Archive for the ‘gubei’ Category
[SHANGHAI] Maekawa 前川
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Maekawa 前川
Add: 4/F, 1157 Hongqiao Lu, near Yaohong Lu / 虹桥路1157号4楼，近姚虹路
Tel: 6270 6107
Hours: 5:30pm~12am
Price: [sets] 600~1000 RMB, [a la carte] 300~600+ RMB/person
Visited on: 2012-07
If you are craving top quality nigiri sushi for dinner but want something lighter than a full-on Sushi Oyama-type of meal, try Maekawa. This understated sushi bar doesn’t have much superfluous flair to it, it simply serves very, very good fish.
Bar seats, always go for the bar seats, but yes tables and private rooms are also available.
Complimentary appetizer.
Maekawa offers kaiseki sets that range from 600 to 1000 RMB, but we were in the mood for nigiri sushi only and decided to order by the piece. The meal started with Hiramasa 平政 (90 RMB/pc), a type of yellowtail that’s regarded by the Japanese as one of the finest sashimi fish. Its pale pink flesh is firm, sweet, and rich with a higher fat content compared to the other yellowtails. What a luxurious mouthful! I almost want to say that I like this more than tuna belly.
[SHANGHAI] Souper Fresh Gubei Branch
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Souper Fresh
Address: 99 Rong Hua West Road Bldg.4 #101 / 荣华西道99弄4号101室
Tel: 3250 8277
Hours: 11:00am~9:00pm
Website: www.souperfresh.com
Price: 58 RMB/person
After much ado, the Gubei branch of Souper Fresh is finally now in operation. I gave it a try this week – didn’t take any pictures, but it’s basically the same deal as its original Hongmei outlet. For 58RMB, you get a buffet of greens, vegetables, dressings, and toppings like nuts, tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, croutons, coleslaw, egg salad, potato salad, pasta salad, etc., etc., etc. Also included in the buffet are a selection of breads, soups and hot dishes (pizza pasta and the likes). Drinks and desserts are not included in the 58RMB, but are all reasonably priced.
How’s the quality? Same as last time: soups are a bit runny, and the hot dishes are not very impressive, but just the greens and vegetables and toppings and potato salads and breads and hummus already justify the 58RMB price tag. 38 RMB a la carte option (one huge plate) is also available. Click here to see my review on the Hongmei branch and here for their online menu.
[SHANGHAI] Cafe & Deli Natural
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Cafe & Deli Natural
Address: Room 101, No. 2, Lane 99 Ronghua East Rd, near Shuicheng Rd
. 荣华西道99弄金马公寓2号101室，近水城南路
Tel: 6219 9115
Hours: [Sun-Thu] 11:30am~10:30pm; [Fri-Sat0 11:30am~midnight
Price: [lunch] 55 RMB, [desserts] 25~50 RMB, [dinner] 120~180 RMB
Discovered another cozy cafe in Gubei. Polished wooden tables, leather sofa, eclectic knickknacks, warm palettes of brown and cream. What they serve – light and healthy Japanese comfort dishes, and a decent cup of coffee.
Cafe & Deli Natural
Cafe & Deli Natural
Warm and cozy interior
There are several lunch sets at Cafe & Deli Natural, all priced at 55 RMB. LOCO MOCO Hamburger Plate (55 RMB) came with a burger patty, a scoop of white rice, an over easy egg, tomato soup, and potato salad. The sizable beef patty was nicely done, though not as amazing as those at Big Apple.
[SHANGHAI] Trip
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Trip
Address: 1F, No. 4 Lane 3911, Hongmei Road / 虹梅路3911弄SOHO3911 4号别墅1楼
Hours: [Mon-Fri] 11:00am~12:00am, [Sat-Sun] 11:00am~2:00am
Website: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/trip3911
Price: [lunch] 40~50 RMB, [desserts] 25~35 RMB, [dinner] approx. 100 RMB
Organ, a cozy little Japanese cafe (one of my favorite places for a light lunch), has recently closed and reopened as Trip on Hongmei Road. The dishes are more or less the same, click here, here, and here to see pictures and descriptions from my previous reviews. Tofu burger, chicken nanban, black curry, soymilk chiffon cake, and honey toasts!
Trip
Trip
Trip
[SHANGHAI] Organ [3]
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Organ
Address: 66 Ziyunxi Lu, near Loushanguan Lu 紫云西路66号, 近娄山关路
Tel: 5206 5937
Hours: 11:30am~10:00pm
Website: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/organ0417
Price: [Lunch] 40~50 RMB [Cakes] 25~35 RMB
IMPORTANT NOTE: Organ has recently closed and reopened here.
You can tell from my first and second posts on Organ that this discreet little Japanese cafe is one of my favorite lunch spots near my office, so I was very sad to hear that they are moving to Hongmei Lu area in August. Where will I go for lunch from now on?
Organ, moving notice
As the new location is too far from my office, I know I need to seize my last chances to lunch at Organ before they move. So here I am!
New hand-drawn menu
The tofu burger (48 RMB), one of my favorite dishes at Organ, was a delight as always. The patty was soft and tender, perfect with the scoop of turgid, chewy mixed-grain rice served on the side. What made the dish spark was a mound of shiso leaves and a bit of grated turnips topping the tofu burger, each adding a refreshing layer of flavor.
[SHANGHAI] Colabo
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Colabo
Address: 3/F, Wanke Plaza, 37 Shuicheng Nan Lu, near Yan’an Xi Lu / 水城南路37号万科广场3楼, 近延安西路
Tel: 6295 2172
Hours: 11:00am-11:00pm
Website: colabo.cn/
Price: [Lunch] 60~130 RMB/person, [Dinner] 150~250 RMB/person
I can’t believe I haven’t already blogged about Colabo. This Japanese-run Italian restaurant (Gubei branch) serves one of my favorite lunch sets in Shanghai, and is my natural go-to place when I don’t have a particular restaurant in mind. It’s typically filled with Japanese families (this is Gubei, after all) and can get a bit rowdy with the kids, but overall the space is light-heartedly and delightful. They don’t take reservations for lunch on weekends, so come before 12:00pm or expect to wait outside.
Colabo interior
The lunch set at Colabo is either 60 RMB (appetizers + pizza/pasta) or 80 RMB (appetizers + pizza/past + desserts). Drinks are 15 RMB with the set, and a few specialty items (e.g. spaghetti with crab in tomato cream sauce and quattro fromage pizza) require additional RMB as well. In total, the price should be somewhere between 60~130 RMB, unless you order a la carte dishes from the dinner menu.
Appetizers
The daily changing appetizers are usually very well put together. Today’s selection consisted of duck meat pate with mustard sauce, marinated bell papers with anchovies, and broccoli calamari salad. Delicious stuff.
Appetizers
My favorite pasta at Colabo is spaghetti with crab in tomato cream sauce (+30 RMB), and most people would agree. Order it and you will not be disappointed.
[SHANGHAI] Souper Fresh
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Souper Fresh
Address: Hong Chun Building, No. 3213 Hongmei Road, near Chengjiaqiao road / 虹梅路3213号红春大厦1楼M店(程家桥支路口)
Tel: 3415 1677
Hours: 11:00am~9:00pm
Price: 58 RMB/person
Fed up with paying 85RMB for a Cobb Salad at Element Fresh? Try Souper Fresh. For 58RMB, you get a buffet of greens, vegetables, dressings, and toppings like nuts, tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, croutons, coleslaw, egg salad, potato salad, pasta salad, etc., etc., etc. Also included in the buffet are a selection of breads (corn muffins!), soups (my favorite being the carrot orange) and hot dishes (pizza pasta and the likes). Drinks and desserts are not included in the 58RMB, but are all reasonably priced and half-off when ordering with the buffet. Browse their full menu online.
My plate #1, with carrot orange soup
The greens
The vegetables
Dressings and toppings
Fruit salad and nuts, raisins, croutons
Hot dishes
Soups
How’s the quality? Some soups are a little runny, and the hot dishes are not very impressive, but just the greens and vegetables and toppings and potato salads and breads and hummus (hummus!) already more than justify the 58RMB price tag. They are starting up a second branch in Gubei soon, and supposedly will do a 50% off deal during its soft opening. Stay tuned!
Souper Fresh!
[SHANGHAI] Uo Kura 魚藏
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Uo Kura 魚藏 (Hong Mei store 虹梅店)
Address: No. 30, Lane 3717, Hongmei Lu, near Ya’an Xi Lu / 虹梅路3717弄30号, 近延安西路
Tel: 6446-0252
Hours: 5:30pm-11pm
Price: 500 RMB
I arrived at Uo Kura famished and flustered after a hectic Friday at work, and was counting on the food to brighten up my day. My expectations were justifiably high – Uo Kura is said to be on the same par as Sushi Oyama, my favorite Japanese restaurant in Shanghai. Hungry and eager, we made things simple by ordering two kaiseki sets (495 RMB) and complemented that with some a la carte dishes that looked particularly interesting.
Table setting
The set menu, 495 RMB
The set started with a pleasant chilled mushroom soup as the cold appetizer.
小菜：冷制香菇羹
Cold appetizer: chilled mushroom soup
Next came a pot of soup with duck meat ball and scallion, which was way too salty, but the tender duck meat balls were quite delightful.
溫菜：鴨丸京蔥土瓶蒸
Warm appetizer: soup with duck meat ball and scallion
The next appetizers were rather forgettable, and I was especially disappointed by the flavorless uni (sea urchin) topping the abalone jelly. The only thing memorable from this trio was a fragrant shiso miso that came with the scallops and winter bamboo shoots.
前菜三種：文蛤壽司，軟煮小鮑 烤海膽 松子奶油 鮑魚凍，冬筍扇貝配雞蛋味噌
Appetizers: clam sushi, abalone jelly with soft boiled abalone and pine nuts cream,
winter bamboo shoots with scallop and shiso miso
The sashimi set was small but satisfying, with the ama ebi (sweet shrimp) and otoro (fatty tuna belly) being the easy crowd pleasers as usual.
刺身 Sashimi
[SHANGHAI] Jade Garden 蘇浙匯
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Jade Garden 蘇浙匯
Address*: Building A, No. 2558 Yan’an West Road (near Shuicheng Lu) 延安西路2558号A楼 (近水城路)
Tel: 6278 9558
Hours: 11:00am~10:00pm
Price: 100~200 RMB/person
Jade Garden is most famous for its well-prepared 上海本幫菜 (Shanghainese cuisine), but few people know about the excellent dim sum served at its Gubei branch*. The decor is posh, the food is satisfying, and the round tables are conducive for group conversations – it’s an ideal weekend gathering place for a lively big family brunch. Reservations are highly recommended.
*Multiple locations available, check SmartShanghai or Dianping for details. I’ve only been to the Gubei branch so I can’t say much about the quality at other branches.
Entrance, rather posh
Interior
Appetizers
We started off with 沙姜霸王雞 (Simmer Grilled Chicken with Ginger) - tender and succulent, a must order.
Simmer Grilled Chicken with Ginger 沙姜霸王雞, 48 RMB for half a chicken
[SHANGHAI] Organ [2]
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Organ
Address: 66 Ziyunxi Lu, near Loushanguan Lu 紫云西路66号, 近娄山关路
Tel: 5206 5937
Hours: 11:30am~10:00pm
Website: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/organ0417
Price: [Lunch] 40~50 RMB [Cakes] 25~35 RMB
IMPORTANT NOTE: Organ has recently closed and reopened here.
I was absolutely enchanted by this cozy, unpretentious Japanese cafe during my last visit and knew I’d be back very soon. The same warm colors, the same eclectic decorations, the same soothing music on the background…despite the disturbances caused by a few kids running around, Organ is still a charming little oasis.
Organ 2nd floor
Cozy as usual
Here are more of Organ’s handmade menus. Just lovely.
Handmade menu
FYI, Organ is donating 5% of their earning to Japan’s earthquake relief effort.
Notice
There is an interesting looking dish called “jyaco-soboro” rice じゃこそぼろご飯 on the menu. Having no idea what this was, we ordered to find out. “Jyaco-soboro” turned out to be fish simmered in soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and ginger until the liquid is almost gone, so it was somewhat like furikake but much more moist. Combine that with bits of fried egg, pickles, shiso leaves, and a sprinkling of white sesame, it was the perfect topping to a bowl of steamy hot mixed grain rice.
“Jyaco-Soboro” Rice, 42 RMB
We also tried rolled cabbage ロールキャベツ, which is ground pork wrapped in cabbages leaves and cooked in consommé. The version at Organ is topped with demi-glace and served with a Japanese-style egg roll. Quite delicious, as far as I could tell from that one small bite I tried.
Today’s special: Cabbage Roll, 40 RMB
Cabbage roll closeup and Japanese-style egg roll
My favorite was the black curry with rice 黒カレーライス, which was like no other curry I’ve tasted before. The dark color came from black sesame and ひじき (hijiki, a brown seaweed), which gave the curry a wonderfully rich and unique flavor. The chunks you see in the pictures are gelatinous beef tendons, a delicious deviation from the usual beef or chicken used in curry. And yes, that is a raw egg topping the rice.
Black curry rice, 40 RMB
