doesn't add much and doesn't make you want to stay. It's not comfortable or very inviting.

 

7 months ago

petelin

The BBQ is what you come here for. Chicken Wings and Fish were great. I would skip the Over The Bridge Noodles since you can get that anywhere. Mint salad was satisfyingly and surprisingly spicy. I'm definitely going back when the upstairs lounge opens next week.

 

6 months, 2 weeks ago

monyetputih

fantastic restaurant. beats lost heaven (which is already quite good) in terms of food and prices.

 

5 months ago

dontdrinkthewater

For a Saturday evening we found the restaurant very quiet, although the manager insisted that reservations were recommended, so we assumed that it get's busier later. The other diners were all under 30 and mostly couples, but tables were set for larger groups so this may not be typical of the clientele. The decoration is quite basic and with the large windows and concrete floors, I can see why it could be cold in the Winter. Most of the seating is standard high backed dining chairs, but there are a couple of tables with low tub style chairs, which are not ideal for eating (more suitable for bars, in my view).
The service was very efficient, with our order being taken promptly and drinks and food served quickly.
The cold Roasted Aubergine & Tomato and the Salt & Pepper Fried Yunnan Goats Cheese made for tasty appetisers and had a Mediterranean flavour/style (some crusty bread to soak up the sauce would have gone down a treat). The B'b'q Fish was spicy and easy to pick from the bones, the menu stated "market price" and on the final bill it was around 50rmb, which I considered to be good value. We also had Toothpick Chilli Beef (ok), ... Mushrooms with Peppers (tasty but expensive), and Street Noodles with pork (spicy broth). The drinks menu contains a larger than average number of beers, although we only sampled the Tsingtao. The food menu has certain house specials printed in bold letters, but I think the b'b'q dishes are their real speciality. I'm sure we will return to try more of both menus soon.

 

3 months, 3 weeks ago

gmcrop08

i dont rate this place at all...the decor is commented as industrial..well if dirty black walls and crappy photography is your thing fair enough...its not industrial in the slick sense like say shintori -its just bare. the toilets are offputting and seeing kitchen staff in there in apron and no handsoap is definately a bad sign.

food is spicy yes but i hate picking fat and bones off food. it was really just street food with a bit of attitude. not expensive so fair enough but not a destination restaurant either. lost heaven is a bit of a circus with its orientalia agogo and subservient staff but at least you get a good dining experience and feel like youve had a nice night out ( as my mum would probably say)

3 months, 3 weeks ago

southernbarbarian

Sorry you didn't enjoy your meal, gmcrop08. As we do authentic Yunnan food, some of our dishes do have bones -- particularly the barbeque -- but we can also recommend dishes without, if you ask.

On the question of toilets, I'm afraid you may have gone to the public toilets instead of our restaurant's private toilet (which does have soap!) And you probably saw kitchen staff from another restaurant, as our staff have their own toilet.

3 months, 3 weeks ago

aricsqueen

one of the best places in town - hands down.

anyone who disagrees is just hearing himself talk...about toilets, or paint or something.

more good Chinese with beer we like please!

 

3 months ago

epeter03

Great place with a friendly owner. Good simple eats that are quite satisfying washed down with the best beer selection in town. Fried Goat Cheese with Pea dip was very good. BBQ meat was great with just enough spice and heat.

 

1 month, 2 weeks ago

tristamarie

We'll Order 10

After finally navigating the maze of the art space that cloaks the location of this fantastic Yunnan restaurant, we found ourselves sitting comfortably by the window, trying to decide what to order. Everyone around the table shouted out their favorites--"Get the fried goat cheese! Ooh, and skewers"--but then came the real favorite. "The eggplant dish!" No doubt everyone else agreed. "Yes," replied a friend, "get like, 10 of those!" Ten of what you ask? A cold starter, and probably their most popular, the Charcoal Grilled Aubergine with tomato and chili (RMB18). Picture a full eggplant, roasted till it's so soft you can scoop up a spoonful in one swoop, then layered with a delicious diced tomato and chili salsa. This dish is so addictive you'll order two, and then two more washed down with a raspberry beer.

 

2 weeks, 3 days ago

artlabor

ART LABOR loves Southern barbarian. Who gives a toss what the place looks like. I like a place that doesn't need to have typical Shanghai lounge look designed by Scandinavians, Italians, Singaporeans, the 3 default design styles of every single place. Yeah the bathrooms are confusing, but thatis something the place can sort out. The food is great and cheap, as are the beers, and hey someone actually bothered to import some decent beers - why does no other place in town do this if SB can?? Even the so-called British Pub doesn't bother. It is good its not a "Destination resto" as every poseur dullard in this town would be there paying 300 kuai for appetizers and 80 kuai for beers... this is what China should be about, good food at decent prices, good service - smart and no nonsense but still friendly - more power to you guys.

1 week, 3 days ago

tickettoafrica

Ate there last night with my husband and daughter. Very strange location but whatever, food more than makes up for it. Spicy mint salad was a little too salty (still good) and the cold peanut noodles were just ok, but everything else was fabulous. Owner was friendly, service was good. We will be going back.

 

4 days, 19 hours ago