Here's what the new MUJI Diner looks like
MUJI Diner opened its doors on the third level of MUJI flagship store at Huaihai Zhong Lu, transforming from its original Café&Meal into a classy restaurant serving more than just coffee and tea. Sticking close to its floor concept of 'Wood, Metal, and Earth', MUJI Diner embodies all of these elements to provide a clean yet elegant layout, a definite upgrade from Café&Meal.
A large refrigerator greets you at the main entrance. In it you'll find all sorts of vegetables with tags indicating where they come from and a friendly portrait of their 'maker'. Simply scan the QR code and you'll be able to trace the origins of the greens in front of you. This is MUJI's bid to be a 'connection hub to vegetable producers', and of course providing peace of mind to diners. The open concept kitchen is another testimony of MUJI's dedication towards food transparency.
What's on the menu?
MUJI Diner's head chef has traveled to homes in Milan, the Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region of China, and Iga City of Mie Prefecture in Japan, and claims to have learned the tips and secrets behind local recipes directly from the mothers that have inspired his globe-trotting à la carte menu.
For lunch, choose a set meal of either three (58RMB), four (68RMB) or five (78RMB) dishes, which includes two mains and a salad, two mains and two salads or three mains and two salads respectively. The meals comes with white rice and you can add soup for an additional 5RMB each. Mains include grilled salmon, stir-fried pork with vinegar, deep fried fish and potato balls, and curry meatballs with yogurt. You can also opt for the pasta set which includes a salad and soup (from 48RMB), or a curry set (58RMB).
Dinner is rather similar, but with less the rice and soup. Main dishes are sold separately now at the same price but at slightly larger portion sizes. Additions to the menu include Australian rib-eye (from 169RMB) and sirloin steak (from 158RMB), and seafood mains such as Spanish grilled scallops (78RMB) and pan-fried mackerel wrapped in nuts (58RMB). For more intense flavours, grilled sausages (58RMB) and the roasted lamb rack (from 148RMB) are popular choices too.
If you're fancying a drink, there's also a wine bar in the corner. Take a seat on a high chair and sip sparkling, white or red wine specially hand picked from Spain, France and Italy (from 38RMB per glass). Cocktails, beers and a variety of alcoholic beverages are also available from 28RMB.
End your meal with something sweet. Choose from three flavours of crispy pancake toast served on a hot plate drizzled with either strawberry jam, banana chocolate or matcha red bean (45RMB). There is also a dense, moist matcha cheesecake (below) that's definitely worth a try (38RMB).
MUJI Diner is at the MUJI Flagship Store 755 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Ruijin Er Lu.