10 New Restaurant Openings You Might Have Missed

The first quarter of 2023 is up! Here is a summary of new restaurants covered on Nomfluence in Q1 this year, from casual dining options to ones of Michelin-fame.

Bottega
La Siesta
ma-ia-ki
Yak & Yeti
Collectif
Maison Gingko
Stiller
Ling Long
Ladurée Flagship
Xouk (Pudong)
Toasty by O'Mills

---

Neapolitan Pizzas

Bottega Shanghai

📍  101B, KWAH, 108 Xiangyang Bei Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu 襄阳北路108号嘉华中心1楼101B, 近淮海中路
📞  62621223
🕒 Daily, 11am-midnight

Bottega is a restaurant that specializes in Neapolitan pizzas and Italian comfort food. The brand comes by way of Beijing, and has been crowned with numerous awards from prestigious pizza professionals and organizations, including "best pizzeria in 2021 Asia Pacific" by 50TopPizza. 

During its opening month, Bottega Shanghai was swarmed and had a line that wrapped around the building. Now that they’ve opened up for lunch, things have calmed down a bit.  The hype is real—pizzas are good (really good) and are competitively priced. The calzones are excellent, too. The space is gorgeous, plus it’s got a great vibe and draws a cool crowd. It’s also dog-friendly inside. In addition to all-day hours, Bottega is also available via delivery. 

Recommended dishes: Pizzas Salsiccia e Friarielli and Quattro Formaggi, Calzone al Salame, Fritto Misto di Pesce, Wagyu Cotoletta alla Milanese.

Click here to read more about Bottega Shanghai.

---

Andalusian

La Siesta

📍 600 Shaanxi Bei Lu, near Xinzha Lu 陕西北路600号, 近新闸路
📞  15021705817
🕒 Sun-Thu, 5pm-midnight; Fri-Sat, 4pm-1am

La Siesta is an Andalusian restaurant and bar on Shaanxi Bei Lu from chef Sergio Moreno, formerly of The Commune Social and Issac Ye, one of the partners at Tres Perros. It’s a tiny space with cozy seating. Expect dinner to roll into an all-standing room, drinks in hand. Weekends tend to be rather social.

The menu features all Andalusian-inspired dishes, as close to the real deal as possible, overseen by chef Sergio. Dishes are mostly tapas-sized, save for a few larger plates for mains, featuring seafood, summer soups, and hearty stews. Fino wine sneaks into dishes and cocktails, and is available by the glass, and there are a couple house cocktails. 

Recommended dishes: Eggplant with honey, fino wine stewed mussels, ajo blanco cold soup with boquerones, gambas al pil pil, Flamenca eggs, and flan de coco.

Click here to read more about La Siesta.

---

Yakitori

ma-ia-ki

📍  Bldg 2, Surpass Court, 570 Yongjia Lu, near Yueyang Lu 永嘉路570号永嘉庭2号楼, 近岳阳路
📞   17521730213
🕒 Daily, 6pm-11:30pm

ma-ia-ki is a yakitori restaurant from the Vos Families group (SOiF, Suzie, le Daily, Ottimo). It’s located in Surpass Court, a single room with 16 seats around the open kitchen. 

The specialty here is dry-aged pigeon, cooked over binchotan coals. Get the pigeon breast. Next up are the chicken skewers, which feature every single part of the bird from thigh to ventricle. Other dishes include larger cuts of fish and beef to supplement the meal, as well as sashimi and hot dishes. The drinks selection is phenomenal, especially for wines and sakes. Vos Families has excellent sommeliers who really know their stuff. 

The vibe is rather intimate—there are only 16 seats. The mood would really depend on your dining partner or the crowd that evening, which can range to low-key or upbeat. A dozen skewers will set you back about ¥300.
 
Click here to read more about ma-ia-ki.

---

Himalayan

Yak & Yeti

📍 97 Xiangyang Bei Lu, near Xinle Lu 襄阳北路97号, 近新乐路
📞 15921230265
🕒 Daily, 11:30am-2:30pm, 5pm-1am

Yak & Yeti is a Himalayan restaurant and bar that serves a menu of predominantly Nepalese dishes in addition to cuisines from countries surrounding the mountain range. It’s a tiny space with a total of 24 seats.  

The food is mostly spice-heavy, ranging from delicious skewers to fat momos drenched in sweet and sour sauce. There are also curries and traditional snack foods like the Tibetan Shabaley, a deep-fried pork meat pie. As for drinks, there are a few house cocktails in addition to wines by the glass. Love the food—very tasty stuff.

Recommended dishes: Grilled pork sekuwa, momos with sweet and sour sauce, shabaley, chicken biryani, yak sukuti.

Click here to read more about Yak & Yeti.

---

Modern Chinese

Collectif°

📍  D101, 850 Xikang Lu, near Haifang Lu 西康路850号D101, 近海防路
📞 62121835
🕒 Tue-Sun, 6pm-midnight; closed Monday

Collectif° is a modern Chinese restaurant that serves a prix fixe menu highlighting local ingredients through reinterpretations of traditional Chinese dishes. It’s a project led by chefs Malik Xie and Shane Wang, and is backed by The Flask Group. The restaurant is still in the early stages of fine tuning the dining experience, though, I think the menu, priced at ¥648 per person, is fair given the number of courses and overall experience. 

Dinner is about 13-15 plates, featuring modern interpretations of traditional Chinese dishes and some creative plate highlighting seasonal ingredients. The menu features dishes with shrimp, tofu, yellow croaker, pigeon, and wagyu. Great for exploration, not so great for someone with allergies. 

It’s an intimate experience with a casual atmosphere, best enjoyed at the counter facing the open kitchen.

---

Modern European

Stiller

📍 No. 22-23, Xintiandi, 181 Taicang Lu, near Huangpi Nan Lu 太仓路181号新天地22-23号, 近黄陂南路
📞  18930609363
🕒  Tue-Sun, 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-10pm (soft opening)

Stiller is a contemporary European restaurant with a “German touch” located in Xintiandi. It is the latest from Stefan Stiller of Michelin three-star restaurant Taian Table.

Stiller an accessible version of Taian Table, and takes cues from the fine dining menus and techniques at the Michelin starred venue. For example, the blood pudding ravioli and the käsespätzle, which have both featured at some point at Taian Table, are now available as bistro-sized portions, hearty and share-friendly. Both dishes are absolutely marvelous. The ravioli is refined with complex flavors, while the other, a tangled mess of gummy egg noodles soaked in heady onion jus, is pure comfort. 

Recommended dishes: Käsespätzle, black pudding ravioli, pretzel dumplings, brioche pudding.

Click here to read more about Stiller.

---

Modern Chinese

Ling Long

📍 The Waldorf Astoria Shanghai, 2 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, near Yan'an Dong Lu 华尔道夫酒店, 中山东一路2号, 近延安东路
📞  23290313
🕒  Wed-Sun, 5:30pm-10:30pm 

Ling Long is a contemporary Chinese restaurant by chef Jason Liu. The first Ling Long opened in Beijing in 2019 and is listed on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and holds a one Michelin star rating.

The food at Ling Long Shanghai is chef Jason’s interpretation of Chinese traditions and dishes, highlighting locally sourced produce with in-depth stories and theatre. Storytelling aside, the food speaks for itself and is rather impressive. It’s a dining experience that delivers both on flavor and narrative. The menu is ¥1,680 plus 15% service charge.  

---

So Very French

Ladurée Flagship

📍 No. 112, Shanghai Centre, 1376 Nanjing Xi Lu, near Xikang Lu 南京西路1376号上海商城112室, 近西康路
📞  52955190
🕒  Daily, 9am-9pm

Famed French patisserie Ladurée opens its flagship location in Shanghai Centre. In addition to its signature treats of macarons and pastries, this location serves a full menu of French classics for breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner. There’s a counter for takeaway macarons, where you can also get them gift-wrapped.

The sit-down menu features dishes available at other worldwide locations from seared scallops to French onion soup, vol-au-vent, duck confit, and omelets. It’s very French selection. 

---

International

Xouk (Pudong)

📍82 Weifang Xi Lu, near Pucheng Lu 潍坊西路82号, 近蒲城路
📞 58661888
🕒 Mon-Thu, 11am-10pm; Fri-Sun, 10am-11:30pm

Xouk is a casual dining concept from the Azul Group, serving a global menu of dishes. They've just opened a new location in Pudong, joining a slew of popular venues on the new eating and drinking Weifang Lu strip, complete with al fresco seating.

On the menu is a melting pot of cuisines, in short it's "Azul international" and borrows parts from the group’s Latin roots and backgrounds of Asian and Western. Dishes include poke nachos, Thai-inspired salads, burgers, grilled meat platters, seafood rice, and pastas. Brunch is also served daily. 

Xouk is also dog-friendly! Average check is about ¥200, including a drink.

Recommended dishes: Garlic prawns, poke "nachos", tuna katsu, Xouk grilled chicken, Latin lobster rice, and of course, the flan.

---

Bakery & Cafe

Toasty by O'Mills

📍 No. 105, 135 Yanping Lu, near Wuding Lu 延平路135号德必105室, 近武定路  
📞  62308068  
🕒  Daily, 8am-10pm

Bakery and café O’Mills expands with another location, Toasty by O’Mills on Yanping Lu. It’s a reliable bakery that does excellent sourdough breads with a strong all-day brunch crowd.

With this new location came a few new baked goods, namely sourdough donuts! If you’ve been hurting for good donuts (that are not just drowned in sugar glaze and icing sugar) these are pretty good. Available with vanilla (¥22/piece), strawberry (¥23), and chocolate (¥25) fillings.

---

New openings also featured on Nomfluence in the first quarter of the year include Just Pocket, Mozzarella e Vino, Oliang Bangkok Bistro, and Gui Bistro.

---

Read More:

---

Tap that LIKE & WOW and share the love!