November, 2015 | Sugared & Spiced

2015/11/262019/06/29

[Shanghai] Beef & Liberty

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Beef & Liberty

Add: Shanghai Center, 1376 West Nanjing Road / 南京西路1376号上海商城
Tel: 6289 5733
Hours: 11am-11pm
Website: www.beef-liberty.com
Price: [burgers] 75-95 RMB [sides] 25-35 RMB
Visited: Nov 2015

Happy to have discovered Beef & Liberty, an ideal place to satiate my burger cravings. They use beef from Tasmania reared on a natural diet of grass (never given hormones or antibiotics), grinded daily at the restaurant. So far I’ve tried four of their burgers – Chilli, Bacon Cheese, BBQ Pulled Pork, and Falafel – all good, though the Bacon Cheese and BBQ Pulled Pork definitely were my preferred. Details below.

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First, the drinks. Lemonade (30 RMB) for something light, milkshakes (55 RMB) and spiked shakes (75 RMB), for something heavy.

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First burger, Chili (89 RMB): beef, jalapeno slices, caramelized onion, cheddar cheese, butter lettuce, harissa yogurt. The beef patty is grilled to a lovely pink and juicy medium, sandwiched between toasted golden buns – very nice.

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2015/11/232019/06/29

[Shanghai] Paloma Cafe 白鳥咖啡

shanghai

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Paloma Cafe 白鳥咖啡

Add: 198 Second Ruijin Road, near West Jianguo Road / 瑞金二路198弄-1, 近建国西路
Tel: 5466 6612
Hours: [Wed-Mon] 9:30am-9pm [Tue] 12-5pm
Price: [coffee] 22-45 RMB [cakes] 35-40 RMB [set] 55 RMB
Visited: Nov 2015

The rain persists in Shanghai, and on this particular morning I sought refuge at Paloma Cafe, a quaint little place perched on the 2nd floor of the busy Ruijin Road / Jianguo Road intersection. The cafe owner wasn’t there on the morning of my visit, though I heard from the staff that he/she is Shanghainese by origin and has spent some time in Japan. I was the only customer on this quiet morning, and happily enjoyed my coffee and cake while listening to the sound of raindrops falling outside.

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A cup of coffee and a piece of house-made cake goes for 55 RMB, a pretty good deal I’d say. My latte was nice, just don’t forget to request for a heavier dose of espresso shot since the coffee here tends to be more on the light side due to popular request. The Earl Grey rolled cake quite lovely as well, though the tea bits in the whipped cream bothered me a little bit. Loved the little bird motif on the plate.

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2015/11/162015/11/16

[Shanghai] UNDEF/NE

shanghai

UNDEF/NE

Add: 105, Building 6, 50 Moganshan Road / 莫干山路50号6号楼105室
Tel: 2277 6299
Hours: [Mon-Fri] 10am-6pm [Sat-Sun] 10am-8pm
Price: [coffee] 25-35 RMB
Visited: Nov 2015

Trekked all the way up north to check out UNDEF/NE at the M50 art zone. Opened at the end of 2014, UNDEF/NE is a warehouse-turned-cafe / art gallery / event space by Shanghainese couple Jason and Nemo, who studied in England and worked respectively in finance and media before launching this project. I was just there for a cup of coffee and fell quite in love with this space, which feels spacious thanks to the high ceiling and open plan design, but also has its fair share of intimate nooks.

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The source of coffee beans at UNDEF/NE changes from time to time, and currently it is a boutique coffee roaster called Little Bean based out in Pudong. The coffee barista who served us used to work at Essence Cafe (质馆咖啡), and we were happy with our two cups of latte (30 RMB).

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2015/11/152015/11/15

[Shanghai] October on Instagram

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I’m used to recording bits of my life on Instagram, but knowing that this is blocked in Shanghai, I’m selecting 25 snaps from each month and sharing them here on the blog. I’ve also included location details at the end of this post, do go check them out if you like what you see. October was an important month it for me as I moved from Paris to Shanghai during this time, and thanks to family and friends, transition to this new life has been smoother than I had expected. Here are some snapshots…

1. Visiting the newly-opened Chang Zuo for a cup of hand drip coffee.

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2. Like the minimalistic design here.

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3. Upstairs is the showroom for independent designers.

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4. Followed the hype to Mellower Coffee for a cup of “my sweet rain”. Why yes, that is a piece of cotton candy cloud raining sugar into my coffee.

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2015/11/122019/06/29

[Shanghai 上海] Rumors Coffee 魯馬滋咖啡

shanghai

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Rumors Coffee

Add: 1, Alley 372, Xingguo Road
Tel: 6249 7510
Hours: [Sun-Thu] 11am-7:30pm [Fri-Sat] 11am-10pm
Price: 55-100 RMB/coffee
Visited: Nov 2015

I’ve known about Rumors Coffee since they opened on Hunan Road five years ago, and though I never ventured inside, I’ve always been intrigued by this tiny Japanese cafe that serves only hand dripped coffee. They opened a second location on Xingguo Road just over a year ago, and upon my return from Paris, I finally paid this place a visit…and what a charmer it is!

其實早在五年前，魯馬滋在湖南路上開了第一家店時我就注意到它了。雖然沒進去過，卻一直對這家小小的日式手沖咖啡店感到莫名的興趣。一年多前他們在興國路開了二店，而我趁著從巴黎搬回上海這個機會，拜托朋友介紹了我認識咖啡店的老板中山先生和中山太太。一去，就完全喜歡上這個地方了。

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Before opening this shop, Keiichi Nakayama had a corporate job in Tokyo and travelled to Shanghai from time to time for work. Liking what he saw, he decided to move here with his Shanghainese wife, and together the two of them started their first cafe in 2011 to bring good hand dripped coffee to this city.

開咖啡店之前，中山先生在東京做著一般上班族的工作，偶爾會來上海出差。因爲喜歡咖啡，因爲喜歡上海，他和中山太太決定搬來這裏，兩個人一起開了專做手沖咖啡的魯馬滋。順帶一提，中山太太是上海人，說話非常溫柔，有機會找她聊聊天，心情會很好哦。

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2015/11/052019/06/29

[Shanghai 上海] BoboLEE Cake

shanghai

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BoboLEE Cake

Add: delivery only
Tel: [cake order] 400 910 1314 / [service] 13911193107
Hours: 9:30am-6pm
Website: www.boboleecake.com
Price: [18cm whole cakes] 380-668 RMB [wedding cakes] 8888 RMB
Visited: Oct 2015

I wasn’t aware of BoboLEE Cake before they contacted me, and after browsing through their website filled with beautiful cake photos, I immediately accepted their invitation to visit the studio. On this sunny morning, I was greeted by Bobo the cake artist himself and his partner Andrew, who takes care of the graphic designs and public relations of the business. I was planning to just eat my cake and go, but the two boys were such gracious hosts that I ended up spending hours there chatting about cakes, cakes, and cakes.

其實在收到BoboLEE Cake的來信之前，我幷沒有聽說過這個蛋糕品牌，不過在浏覽他們美麗的網站後，我馬上接受邀請去參觀了他們的工作室。當天接待我的是蛋糕師傅Bobo本人以及負責媒體工作的Andrew，這兩個大男孩實在太可愛了，本來打算吃完蛋糕就拍拍屁股走人的我居然在他們的工作室裡聊了好幾個小時（當然蛋糕也沒少吃，哈）。

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Originally from Shandong, Bobo was an interior designer before changing career at the age of 35. He first completed an intensive 3-month pastry program at Cordon Bleu Tokyo, and immediately went to the U.S. to study from famed cake designer Maggie Austin for another 3 months. About a year ago he settled in Shanghai, and is now fabricating beautiful sugar flower-adorned cakes at his delightful studio space in the former French Concession area.

Bobo Lee，山東人，本來是位室內設計師，35歲時決定轉行做甜點。他首先在東京的藍帶完成了三個月的密集甜點課程，隨後馬上飛往美國和知名的翻糖藝術家Maggie Austin學習。一年多前他來到上海，在徐彙區的老公寓裏租了個地方，就這樣開始了整天泡在工作室裏做蛋糕的日子。看這些他一朵朵親手塑造出來的翻糖花，是不是太美了？

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