Shanghai food blog | Sugared & Spiced

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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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2015/10/312019/06/29

[Shanghai] Racines

shanghai

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Racines

Add: 41 Guangyuan Road, near Yuqing Road / 广元路41号，近余庆路
Tel: 6448 3851
Hours: 6-11pm
Price: 350-400 RMB
Visited: Oct 2015

French bistro by Japanese chef Kenji Ishibashi, who was trained in Marseilles and Nice before working as chef at Mardi Gras and La Queue du Chiot here in Shanghai. His most recent project, Racines, has been up and running for a few months now and gathering good reviews, so I dropped by earlier this week for a try.

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Racines (“roots” in French) is located on the first floor of an apartment building without apparent signage – it’s definitely not a place you’d notice if you just walk by. I suppose they don’t really want walk-ins anyway, as the place is small. There are three seats in front of the open kitchen, and the tables can accommodate about 18 people. There are only two people in the kitchen – Kenji Ishibashi and his assistant, and only one service staff.

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The menu is scribbled on a blackboard (very French indeed), the list is fairly short but there are many attractive options. It took us quite a while to get anything – I guess two people in the kitchen isn’t exactly a lot – but when the dishes did arrive, they were delicious. The meal started on a good note with bread and some very good butter and chicken liver pâté.

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2015/10/252019/06/29

[Shanghai] Uncle No Name Espresso

shanghai

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Uncle No Name Espresso

Add: 227 Fengxian Road, near Nanhui Road / 奉贤路227号, 近南汇路
Tel: 6236 1220
Hours: 8am-9pm (open daily)
Price: [coffee] 20-45 RMB [pastry] 20-30 RMB
Visited: Oct 2015

Uncle No Name Espresso, a cozy cafe on Fengxian Road with delicious coffee. The owner is Australian, though the shop is run by local staff – a very friendly bunch. There are bar seats right near the front window, a few tables lining the corridor, and a bit more space within the shop itself. It’s not a huge place, but you don’t need much to enjoy a good cup of coffee.

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2015/10/242019/06/29

[Shanghai] Ochobo 千代保

shanghai

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Ochobo 千代保

Add: 2F 20 Donghu Road / 东湖路20号2楼
Tel: 5404 7866
Hours: 6-10pm (closed on Sunday)
Price: 580 RMB/set
Visited: Oct 2015

Dinner at Ochobo, the sister restaurant of Sushi Oyama and Kappo Yu. The kaiseki set is priced at 580 RMB, making it the most affordable of the family, and I find the portion to be more manageable as well (I tend to leave overstuffed from Sushi Oyama and Kappo Yu). Reservation recommended.

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Menu, written on a paper fan, changes monthly.

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Sake cup selection.

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2015/10/232019/06/29

[Shanghai] Xixi Bistro 喜喜小館

shanghai

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Xixi Bistro 喜喜小館

Add: 89 Wuyuan Lu,near Changshu Lu / 五原路89号，近常熟路
Tel: 6486 1331
Hours: 11:30am-2:30pm, 5-11pm
Price: lunch 88 RMB/set, dinner 100-150 RMB/person
Visited: Oct 2015

Lunch at the recently very popular Xixi Bistro. The owners are Italian (Piercarlo Panozzo and Ivan Icardi from UVA and FUMO), the chef is Shanghainese (Tony, also from UVA and Fumo), so the food is Chinese with an Italian flair. Cute place, good value, plus there’s a lovely courtyard that would be perfect on a nice day when the construction is eventually over.

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2015/10/162019/06/29

[Shanghai] Crystal Jade 翡翠酒家

shanghai

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Crystal Jade 翡翠酒家

Add: 7F Westgate Mall 1038 West Nanjing Road / 南京西路1038号梅龙镇广场7楼
Tel: 5228 1133
Hours: 11:00am-3:00pm, 5:00-10:00pm
Website: www.crystaljade.com
Price: 150-200 RMB/person
Visited: Oct 2015

Please note that this was an arranged tasting.

Lunch at the newly revamped Crystal Jade in Westgate Mall. I’d never been to Crystal Jade before the renovation so I can’t really compare, but the new look is quite pretty in shades of grey and blue-green, with lots of mirrors all over. The menu has also gone through much scrutiny, resulting in a more concise list of classic and modern Cantonese dishes.

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3 Barbecue combination 烧味三拼 (118 RMB), a trio of BBQ pork with manuka honey, crackling pork belly, crispy roasted duck 马芦卡蜂蜜叉烧、金牌脆皮烧肉、金牌脆皮烧鸭. Very good.

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Steamed Black Truffle and Prawn Dumpling 黑松露翠玉饺 (8 RMB/piece).

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Steamed Minced Pork Patty with Squid Ink 墨鱼汁土尤蒸肉饼 (88 RMB) is a dish I haven’t tasted before. Pork belly is first minced then mixed with chopped water chestnut, diced eel, and squid ink. Flavor and texture both excellent.

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2015/10/152019/06/29

[Shanghai] The Commune Social

shanghai

The Commune Social

Add: 511 Jiangning Road, near Kangding Road / 江宁路511号，近康定路
Tel: 6047 7638
Hours: [lunch] Tue-Fri 12-2:30pm, Sat-Sun 12-3pm [dinner] Tue-Sat 6-10:30pm (closed on Mondays)
Price: [lunch] 178-258 RMB/set [dinner] 200-300 RMB/person
Website: www.communesocial.com
Visited: Oct 2015

Light lunch at The Commune Social, a tapas / dessert / cocktail bar by Jason Atherton. If you’ve lived in Shanghai for a while, you recognize this name – he is the chef the behind Table No. 1, one of my favorite restaurants in Shanghai years ago. His second venue in town is – again – designed by Neri & Hu, and the rustic industrial chic continues here with raw iron, reclaimed wood, unfinished concrete and exposed bricks. Lovely texture and patterns.

There are a few distinctive spaces within The Commune Social, and the idea is to have drinks in the courtyard, some light bites at the open-kitchen Tapas Bar, then move to the Dessert Bar to see the pastry chefs at work, and finish upstairs at the Cocktail Bar. That’s a lot of movement for one meal. Since it was a nice day out, we chose the courtyard seats and were quite happy staying in one place.

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2015/10/142019/06/29

[Shanghai 上海] Sunny Hills 微熱山丘

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Sunny Hills 微熱山丘

Add: 2F, 133 Yuanmingyuan Road
Tel: 6236 3300
Hours: 10am-8pm
Website: www.sunnyhills.com.cn
Price: free tasting, 120 RMB/box of 10, 180 RMB/box of 15
Visited: Oct 2015

Sunny Hills, a pineapple cake brand from Taiwan, is now available in Taipei, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo. The Shanghai branch, located on 133 Yuanmingyuan Road right behind The Peninsula, is a bright second floor space composed of not much other than an elongated table, meant for people to rest their feet and have a pineapple cake…for free.

台灣的鳳梨酥名店微熱山丘似乎生意不錯，在上海、香港、新加坡、和東京都開了分店。上海的分店位于圓明園路133號2樓，就在半島酒店後方，雖然離外灘不遠，卻是個相當安靜舒服的區域。店內設計明亮，不小的空間裡就放了一個長桌，讓客人歇歇腳，喝杯烏龍茶，當然還能品嚐鳳梨酥…而且一切免費。

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For those who haven’t had pineapple cakes, these are rectangular pastry shells wrapping thick, chunky pineapple jam. Sunny Hills prides itself in using freshly harvested sun-ripened pineapples indigenous of Taiwan, resulting in a fragrant, and especially tangy pineapple filling. The outside pastry shell is also made with care, using flours from Japan, butter from New Zealand, and eggs from a Taiwanese farm apparently renowned for using classical music to inspire the breeding process (?).

微熱山丘使用台灣八卦山的土鳳梨，原味熬煮而成的內陷比一般常吃到的要酸上一些，而且保有了果肉的口感。外皮的用料也有講究，用的是日本面粉、紐西蘭奶油、和據說是聽古典樂長大的雞生的蛋（真的嗎？）。

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2015/10/122019/06/29

[Shanghai] Somm Wine Gallery

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Somm Wine Gallery

Add: 2F, 284 Anfu Road, near Wukang Road / 安福路284号2楼，近武康路
Tel: 5425 1760
Hours: [Mon-Fri] 4pm-1am [Sat-Sun] 2pm-1am
Price: 130-400 RMB/tasting flight, 150-600+ RMB/glass, 800-3400+ RMB/bottle
Visited: Oct 2015

Other than French pastries, I also developed an interest in French wines during my three years in Paris. It was only natural to get accustomed to drinking regularly, since good wines are so easily accessible (both in terms of availability and price) compared to Shanghai. I can now recognize some familiar names and have a better idea of what I personally like, but of course I’m still far from being a connoissuer and wish that I can continue to learn about French wine even after leaving Paris…so when two friends opened a French-focused wine tasting bar here in Shanghai, I knew I was going to spend quite some time there.

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So here’s Somm Wine Gallery, a stylish space quietly nestled on the second floor of 284 Anfu Road. Beautiful window panes, sleek and comfortable HAY chairs, mood lighting…all very nice,but the focal point here is most definitely the Enomatic wine dispensing system, which guarantees wine quality for 3 weeks (some up to 1 month) after opening. Don’t want to finish a bottle of Montrose 2007 (2,000 RMB) by yourself? Well here you can try it by the glass (360 RMB/12cl) or an even smaller tasting size (180 RMB/6cl).

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Tag: Shanghai food blog

[Shanghai 上海] Rumors Coffee 魯馬滋咖啡

[Shanghai 上海] BoboLEE Cake

[Shanghai] Racines

[Shanghai] Uncle No Name Espresso

[Shanghai] Ochobo 千代保

[Shanghai] Xixi Bistro 喜喜小館

[Shanghai] Crystal Jade 翡翠酒家

[Shanghai 上海] Sunny Hills 微熱山丘

[Shanghai] Somm Wine Gallery

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