Laifu Hotpot at Fuxing Rd/ Huaihai Rd

In the dead of winter, what's better than rounding up a group of friends and heading for a delicious hotpot dinner? Laifu is a reliable place in the French Concession that is not outrageously expensive. We spent about $80RMB/person, including a couple beers. The decor is more elegant than your typical hotpot restaurant and the atmosphere is pretty cozy and relatively quiet. You can order the usual "Yuan Yang" 鸳鸯锅 with with the pot divided into 2 halves, holding 2 kinds of soup base. I like the light bone-stewed broth + spicy oil soup base combo, but you can also order a variety of other types of soup base, such as Chinese-style sauerkraut fish. There are also a dozen or so DIY dip sauces that you can mix to your liking -- this is definitely something you can't really prepare at home. For the more adventurous ones, try the curdled duck blood - it tastes perfect in the spicy oil! Other noted dishes include small egg dumplings with fish paste filling 婆婆蛋角, "bai ye"百叶包 tofu packages, and special beef 秘制牛肉. There's another location near Hengshan Rd.

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Hairy crab 大闸蟹 season is here!

I've never been a fan of crabs-- the labor that goes into digging and cracking is usually much more than the satisfaction I get out of chewing on the small chunks and thin threads of crab meat. This year, however, I've finally begun to appreciate what so many Shanghainese and Hongkies have taken for granted, the exquisite taste of hairy crabs.

I began this season of crab eating at my generous friend Jimmy's house. We each had a pair of male and female crabs. You don't really have to get crabs from YangCheng Lake 阳澄湖, since they are more expensive and you can never be sure they're the authentic ones. Crabs from Tai Lake 太湖 and KunShan 昆山 will do just fine, as long as you pick the alive and kicking ones. Fall and early winter are the perfect time to eat crabs, and it's recommended that you eat the male ones earlier on in the season and move on to the female ones as they grow fuller in size and flavor later in the season. The major difference is the yellow/orange stuff under the crab shell 膏黄 - the male ones are more gooey and the female ones are solid (uh, sperm and eggs?? just eat it! these are the best parts of hairy crabs, albeit super-rich in cholesterol...). The simplest way to cook the crabs is to steam or boil them. Before cooking them, you should put the crabs in fresh water for awhile to get any dirty stuff out of them.

Crab eating tests both your skill and patience. Jimmy, whose ex-girlfriend was Shanghainese, taught us some tips on eating the crabs. For example, you should take out the crab heart, a tiny white hexagonal thing from the crab chest because that's the "coldest" part of the crab. Crabs are considered "cold" in Chinese medicine, and you should drink some yellow rice wine like Shaoxing 绍兴酒 or HuaDiao 花雕酒 while eating the crabs. You can also dip crab meat in a vinegar and ginger mixture to both disinfect the meat and counter the meat's "coldness."

A week after the feast at Jimmy's, my local friend Diego took me to a crab restaurant on Julu Rd near Ruijing Rd called JingYuanXieWang 金缘蟹王. We got a table on the curb side because all the tables inside were reserved already. The crabs are from Tai Lake, but tasted just as nice. We had warm coke with ginger after the meal to warm our stomachs.

Now I'm pretty obsessed about eating crabs, so I'm thinking about throwing my own crab cook-out party in the few next week... yum~

   

Kevin's Thai Food Station

Tucked deep in a narrow alleyway on ChangLe Rd near Urumuqi Rd across from the Center, you'd miss this restaurant if it isn't for the big light box at the alleyway entrance. I can't help but also notice there's a condom dispenser next to the sign...hmm. The restaurant is in one of the old houses with a nice yard. The food is decent but not remarkable. At night it does make a quiet dinner date place. They also do take out delivery, so if you want some Thai in the area, it's a pretty good choice.

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Diage restaurant/lounge/boutique - hidden Spanish villa with haute design

I stumbled upon this beautiful house last year at night when walking on DongHu Rd. The place is tucked in an alleyway next to the hairsalon, so they lit candles along the cracks in the wall, creating a glowing trail into the house and front garden. Just inside the house, there's a cigar lounge area with comfy black leather sofa. Further in, there 2 dining areas with a bar that's converted from the original fireplace. Upstairs there's a small gallery and a boutique shop with cutting edge designer fashion from Japan and Europe. The Japanese owner took great care to restore the house with period antiques and decorative elements. There never seems to be many people there so I worry about their survival. They have good-value lunch and afternoon set deals, starting at $30 something. The food is delicate but I'd go there just for the ambiance. Behind Diage toward the back of the house, a little shop called Ushigokoro has opened up. This peculiar shop is also Japanese owned (same owner as Diage?) and offer little cubicles for rent to anyone who wants the space for display. Many of the cubicles are occupied already, which a range of handmade jewelry, bags, art pieces, clothing, etc. They have recently held a flea market also.

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Guyi Hunan Restaurant

The first time I went to Guyi was with my American ex-boss and his Chinese girlfriend. Because I have relatively low tolerance for spicy food, they were nice enough to order some non-spicy dishes. I especially liked their pumpkin and baihe cold appetizer, and the steamed frog legs in bamboo casing. Then there's my boss' favorite salt'n pepper ribs, which were tasty but on the salty side. They are also decent on the spicy chicken dry pot. This place is wildly popular with foreigners because the food is pretty good and more importantly they have the menu in English and Japanese with pictures of delicious-looking dishes. If you're planning to go, make sure you call ahead and get your reservation. Otherwise, long line awaits.  A cheaper alternative  to Guyi is DiShuiDong on Maoming Rd near ChangLe Rd.

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Charmant 小城故事 - better Taiwanese restaurant than Bellagio

I just went there 3 times within the same week recently, because one of my friends visiting was vegetarian. Charmant is not a vegetarian place but does a wonderful job cooking up not only leafy veggies, but also tomato-tofu-egg soup, vegetarian 3-cup chicken (which is actually a bean curd variation), and vegetarian vermicelli. They also do a great job on the meat dishes, such as the popular kung pao chicken, hui-guo-rou (bacon with leeks), shi-zi-tou (lion's head). For those who have lived in Taiwan, you can also get your dose of pearl milk iced tea (pearls are thoroughly cooked and chewy), lu-rou-fan (minced pork sauce over rice), bitter mellon with salty egg.  They do leave out the MSG and put in less oil upon request.  For dessert, my favorite is the old fashion black sugar shaved ice, which has a bit of pearls, another type of chewy jello, mung beans, and other yummy toppings.  Their shaved ice beats Bellagio's hands down.

Another pleasant thing about Charmant is that they really spend time on putting in beautiful flowers and plants. Their own staff go out the Caojiadu flower market daily to pick up fresh flowers and arrange them themselves. Their service and staff training is also very good, thanks to the Taiwanese management ;-) Charmant has a 2nd location in Zhang Jiang Hi-Tech park in PuDong.

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Velvet Lounge and Casanova

This stylish, ambient pair of lounge and Italian restaurant is located in a little house on Julu Rd, around the corner from HuaShan Rd.  Unlike the row of seedy bars next door targeting traveling business men, Velvet and Casanova are frequented by local residents.  Velvet is a relaxing hideout with great music and reasonably priced cocktails, perfect for an intimate week-night date.  Upstairs at Casanova,  you can get a nice multi-course Italian meal.  A lot of people like their thin-crust pizzas, which you can also order from Velvet.  I also like their Caesar salad and breads.  This place is definitely not one of those big productions on the Bund, but it's nice to have some place like this in the neighborhood.

Arugula Cafe - sunny old house cafe with comfy couches

Arugula is one of the dependable "brunch circuit" cafes that we go to frequently. The simple menu is nothing spectacular but the food has a consistent quality. The best thing about the 3-story cafe is the comfy couches on the 2nd floor. It's great for a weekend afternoon hangout or reading. They do have this one bad habit of telling you that fa piao has run out. One time I was so upset that I made them give me a $1000 fa piao to make up for all those times they "ran out."

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Amokka - another old house style cafe

I found Amokka on the way to the traditional market. It sits on the quiet stretch of Anfu Rd between Urumuqi and Wukang Rd near Shanghai Dramatic Center. It's a 2-story house with a big open space on the 2nd floor. The furnitures have a modern designer look. The menu is a standard fare of sandwiches, pastas, burgers, etc. The pricing is average for western meals, with business lunch sets around $50 and higher for meat dishes. The breakfast/brunch goes for $28 but doesn't include a drink. I like the baguette sandwich with bacon and eggs, with a small side of salad (although I made an equally yummy sandwich myself with baguette I bought down the street at Feidan the next day). The cafe is not yet that popular so you can enjoy a bit of peace and quiet. While I feel grateful that so many nice looking old houses are getting converted into cafes, something is amiss -- maybe it's personality??

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Enoteca Wine Bar - sensational wine, food and crowd

When new shops started cropping up behind the Center, I was a bit doubtful of their qualities. And wine bar definitely sounded a bit snooty, knowing the wines are typically marked by quite a bit. Enoteca turned out to be a star -- people hang around until late in the evening because the atmosphere is so inviting. Last time we went on a Wed, and the place was packed at 10pm. The shop has a bar area, a dining area, and a tasting room, which can also serve as a auxiliary dining area. The wines are ordered by the bottles (as opposed to the expected by-the-glass arrangement in wine bars) because you can get a bottle for as low as $89RMB. I'm not an expert in wines, but I liked what I tasted (tried the Rose Chardonnay, and Bordeaux). They also have some of the best meat and cheese selections I've tried in Shanghai (much better than Franck's and less expensive). Since they don't serve real dinner type dishes, we pretty much ordered every tapas on the menu. Have to say every one of them was yummy. They also have a brunch menu, and I want to try it out soon.

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Jamaica Blue coffee - alternative to Starbucks

This Australian chain is among the many foreign contenders for the espresso market. Since I'm always in favor of the minority shops, I try to go here and Coffee Beans over Starbucks. Their drinks are made better than Starbucks in my opinion. They use the "green label" type of milk that ordinary consumers cannot get their hands on. One time I asked the barista if I could buy their milk, and instead, he taught me how to make perfect frothing with your regular Bright Light milk (blue carton kind which tends to puff up too much when you try to froth). The trick is to heat up the milk a bit (but not burning it), put it in the frig for a couple minutes to cool down, and then froth it. I tried it and was happy with the results.

Anyhow, my point is that Jamaica Blue is holding its own in this competitive markets, and they just need to have more locations to compete with the bigger guys...

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iiit cafe - salads and sandwiches with mediterranean flavors

This is a express cafe franchise created by my friend Kelley Lee before she opened the City Diner. When I first found out that this cafe is just down the street from me, I was really excited. I really liked the energetic orange logo and the creative name. However I'd have say the price is on the high side, probably because it's paying substantial amounts of rent to the Summit and there's less foot traffic. I'd make it a everyday visit if the prices were cheaper by 1/3. Also, the cafe can pay more attention to the food itself. The forte of iiit should be its panini sandwiches, but some of the fillings like eggplants, bellpeppers can taste pretty bland. Given these are pre-made, it shouldn't be too hard to check on the flavoring ahead of time. The Jamica Blue cafe across the street has been stealing iiit's customers since it opened last year, even though their food selection is more limited. I feel iiit can definitely do better on the food side while keeping the prices lower.

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A Future Perfect - little gem in a retro alleyway

aFP, as it's known, was one of the first brunch cafes I discovered in Shanghai. It's tucked in deep in an alley that's literally a stone's throw away behind my apartment, but unfortunately, all the passageways between us are blocked off so I still have to go around to Huashan Rd to enter. The cafe is connected to the cute little Old House Inn (which I wish I own) and serves that guests there breakfast. The owner had built a greenhouse type room with AC in the front part of the yard, while the back part is open-air seating. The inside of the cafe is pretty small with 2 chambers with progressive furnitures like corrugated cardboard chairs and ultra-thin water glasses.

The cafe is coming up 2 years old and now there's a smaller crowd given there are many many more places that opened during this time, but it's still a respectable place with style. Their menus are colorful with curious names for the dishes. I like to go there for breakfast/brunch, where you can get the likes of scrambles, spinach, mash potatoes, etc. For dinners, you have a good selection of salads, soups, pastas, meats, and seafood. The dishes all have great presentations but sometime could be too salty. They use local meat for steaks, which is fine, but it tasted just so-so last time we ordered. The dinner portions are definitely big, and I always have leftovers to take home.

This cafe definitely has the ambience and I like to take visitors there. However, I wish they can throw in some twists once in awhile (even some re-decoration) so repeat diners can be pleasantly surprised. Also, like with every restaurant, aFP needs to make sure trainee chefs are fully up to snuff before letting them take the helm or risk tarnishing its reputation.

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Coconut Paradise - safe Thai, great courtyard seating

Coconut is definitely a date type of dinner place. Located on Fumin Rd near Yan'An Expressway, it has a big yard with a water pond (you walk over it as you enter), nice shady trees, and great lighting over intimate tables. The good looking house itself has 2-story and is decorated with dark wood and south east Asia artworks.

The food is standard fare Thai, and you can pretty find all the familar dishes on the menu. On average, the food tastes pretty good, but nothing stands out. I like the shrimp cakes and pineapple fried rice. The spicy dishes can be very spicy with the fresh chili pepper seeds mixed in. The price is mid-upper range but good value for the ambience.

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Shintori - cool, loungy Japanese

Located a few doors down from People 7 and Nepali Kitchen, the resturant is hidden in a narrow alleyway with little lights on the ground. Inside, it's a huge, industrial feeling loft space. The sushi bar/open kitchen is on the first floor, while tables are sparsely placed on the first and 2nd floor. The dishes needless to say are on the pricey side. But with the kind of cool food presentation and atmosphere in there, you wouldn't mind. Oh, like in People 7, don't forget to check out the bathrooms.

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People 7 - contemporary Chinese with an open sesame door

Tucked away on Julu Rd near Fumin Rd on the 2nd floor, it's very hard to notice People 7 unless you really look for it. To get in the door, you need to figure out the passcode for it. The 2nd floor is the bar/lounge area, and upstairs is the restaurant. The decor is industrial 'shi-shi' modern Chinese. It has a sister location People 6 (Yueyang Rd and Yongjia Rd) and is by the same owner as Shintori, a very cool Japanese restaurant. The food is delicate and comes in small portion so go there if you're not starving. Don't forget to check out the bathrooms (if you can figure out how to get in there) ;-p

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BaoLuo 保罗酒家 - old Shanghainese favorite

Some cab driver told me BaoLuo was a little restaurant started by this bicycle shop owner a few decades ago and now it's still has the same small house but has taken over a much bigger building behind (you can only see that when you go into the backside).  This is where the old Shanghainese families would congregate starting at 5pm for dinner.  You can only reserve seats for 6pm or earlier seating; otherwise, you'll have to wait out front just like 30 other people. 

The dishes are classic Shanghainese "ben-bang", which means the flavoring is sweet with dark soysauce coloring.  You should try their crystal shrimp w/ vinegar, fried bao (sheng jian bao), the "swiss" steak, and also the various cold appetizers like lotus root stuffed w/ sticky rice, string beans w/ scalion.  They also have some seasonal and new dishes they invent.  The servings are pretty big so it's better to go with a group of 4 or more.

 The quality has gone down a bit since I first went there but it's still a popular local establishment to go experience.  By the way, if you don't need "fa piao", you can ask them to give you discount on the bill amount.

BiFengTang - Cantonese dim sum and late night snack

One of the biggest tea cafe chains in Shanghai. There's is also another chain by the same Chinese name by you can tell them apart from the English (the other one is called Be For Time). The "BiFengTang" 避风塘 seems to be the original one. One is on Nanjing Rd and corner of TongRen Rd, and the other is on ChangShu Rd before hitting ChangLe Rd. You can pretty much order most of the popular dim sum items, along with fried rice and noodles. Their sweet pork buns are very good (they also sell packaged frozen dim sum items in supermarkets). The one on Nanjing Rd has a nice sidewalk seating with window shields.

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Element Fresh Cafe

One of the first cafe chains aiming at providing health, light fares. They have a good selection of juices and smoothies (with those boosters that Jamba Juice lovers are so familiar with). They also have wifi internet and bright interior so you can actually do some work there. Both the Shanghai Centre and KaWah Center (on DongHu Rd near HuaiHai Rd) locations have outdoor seating. My complaint would be that the food has become somewhat bland, and the prices are getting higher. I go there once in while for the bright space. The new Paul Bakery Cafe is right next to its Shanghai Centre location.

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Azul Viva brunch - walk away stuffed and happy

I've alway thought of Azul Viva as a night place serving tapas and the lighting would be too dark for brunch, when you want either outdoor seating or lots of skylights. I finally went there last Sat. and boy, the food more than made up for the lack of lighting! This is place that's determined to feed even the biggest eaters. For $120 or $150RMB, you can choose 2 or 3 courses from their extensive brunch menu. Included in the set, you get juice, sangria, or mimosa, AND coffee/tea, as well as a scone AND a muffin; you're half full before the dishes even arrive. For appetizers, we got the Italian antipasti plate and the spinach salad, which were both very tasty. The antipasti was $80 and the only appetizer that you need to pay an additional $15 for. For main dish, we had a veal steak and fries (also for $15 extra), smoked chicken sandwich, and the "best scramble you'll ever have." The pleasant surprise was the medium-cooked steak, which was tender and juicy. I have stopped ordering steaks at brunches because they are usually rubbery. Simple salt and pepper flavoring was all that the meat needed. The scramble came with spinach, asparagus, and baked tomato and was indeed pretty good, but I had little stomach space left frow chowing down the muffin/scone/bread that came with the antipasti. The ciabatta for the chicken sandwich was a bit too crumbly and could be a bit more chewy. We finished the meal with a rice pudding, in which the rice was slightly undercooked, but the vanilla/cinnamon flavoring was superb.

Many restaurants start off serving nice food but then deteriorate as the original chefs get replaced with apprentices and service get sloppy (this tend to happen when the owners open their 2nd/3rd locations). Kudos to Azul Viva as one of the older establishments for upholding quality. I'll definitely be coming back more often.

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