The closure of what was once the best grilled cheese venue in Shanghai hit hard and the void has not yet been filled, but the good news is that out of the ashes has sprung a brand new chicken broth ramen shop. Chef Hajime San is behind this project, a
There was a time when hidden, secret speakeasy bars were everywhere and people could impress friends with their insider knowledge of such places. I think the craze died down a little bit (although during the dark days of COVID-19, many bars opened secretly), I recently discovered that there is a
We have recently started going to Bottega on Friday nights for our family dinner and were curious to discover the same group has opened a Spanish restaurant a block away so after our weekly Bottega meal, we walked down to take a look at Atica and their Mexican venue in
Discounted dim sum at the Hilton Shanghai City My ancestry is Cantonese and even growing up in London, we often went for Yum Cha (dim sum) in Chinatown, so I consider myself somewhat of an expert when it comes to Cantonese dim sum. We usually have to travel to go
Although it was open for over a decade, I never managed to get to experience Paul Pairet's 3-Michelin starred Ultra Violet. Joshua Paris was the head chef at Ultra Violet and so I was excited to hear he would be opening his own restaurant in Shanghai. To be
I only found out about this hotel when I stumbled upon a BBC TV show - Amazing Hotels - Life Beyond The Lobby - that featured it. It's the Intercontinental Hotel Sheshan, about an hour's drive from downtown Shanghai, although it took us almost 3 hours
Hong Kong
I popped down to HK for a few days because my mother was there as part of her annual break from being a housewife in London and because the flight from Shanghai was a mere 1186 RMB return on Cathay Pacific. It used to be that I, along with thousands
Japanese
More than one person has expressed surprise at my praise for High Yaki. They seem to have managed to dine there and were underwhelmed by the whole experience. And my response to them is the same response I give to people who visit Shanghai and then say they didn'
Bars
For well over a decade, there has been no shortage of high end cocktail bars where you can pay upwards of 100 RMB for a lovingly created cocktail from a "mixologist" in a smart apron. And that's great. I've enjoyed these types of places
I've tried to create a list of places to try for people new to Shanghai, divided into various categories and headings. In addition to those pages, I will be posting regularly here on the blog page, sharing my thoughts on places as I encounter them. These will include