[Shanghai] Cafe & Deli Natural

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[Shanghai] Cafe & Deli Natural

Cafe & Deli Natural

Add: 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-Sat] 11:30am-midnight
Price: [lunch] 55 RMB [desserts] 25~50 RMB [dinner] 120~180 RMB
Visited: Nov 2011

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.

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.

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[Shanghai] Colabo

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[Shanghai] Colabo

Colabo

Add: 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: 11am-11pm
Website: colabo.cn
Price: [lunch] 60~130 RMB/person [dinner] 150~250 RMB/person
Visited: Jun 2011

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-hearted and delightful. They don’t take reservations for lunch on weekends, so come before noon or expect to wait outside.

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. In total, the price should be somewhere between 60~130 RMB, unless you order a la carte dishes from the dinner menu.

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.

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.

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[Shanghai] Big Apple

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[Shanghai] Big Apple

Big Apple

Add: No. 103, Bldg 6, Golden Lion Garden, Lane 99 Ronghua Xi Dao / 榮華西道99弄金獅花苑5號樓103室
Tel: 62193803
Price: 50 RMB/person
Visited: Aug 2010

If you happen to be in Gubei area, Big Apple is a small Japanese restaurant with excellent ハンバーグ (hamburger patties served without the bun) that you must try. My favorites are the cheese hamburger patty and the Japanese-style hamburger patty. Tender, juicy, full of flavors!

I usually order the set, which comes with soup (vegetable or cream of corn), salad, the hamburger steak, a choice of rice and bread, and a dessert (ice-cream or pudding). Other than the hamburger steak, everything else in the set aren’t really all that great, but they make a nice meal altogether.

Japanese-style hamburger steak (50 RMB with set).

Hamburger steak with egg (50 RMB with set).

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