[Shanghai 上海] Grains

Categories shanghai
[Shanghai 上海] Grains

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Grains (venue closed)

Add: 202 Wukang Road, near Fuxing Road
Tel: N/A
Hours: [Mon-Thu] 8am-6pm [Fri-Sun] 8am-7pm
Price: [coffee] 25-50 RMB [pastries] 8-20 RMB
Visited: Sep 2015

It’s Franck Pecol at it again.  After Franck, Le Petit Franck, Rachel’s, and Farine, his most recent project is Grains, a stylish coffee shop located on – you’ve guessed it – Wukang Road. It’s a sleek space with beautiful interior design and some charming outdoor seats to match. They roast their own beans daily before the shop opens (more details below),  source mini croissants and pain au chocolat from their very own Farine, and rumor has it that the space will turn into a bar in the evening…sometime in the future.

Franck Pecol又開新店了。繼法式餐館Franck，小酒館Le Petit Franck，漢堡店Rachel’s和面包店Farine之後，Pecol先生最新的項目是間名叫Grains的咖啡店。你猜他開在哪裏？沒錯，又是武康路。這裏的咖啡豆每天早晨在開店前新鮮烘培，可頌和餅乾等則由自家的Farine提供，加上漂亮的設計和舒服的戶外座位，也難怪每到周末就門庭若市。

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[Shanghai] Mellower Coffee

Categories shanghai
[Shanghai] Mellower Coffee

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Mellower Coffee

Add: 9 Jinan Road, near Songshan Road / 济南路9号, 近嵩山路
Tel: 6351 1079
Hours: 8:30am-10pm
Website: www.mellowercoffee.com
Price: [coffee] 40-58 RMB
Visited: Sep 2015

Mellower Coffee is a local Chinese chain that popped up about a year ago in Oct 2014, and is apparently very serious about its coffee. While coffee connoisseurs go for the real deal (AeroPress, Chemex, V60, ice drip etc.), most customers – myself included – go simply to try a drink called “sweet little rain”, consisting of Americano served with a piece of cotton candy hovering above it. Details below.

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Why yes, that is a piece of cotton candy cloud raining sugar into my coffee. As the steam from the coffee heats the cotton candy, it melts and drips, thereby sweetening the coffee. Super cute presentation and idea, but the result is mediocre coffee (inevitably you have to wait for the cotton candy to melt, and that means lukewarm coffee by the time you get to it) and a sticky coffee cup that’s messy to hold.

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[Shanghai] Chang Zuo 長作

Categories shanghai
[Shanghai] Chang Zuo 長作

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Chang Zuo 長作

Add: No. 2, Alley 764, Changle Rd./ 長樂路764弄2號
Tel: N/A
Hours: N/A (no specific info during soft-opening)
Price: [drinks] 40-68 RMB [pastries] 40 RMB
Visited: Sep 2015

Just opened 2 months ago, Chang Zuo 長作 is the newest outlet by Chinese fashion brand/select shop Dong Liang 棟樑. Located on Changle Road, this beautifully renovated structure includes a first floor cafe, topped by 3 levels of boutique space displaying a carefully curated selection from independent designers, as well as Dong Liang’s own creations. The design style is a mix of modern and wabisabi, with careful attention to details. It’s exactly my cup of tea.

托荃二文老板的福，我在回上海的第四天就發現了棟梁于長樂路上新開的 “長作“。 一樓是咖啡館，二至四樓則是與棟梁合作的獨立設計師作品陳列室。整個空間非常漂亮，許多小細節都做的相當用心，而且雖是新店，卻已有種沈澱過，令人安心的穩重感。

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[Shanghai] Qimin Organic Hotpot Market 齊民市集

Categories restaurant
[Shanghai] Qimin Organic Hotpot Market 齊民市集

Qimin Organic Hotpot Market 齊民市集

Add: 4/F, Reel Mall, 1601 Nanjing Xi Lu / 静安区南京西路1601号芮欧百货4楼
Tel: 6258 8777
Hours: 11am-2pm, 5-9pm
Website: www.qi-min.com
Price: [lunch set] 88+ RMB [dinner] 200-300 RMB
Visited: Feb 2015

Please note that this is an invited tasting.

I love hotpots, but I’m not exactly a fan of steamy restaurants and messy table tops, with people sticking their chopsticks into one communal pot filled with dubious meats and veggies and unidentifiable blahs swimming in a foamy, murky broth. This is why I’ve always been a fan of Qimin Organic Hotpot. The combination fresh organic ingredients, individual pots, pleasant interior, and attentive service means that hotpot can be a pleasant dining experience as well. They have recently opened a new location in Reel Mall, and I was more than happy to come try out this venue.

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The new space is designed to create a marketplace-like atmosphere, with booths of vegetables, meats, seafoods etc. surrounding a central dining area. The vibe is brought even more alive by Taiwanese underground rock music, which is appropriately kept on a pleasant volume. Two most attention-grabbing features are the clothes hanging from the ceiling, as typically seen in alleyways of Shanghai (but much neater…) and bamboo steamers as table partitions, which, by the way, actually do emit steam when opened…though they do not actually contain food ;).

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[Shanghai] Maison Asano 淺野府

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[Shanghai] Maison Asano 淺野府

Maison Asano 淺野府

Add: 318-2 Julu Lu, near Maoming Nan Lu / 巨鹿路318-2, 近茂名南路
Tel: 6216 2019
Hours: [Tue-Sun] 5:30-10:30pm
Price: 880~1380 RMB/set
Visited: Jan 2015

A number of high-end Japanese restaurants have opened since I left Shanghai in 2012, and one that I heard quite a lot about immediately after its opening is Maison Asano 淺野府. The owners are a pair of Taiwanese siblings with 1/4 Japanese blood from their grandmother, who claims ties to the Asano clan feudal lords (and hence the name Maison Asano). The prices are up there – 888 RMB or 1380 RMB per kaiseki set, but that’s apparently the norm for high end Japanese restaurants nowadays in Shanghai. We were originally planning to go to my old favorite Sushi Oyama, but as it’s closed on Sundays, we ended up at Maison Asano instead.

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I was expecting an intimate restaurant – perhaps just a bar with one or two tables – but Maison Asano is actually quite big with plenty of tables and a few private rooms.

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[Shanghai] Chi-Q

Categories restaurant
[Shanghai] Chi-Q

Chi-Q

Add: Three on the Bund 2F, 3 Zhong Shan Dong Yi Lu  / 中山东一路3号外滩三号2楼
Tel: 6321 6622
Hours: 6-10:30pm
Price: 350-450 RMB/person
Website: www.threeonthebund.com
Visited: Jan 2015

Please note that this is an invited tasting.

Upscale Korean barbecue by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and his Korean-American wife Marja. As you can expect from Jean-Georges and Three on the Bund, Korean barbeque becomes a rather chic affair here with top quality ingredients. They’ve brought in chef Bina Yu, who is South Korean by birth and previously sous chef at Jean Georges’ namesake restaurant in New York, to run the kitchen of Chi-Q. I’ve had Korean barbecue quite a few times both in Shanghai and Seoul but never in such high style, and I was curious to find out how it works.

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But first, the space. It is designed by Neri & Hu (a familiar name in Shanghai by now), who put together a sleek dining room with long communal tables crowned by a dramatic atrium, as well as individual booths. More details on Three on the Bund’s website.

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[Shanghai] Farine

Categories paris
[Shanghai] Farine

Farine

Add: Ferguson Lane, 1/F, 378 Wukang Lu, near Tai’an Lu / 武康路378号1楼， 近泰安路
Tel: n/a
Hours: 7am-8pm
Price: [pastry] 25-40 RMB [viennoiserie]14-20 RMB [coffee] 30-40 RMB
Website: www.farine-bakery.com
Visited: Jan 2015

Franck Pecol knows how to create little corners of France here in Shanghai. I was a fan of his Franck and Le Petit Franck when I lived in Shanghai a few years back, and soon after I moved to Paris I heard that he opened an excellent bakery called “Farine”, also located in the same block. Apparently he produces the best baguettes and croissants in town thanks to imported ingredients from France and artisanal know-how. Perfect, I thought, this means that when I’m back in Shanghai, I will have a little piece of something to remind me of the good old days in Paris.

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Farine is “flour” in French. “In flour we trust,” as is written on the wall, seems to be the mantra at the shop. On an unrelated note, I like this slightly eery and awkward-looking baker boy in the window.

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The space is small, with a display of pastries, viennoiseries and breads on the right, counter and coffee machine at the front center, and some bar stools on the left. There is an outdoor communal table out on the patio for days with pretty weather, which are unfortunately not so common right now in Shanghai.

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[Shanghai] Sushi Oyama 大山鮨 (3)

Categories restaurant
[Shanghai] Sushi Oyama 大山鮨 (3)

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: 1280 RMB/person, drinks extra
Visited: Jan 2015

When I was living in Shanghai a few years ago, Sushi Oyama used to be my favorite sushi bar in town. I was never a regular guest because I couldn’t afford to be one – the omakase was priced at 800 RMB/person (recently increased to 1280 RMB/person) – but during the few times I dined here, Oyama-san always made it a very memorable evening (details here). As I’m back in Shanghai for a few weeks of vacation, I decided to come here again despite the fact that a number of other places have opened since my departure.

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Impressively, Oyama-san (not in above photo) still recognized me even though the last time I came here was four years ago. He remembers my blog, where I worked, and even where I sat during my first visit. I told him that I am now a pâtissière in Paris, and we had a pleasant time catching up throughout dinner. Very friendly, as always.

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So, on to the food. Dinner started with a delightful trio of ark clam (赤貝), botan shrimp (牡丹海老), and smoked scallop (帆立の燻製). 

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[Shanghai] Doe

Categories paris
[Shanghai] Doe

Doe

Add: 105, 88 Tong Ren Lu / 铜仁路 88 号 105
Tel: 6180 8378
Hours: 10am-9:30pm
Price: 24~46 RMB/coffee
Visited: Jan 2015

I wouldn’t have ventured into DOE if not introduced by a friend. The shop is primarily a streetwear boutique featuring its in-house label DOE 餖, as well as familiar names like Nike, Jordan, Converse and selected brands from Japan, U.S., and Europe. Not really my type of place to visit, until I discovered that it also doubles as a cafe serving quality coffee. What I love about the space is its tiered stadium seating instead of the typical table-and-chair setup, making it an extra chill and comfortable hangout spot.

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[Shanghai] Aimé Pâtisserie

Categories paris
[Shanghai] Aimé Pâtisserie

Aimé Pâtisserie

Add: 1008 Middle Huaihai Rd, near South Shanxi Rd/ 淮海中路1008号, 近陕西南路
Tel: 6481 0558
Hours: 12-9pm
Price: 32-45 RMB/pastry, 18 RMB/macaron
Visited: Jan 2014

When I was still in Paris, someone on weibo sent me photos of a shop called Aimé Pâtisserie which recently opened in Shanghai, and asked if it has anything to do with Pierre Hermé. I was confused as I browsed through photos of its products, which are so similar to those of Pierre Hermé in terms of flavor combination, design, and even packaging, but they are clearly not from Pierre Hermé himself. What’s going on? I later found out that this is a flagrant case of copying. From what I heard, the French owner hired an ex-employee from Pierre Hermé Japan, who brought along PH’s original recipes, and basically reproduced many of his products here in Shanghai.

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I heard through the grapevine that Pierre Hermé himself found out about this, and actually came to Shanghai to tell off on this Japanese pastry chef who copied his creations, and the Japanese chef subsequently left Shanghai. Apparently Pierre Hermé was so angry that he also told all of his ingredient suppliers to not supply to Aimé Pâtisserie. I don’t know what actually happened since I heard all this through industry gossip, but if it did, it must have been a pretty ugly scene.

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