[Shanghai] Lohasly / Nap Cafe

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[Shanghai] Lohasly / Nap Cafe

Lohasly / Nap Cafe

Add: Jiashan Market B208, 37 Alley 550 Shanxinan Lu / 陕西南路550弄37号嘉善坊B208室
Tel: 6426 0836
Hours: 10am-9pm
Website: www.nap-cafe.com
Price: 30~50RMB/coffee and tea
Visited: Jun 2011

This past weekend I discovered a hidden gem in Jiashan Market called Lohasly / Nap Cafe. It’s a store, it’s a cafe, it’s a studio. Take a look at the pictures and you’ll see why I’m in love with this cozy little spot.

First of all, Lohasly / Nap Cafe is a cafe. The menu is simple – there’s coffee, tea, and pies. We tried a pot of soothing Darjeeling (50 RMB), and the prompt refill of hot water kept us going the whole afternoon.


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[Shanghai] Maison Pourcel (2)

Categories restaurant
[Shanghai] Maison Pourcel (2)

Maison Pourcel

Add: 8/F, 35 Shanxi Nan Lu, near Changle Lu 陕西南路35号8楼, 近长乐路
Tel: 6215 8777
Hours: [La Table] 5:30-10:30pm [Studio Bar] 11:30am-11pm
Website: www.maisonpourcel.com
Price: [La Table] 700 RMB+/person [Studio Bar] 300 RMB/person
Visited: Jun 2011

Please note that this is an arranged tasting.

I had the pleasure of dining at Maison Pourcel again for a special olive oil-themed tasting menu. Since I already blogged about this restaurant, I will skip the intro and go straight to the food. For more information and pictures on the restaurant, please refer to my previous post.

Maison Pourcel has a special themed-menu each month, and for June, the focus is on olive oil. The whole menu is 8 courses long (1198RMB/person, see full menu here) and would take hours to finish, so the chef kindly picked out four of the dishes for us to sample.

Like last time, the meal started with a few plates of amuse bouche – fried foie gras with herb mustard cream, smoked salmon on a cake-like bread, and a savory pastry.

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[Shanghai] a Côté

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[Shanghai] a Côté

a Côté

Add: Ferguson Lane, 376 Wukang Lu, near Hunan Lu 武康路376号, 近湖南路
Tel: 3368 8757
Hours: 12-2:30pm, 6-11pm (closed Monday)
Price: 80~160 RMB/12-inch pizza
Visited: June 2011

a Côté, literally “next door”, is a small pizzeria by Franck Pecol from the neighboring Franck Bistro and Le Petit Franck (see update below). The short menu, scrawled in French on a piece of wooden plaque, consists of 10 Marseille-style pizzas and nothing else (though a green salad is available upon request). There’s no novelty here. It’s simple, and it’s good.

2014 update: Just got word that a Côté is no longer associated with Franck. I wonder who is in charge now?


For lunch, two of us shared the Royale (120 RMB), a gorgeous tomato sauce-based pie generously topped with mushrooms, ham, olives, and cheese. The crust is thin just the way I like it, and pulling one piece away from the pizza dish is not an elegant affair as the pie disintegrates. Juicy, greasy, messy, totally satisfying.

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[Shanghai] Souper Fresh

Categories restaurant
[Shanghai] Souper Fresh

Souper Fresh

Add: Hong Chun Building, No. 3213 Hongmei Road 虹梅路3213号红春大厦1楼M店
Tel: 3415 1677
Hours: 11am-9pm
Price: 58 RMB/person
Visited: Jun 2011

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.

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[Shanghai] Uo Kura 魚藏

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[Shanghai] Uo Kura 魚藏

Uo Kura 魚藏 (Hong Mei store 虹梅店)

Add: 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
Visited: Jun 2011

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 high – Uo Kura is said to be on par with Sushi Oyama, so far 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.

The set started with a pleasant 冷制香菇羹 chilled mushroom soup as cold appetizer.

Next came a pot of 鴨丸京蔥土瓶蒸 soup with duck meat ball and scallion, which was way too salty, but the tender duck meat balls themselves were quite delightful.

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