3 New Openings: Roodoodoo, The Venue, Nanyang Mama
Three new openings. Roodoodoo by Paul Pairet at IFC in Pudong, restaurant-lounge-nightclub The Venue, and a Southeast Asian restaurant.
A Paul Pairet Concept
Roodoodoo by Paul Pairet (沪嘟嘟)
📍 LG1-40, IFC mall, 8 Shiji Dadao 世纪大道8号国金中心商场地下一层LG1-40号
📞 68680737
🕒 Tue-Sun, 9am-9pm; closed Monday (soft opening)
Roodoodoo is an all-day restaurant by famed chef Paul Pairet (Polux, Ultraviolet, Charbon, Mr & Mrs Bund) and VOL group, located at the IFC mall in Lujiazui. Fresh baked breads and pastries, coffee, ice creams, sandwiches, brunchy plates, and familiar favorites from the group’s other restaurants.
First off, the location. Roodoodoo is located in the lower level plaza of IFC mall in Pudong, where the Apple store is. The space feels like American-style diner meets French café; barstool counter seats, window-side banquettes and a long row of tables under Renaissance-style coffered ceilings.
→ →
New in the wheelhouse of Paul Pairet restaurants is the bakery and pastry component; this is the first time the group is concentrating efforts on baked goods, rolling out loaves, tarts, cakes, and viennoiseries (breakfast pastries).
Other dishes borrow from the group’s other restaurants; The Real Club Sandwich (¥108) from Polux, BB Capsicums from Charbon, a version of Grilled Seabass Vierge (¥138) and the Real French Toast from Mr & Mrs Bund, and Ultra-Lune Mid-Autumn cakes from Ultraviolet.
They also have ice creams (¥48), which are the same from Charbon, soft serve milk-based creations that can also be made into sundaes (from ¥58) and shakes.
Whole loaves and Basque Cheesecake
Viennoiseries
Cookies and tarts
More pastries → →
Viennoiseries include pain aux raisins, croissants, brioche, and all manner of breakfast pastries; from ¥18 (croissant) to ¥68 (Paris-Brest). Breads too; ¥20 for a baguette.
Almond Croissant (¥20) – Served toasted when consumed in-store.
Babka Chocolate (¥38/slice, ¥128/loaf) – Bittersweet chocolate twisted into a bread loaf; add ¥18 for ice cream.
Minute Toast Cream & Jam (¥38/slice)
Lemon Tartlette (¥48)
More pastries → →
Also new are toasts and sandwiches, a hot dog, and a number of brunchy plates.
Daniel’s Philly Cheese-Steak Sandwich (¥118)
A deadly cheese steak!
Scroll for cross section → →
I feel like Shanghai takes cheese steaks to a whole new level, and the one at Roodoodoo is at the top of the gourmet selection of cheese steaks in the city. Thinly shaved beef with a three-cheese spread topped with jalapeno.
It’s simple, delicious food done at a high level. Pudongers can rejoice! Meanwhile, us in Puxi are crying because Roodoodoo didn’t open at the nexus of Jing’an and Xuhui districts. If it was in my neighborhood, I’d probably be a regular.
Soft opening from October 19. Outdoor seating and extended hours to come soon. Prices subject to 10% service charge.
Restaurant, Lounge, Club
The Venue
📍 South Block, Golden Eagle mall, 278 Shaanxi Bei Lu 陕西北路278号,金鹰国际购物中心南里
📞 62600098
🕒 Tue-Sun, 5:30pm-2am; closed Monday
The Venue is an all-in-one restaurant, lounge, bar, and nightclub complete with multiple private rooms located at the Golden Eagle mall in Jing’an.
The restaurant & lounge
The backers of this project spared no expense, reportedly shelling out 80 million to deck out the space in designer furniture and finishings, complete with a club sound system sporting Funktion-One speakers.
The club
The restaurant and lounge is posh. Sleek and swanky, I tell ya! Leather and velvet banquets with marble-top lounge tables, soft warm lighting and vibrant wall art. Music selection adds to the ambiance, too. It’s the kind of classy space that you should dress up for, lest feel out of place. The lights dim at 10pm for a lounge setting.
The restaurant & lounge
The food is upmarket fusion with obvious French influence, featuring a subtle crossover of East and West. (Their Chinese chef Mario has a background in French fine dining.)
Wagyu Beef Tartare (¥129) - A lightly spiced tartare speckled with bits of water chestnut, topped with egg yolk. It’s a twist on the classic.
Served with crispy “ru shan”, literal translation is “milk fan,” a cheese-like fermented milk product from Yunnan.
→ →
Coffee Mille-Feuille Cake (¥79) – Super light and fluffy coffee cream filling with a layer of tart jam. Good balance of sweet and creamy.
Lemon Tart (¥69) – A mellow lemon tart that’s sweet and floral rather than acidic. Creamy lemon jam with dry tangerine peel and buttery sablé.
More dessert → →
As for drinks, The Venue has 10 signature cocktails in addition to the classics. Wines by the glass start from ¥85.
Rouged Lips (¥110) – Sichuan green pepper sous vide with gin, beetroot juice, cranberry jelly, lemon juice. Earthy, spiced and fragrant, subtly sweet. Low ABV.
Thai Cooler (¥110) – Laksa leaf indused dark rum with apricot brandy, coconut, lemon, pineapple juice. Tiki-style and boozy.
Cocktails → →
Here’s a bit about the club side of things:
The Venue Club isn’t very big. It’s a one-room club with a large bar. The bar area also caters for people who don’t have table bookings to loiter about. All tables require a minimum spend, starting for ¥4,000. Dance floor is wherever you make it. There are a dozen private rooms, including the high-roller room located above the bar that overlooks the club. The music program changes weekly and based on available DJs; style is a variety, but leans towards house, not hip-hop or EDM.
The bar at the club
One of the private rooms
And the swanky bathroom
→ →
Back to the restaurant… The food exceeded my expectations. It is on the upmarket end of things. Overall, the dishes are well executed and well balanced, tasty and impressive. Recommend the gnocchi, roasted truffle butter chicken, tuna steak, and coffee mille-feuille.
Southeast Asian
Nanyang Mama
📍 35 Shaanxi Nan Lu 陕西南路35号
📞 19301256260
🕒 Mon-Thu & Sun, 11am-10:30pm; Fri-Sat, 11am-11:30pm
Nanyang Mama is a casual Southeast Asian restaurant on Shaanxi Nan Lu, around the corner from United Valley.
What initially drew me to this restaurant was the “Klang Bak Kut Teh” advertised on their Dianping page.
Malaysian bak kut teh is a soy sauce and Chinese herb-based pork rib soup, very different to Singaporean white pepper version, the latter of which seems to be the more popular option in Shanghai. The one from Klang, a city in the state of Selangor, Malaysia, is famous for being dark and delicious, and my go-to whenever I visit.
Bak Kut Teh
The Bak Kut Teh (¥88) at Nanyang Mama is not bad. It doesn’t quite represent the original Klang-style bak kut teh, but it does alright for a Malaysian-style of pork rib soup. It’s herbal and savory with a hint of sweetness from the use of sweet dark soy sauce. Plenty of meat on the ribs, and a couple mushrooms in the broth. Not bad for a lunch meal. Comes with youtiao, rice is additional.
Nasi Lemak
Other dishes at Nanyang Mama include the Nasi Lemak (¥68), a dish of coconut rice, fried chicken, fried egg, fried anchovies, peanuts, and sambal chili sauce. It’s a sizeable portion, pretty filling. Good quality eggs with bright orange yolks. The chicken is a tad greasy and was a bit under seasoned. Sambal had a good kick and was fragrant.
Other dishes on the menu include Thai curries and tom yum soup, Southeast Asian-style stir-fry, and laksa, among others.
Good for an easy-going affordable meal.
Read More:
Food & Drink News (October 2023)
Sage, Alors, Black Salt
Tap that LIKE & WOW and share the love!