[Shanghai] Lei Garden 利苑

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[Shanghai] Lei Garden 利苑

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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[Shanghai] Cha’s Restaurant 思南查餐厅

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[Shanghai] Cha’s Restaurant 思南查餐厅

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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[Shanghai] Fu 1039 福 1039

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[Shanghai] Fu 1039 福 1039

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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[Shanghai] Spicy Moment

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[Shanghai] Spicy Moment

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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[Shanghai] Maison Pourcel (2)

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[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

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[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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[Shanghai] Ginza Bairin 银座梅林

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[Shanghai] Ginza Bairin 银座梅林

Ginza Bairin 银座梅林

Add: 4/F, IFC Mall, 8 Shiji Da Dao, near Lujiazui Huan Lu 国际金融中心商场,世纪达到8号4楼, 近陆家嘴环路
Tel: 5015 5087
Hours: 10am-11pm
Website: www.ginzabairin.com
Price: 100~200 RMB/person
Visited: May 2011

Since 1927, this tonkatsu specialty restaurant has been coating the choicest premium grade pork loin in homemade breadcrumbs and deep frying them in 100% premium cottonseed oil to a satisfying golden brown. The result is pork cutlets with light, crackling skin covering tender and succulent meat, and when drizzled with the signature Bairin Tonkatsu sauce then paired with a bowl of perfectly cooked Japanese rice, there simply is no better lunch in sight.

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[Shanghai] Dian Shi Zhai 點石齋小宴

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[Shanghai] Dian Shi Zhai 點石齋小宴

Dian Shi Zhai 點石齋小宴 Add: 320 YongJia Lu, near XiangYang Nan Lu 永嘉路320号, 近襄阳南路 Tel: 5465 0270 Hours: [lunch] 11:00am~2:00pm [dinner] 5:30pm~9:30pm Price: 100~130 RMB/person VIsited: May 2011 More elegant than Old Jesse, less posh than Yuan Yuan and Jade Garden, Dian Shi Zhai falls squarely in the mid-range Shanghainese restaurant category. Its understated storefront and simple…Continue Reading “[Shanghai] Dian Shi Zhai 點石齋小宴” →