Shanghai Food & Drink Gossip: September 2017
By Betty Richardson
First up: big ass sandos from a new shop called Fresh-Off (...the boat?). Think Asian-inspired filings, such as the Korean fried chicken offering below, made using a unique type of fluffy fried bread inspired by Taiwanese street food. The menu was designed by Austin Hu, who knows a thing or two about sandwiches.
There's been a switcheroo on Nanyang Lu: Big Bamboo is no more. Instead, it has been replaced by the Blind Pig Bourbon and Smokehouse, which is also owned by the Big Bamboo group and had prior to just closed an ill-fated first location on Hongmei Lu. Below is photographic proof, should you need it.
WHEAT Healthy Eatery has just opened a second location. Larger, brighter and with a more complete menu than the first store on Dagu Lu, it looks like these guys are becoming a force to be reckoned with. Find such clean eats as vegan coconut cream pancakes and worrisome-sounding kale margaritas.
Over in Xintiandi, Mendo is the new kid on the block, slinging pan-Asian noodle bowls that cover everything from Lanzhou beef noodles, Vietnamese beef pho to Japanese soba.
The Purple Garlic is the latest envoy of flavor from Taiwan, professing to be a ‘combination of health and beauty’ (while serving beef noodles and peanut smoothies). Situated on Wanping Lu, the concept is brought to us by Chun-Store chain of supermarkets, and as such you can also purchase groceries here too.
It won’t be realized until 2019, but we just couldn’t keep news of Shake Shake opening in Shanghai to ourselves. The New York-based chain announced plans for its Asia expansion in late August, confirming news of a partnership with Hong Kong’s Maxim’s Caterers Ltd, who, among other things, operates the Cheesecake Factory in Shanghai Disneyland.
In the meantime, feast your senses on the new Beef & Liberty 2.0 on Xiangyang Nan Lu. Head there for your gourmet burger and fried mac 'n' cheese needs.
Speaking of bovine fixes, White Castle on Maoming Bei Lu has just posted late night opening hours on Friday and Saturday (until 2am both nights). Trek on over when the munchies hit for a taste of America's original fast food chain.
Clean eating tycoons Green&Safe continue their takeover of Shanghai with another branch, this one situated in Hongqiao's Takashimaya mall. Dubbed 'Le Petit,' this Green&Safe has a special focus on family friendly diners, to which ends they've installed a digital art wall and a forest picnic area, life-size trees 'n' all.
Erstwhile Wishbone chef-restaurateur Sam Norris has teamed up with chef Jun Nishio to form a new Japanese izakaya concept called Xime, if a new account on Instagram is to be believed. Set to open this month on Anfu Lu, hashtags '#soba,' '#udon,' and '#saketime' have been deployed, and we are told there will also be homemade fruit soju infusions, and daily chef specials. Norris counts Japanese culinary experience at London restaurants Koya and Nobu in London (who wants to bet the latter will be opening up in Shanghai one of these days?)
New Bars
Moving swiftly onwards, the team behind Shanghai Supperclub and FEAST have teamed up with DRiNK magazine and are coming at you with a new concep, SIP. The 'cocktail-focused' festival (also known to some as a two-day bender) is the first to have graced Shanghai, and will see 10 of the city's most cutting-edge mixologists shaking en mass atop the McKinnon Hotel rooftop in Jing'an.
September 23-24, 8/F , McKinnon Hotel, 1013 Beijing Xi Lu, by Jiangning Lu 北京西路1013号8楼, 近江宁路
Star mixologist Daniel An has re-open a version of his smash-hit bar Taste Buds Cocktail Palace at a new location after the former was forced to close when its lease ended. Now installed in an antique shop on Sinan Lu, An decided not to make big changes to the interiors, which complements the eccentric charm of the original.
The Shanghailander Café is branching out into wine territory (or should that be terroir?), with a new venue that doubles as a wine bar. Cheers to that.
On Changle and Shaanxi, further watering holes are finally filling up the gaps in United Valley, semi-al fresco concept that plays host to some of our favorite new bars (namely Shrine, Tour and The Magnolia Room). One of them is Ounce, a dark little cocktail spot with pyrotechnic bartenders (are we headed for a flair revival?!), Tiki cups and plenty of whisky.
Lastly, The Hop Project on Dagu Lu would like to inform you that they’ll be serving free-flow grilled cheese sandwiches from their partner Co. Cheese for precisely one hour each day from Monday to Thursday. How much does that cost? Nothing. A completely no strings attached deal, unless you’re counting the melted cheese strings.
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