June, 2011 | Sugared & Spiced

2011/06/282015/08/31

[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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2011/06/282015/09/24

[Shanghai] Jean Georges (2)

restaurant

Jean Georges

Add: 4/F, Three on the Bund, 17 Guangdong Lu 广东路17号, 外滩三号4楼
Tel: 6321 7733
Hours: [Lunch] 11:30am~2:30pm [Dinner] 6pm~11pm
Website: www.threeonthebund.com
Price: [lunch] 218 RMB + 10% [dinner] 500~700 RMB/person
Visited: Jun 2011 (visit 1, 3)

Please note that this was an arranged tasting.

With a menu featuring Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s classic lineup and a spectacular vista of the illuminated Lujiazui right outside the window, it’s no wonder that Jean Georges remains one of the most highly regarded restaurants in Shanghai after so many years of opening. But…

…but I really shouldn’t have eaten so much that evening. 15 dishes, that’s how many dishes I tasted that evening, and that doesn’t even include the amuse bouche and complimentary chocolates and marshmallows at the end. It’s not so much the quantity that troubled me – I’m quite proud of my stomach space – but the thought of having to describe so many dishes in one post became so daunting that in retrospect, I wish I hadn’t stole food off each and every one of my companions’ plates.

But what is done is done. Let’s take a look what flowed through our table. The 7-course Jean Georges Menu (998 RMB + 10%) began elegantly with Egg Caviar, a signature dish that graces the cover of Jean-Georges’ “Simple to Spectacular” cookbook. A fluffy, lightly scrambled egg topped with whipped cream and a generous dollop of caviar, this was one of my top three favorite dishes of the evening.

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2011/06/242015/08/31

[Shanghai] Café Dan (2)

restaurant

Café Dan

Add: No. 41, Lane 248 Taikang Lu (near Sinan Lu) / 泰康路248弄田子坊41号后门 (近思南路)
Tel: 6466 1042
Hours: 10:30am-10pm
Price: 100~150 RMB/person
Website: www.idancoffee.com
Visited: Jun 2011

Last weekend I took some out-of-town friends to Café Dan, one of my natural go-to spots in Shanghai. This unpretentious little cafe serves up luxurious iced latte and Japanese comfort food that rarely disappoint. See my previous post for detailed introduction and more pictures.

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2011/06/222015/09/24

[Shanghai] Sushi Oyama 大山鮨 (2)

restaurant

Sushi Oyama 大山鮨

Add: 2/F, 20 Donghu Lu, near Huaihai Lu 東湖路20號2樓, 近淮海路
Tel: 5404 7705
Hours: 6:30pm-10:30pm (closed Sunday)
Price: 800 RMB/person, drinks extra
Visited: Jun 2011

Once in a while I eat a meal so perfect that I can’t help but grin from ear to ear until long after the meal has finished. Such was the case after my dinner at Sushi Oyama, an omakase Japanese restaurant with menu that changes nightly. It’s a small but elegant place. The decor is simple, the air is filled with light-hearted jazz, and the focal point of the room is an open sushi bar where Oyama-san and a couple of helpers slice, scorch, press, fold, and roll with determined confidence.

I’m charmed by Sushi Oyama beyond remedy.

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2011/06/222015/08/31

[Shanghai] Lei Garden 利苑

restaurant

Lei Garden 利苑

Add: IFC Pudong, 3/F, 8 Shiji Da Dao 世纪大道8号，国金IFC商场3楼
Tel: 5106 1688
Hours: 11:30pm-2:30pm, 5:30-9:30pm
Price: [lunch] 150~200 RMB/person [dinner] 200~300 RMB/person
Website: www.leigarden.hk
Visited: Jun 2011

Not in a mood to write much, but I finally had lunch at the famed Lei Garden and food was delicious as expected. Tips: make reservations at least a few days in advance and make sure you also reserve the 老火湯 (slow-stewed soup) when you call. Now on with the pictures.

Roasted Crispy Pork 冰燒三層肉，55RMB

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2011/06/202015/08/31

[Shanghai] Cha’s Restaurant 思南查餐厅

restaurant

Cha’s Restaurant 思南查餐厅

Add: 1/F, 30 Sinan Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu 思南路30号, 近淮海中路
Tel: 6093 2062
Hours: 11am-2am
Price: 50~70 RMB/person
Visited: Jun 2011

Cha’s Restaurant, a dedicated replica of Hong Kong’s 1950s cha cantings (Cantonese diners), has been wildly popular since it opened in July 2009. How popular? Well, there’s a queue all the time – at 11am, at 4pm, and at 10pm. As I’m not a big fan of either cha cantings or queues, I managed to ignore this place for almost 2 years. It wasn’t until very recently that I decided that it’s about time to find out what the big deal is with this place.

Note the long line already forming at the door, and this was only 11:15am.

Our waitress was impatient. Tapping her pen on her notepad as she waited for us to order, she was most definitely signaling the message: Ah you ignorant first-timers…chop chop! Do you not see the line forming outside the door? We need to turn tables here! Yes madam, some milk tea (13 RMB/hot, 15 RMB/iced) to get us started, please.

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2011/06/192015/08/31

[Shanghai] Cheers In!

other

Cheers In!

Add: 25 Yongkang Lu, near Jiashan Lu 永康路25号, 近嘉善路
Tel: 6418 8400
Hours: 9am-10pm
Website: www.cheers-in.com
Visited: Jun 2011

Just launched last month, Cheers In is a small but ambitious beer boutique that boasts more than 200 references from over 30 different countries. Beer lovers, read on.

On my visit, Cédric the “beer hunter” – one of the four French guys who started Cheers In – was at the store and introduced me to a number of very interesting beers. The Estrella Damm Inedit was a particularly memorable one. It’s developed by El Bulli’s sommeliers’ team in collaboration with other brewmasters, and is the first beer specifically created to accompany food. According to its website, Estrella Damm Inedit is “born from the conviction that a beer that could be paired with the utmost respect to the best cuisine was necessary.” Haute beer, if you will. You can read more about it here.

Cheers In also carries a few types of chocolate beer. CHOCOLATE beer!

I also really liked Duchesse de Bourgogne, a Flemish red ale with a characteristically sour fruity flavor. You can read more about this beer on the Cheers In blog.

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2011/06/182015/08/31

[Shanghai] Fu 1039 福 1039

restaurant

Fu 1039 福 1039

Add: 1039 Yuyuan Lu, near Jiangsu Lu 愚园路1039号, 近江苏路
Tel: 5237 1878
Hours: 10am-11pm
Price: 200~250 RMB/person (minimum spending 150 RMB/person)
Visited: Jun 2011

The creators of the Fu restaurants – Fu 1039, Fu 1088, and the latest Fu 1015 – have a penchant for refurbished old villas hidden in discreet alleys. Take Fu 1039 for an example. It’s tucked away in an unobtrusive lane on Yuyuan Lu, one that you would certainly miss if you weren’t specifically looking for Fu 1039. Once you enter the beautifully illuminated mansion, you’ll be greeted with an understated luxurious air that can only be experienced in one of these thoughtfully restored old Shanghai villas.

I personally prefer the first floor dining hall, which is more light-hearted with plenty of natural light. The 2nd and 3rd floor are more somber with dark furnishings and dim lighting, but those are also the floors where private dining rooms are located.

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2011/06/162015/08/31

[Shanghai] Spicy Moment

restaurant

Spicy Moment

Add: 71 Wuyuan Lu, near Changshu Lu 五原路71号, 近常熟路
Tel: 5403 0775
Hours: 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-12:30am
Price: 60~100 RMB/person
Visited: Jun 2011

Spicy Moment is a stylish little Hunan restaurant and bar that has recently sprouted on Wuyuan Lu. It fits squarely in its neighborhood of design stores, with 100% Design right across the street, and a few other similarly chic shops down the road. With a decor so unusual of a Hunan restaurant, would the food be authentic at all?

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2011/06/152015/10/07

[Shanghai] Cha & Living 春在中國

paris

Cha & Living 春在中國

Add: Rm 102, Building 1, 1107 Yuyuan Rd, near Jiangsu Rd / 愚园路1107号1号楼102室, 近江苏路
Tel: 5403 5268 / 3430 7266
Hours: 11am-9pm
Website: www.chunzaidesign.com
Price: [tea] 35~45 RMB [desserts] 35~45 RMB [sets] 60 RMB
Visited: Jun 2011

Cha & Living is a modern Chinese-style furniture designing company from Taiwan. Their Shanghai flagship store – filled with precious aged elm wood, thick sandalwood, bamboo, palm, lacquer – is an endeavor to integrate beautiful cultural items into everyday life. The thoughtfully composed space, a pleasure to look at from every angle, also functions as a tea house.

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