nanamoose Musings

My Article on Shanghai is out in this month's Crave Magazine!

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(But they messed up my story and grammer,so please red the following instead)

For quite some time, Shanghai had been relegated second to Beijing on my list of top Chinese cities. The people are rude, there are no historical or cultural sights to explore, and the city reeked of a guilty obsession with cash and all things glamourous. It was also the transcendency perhaps, the fleeting nature of people coming and going that me put off. When is she ever going to slow down and live a little?

Then, magic happened. I think she heard me. Because this time I went to see her, she changed. She slowed down, embraced herself, and emerged more confident and natural than ever (at least the Puxi side of her has). She engaged her past - the little alleys behind brick-walled lane houses, the quiet platane-lined streets where Shanghainese still paddle nonchalantly on their bikes - so that, in the midst of the Expo fervour, she still looked as composed and relaxed as ever. All this, I realized through a sampling of the latest restaurant scene in Shanghai.

Start with Oyama, a fourteen-seat omakase-only restaurant headed by chef Takeo Oyama, who had previously worked with some of the biggest names in sushi in Hong Kong. A short walk from busy Huaihai Zhong Lu, enter through a vaulted corridor on Donghu Lu with dim lights and stone walls to a courtyard opening, where you will be greeted by the laughter of guests from El Willy’s, a Spanish restaurant on the ground floor. A story up, however, and the mood is completely different. Chef Oyama is serious about his food, yet loves to create a bit of a playful banter with his guests which makes dining here more like eating at a friend’s. The omakase menu costs RMB800 per head, but who cares when you have sake, interesting company, and fish fresh from Tokyo and Nagasaki?

Just a short distance from Oyama is the Wagas compound on 195 Anfu Lu, a converted colonial building with high ceilings and a gabled roof housing Baker and Spice on the ground floor, a Thai restaurant on the second and finally, the eponymous Mr. Willis on the third. Baker and Spice is your bread-lover’s-dream come true with its wood-grained marble storefront, rough-hewn communal table and all things artisanal from baguettes, bagels and jams to cupcakes. Mr. Willis is an extension of this theme with its rustic chic designs. Think rough reclaimed wooden floor, Japanese ceramic vases, low-hanging lamps and warm rugs. The fare is simple, comfort bistro style – fig and prosciutto salad, warm goat’s cheese soufflé, and a full pizza menu. In other words, this is the apartment and the dinner party you’d like to have, but never will.

While we’re in the French Concession, hop over to the cutest pho café in town – Pho Real. At first glance you will never have guessed it to be a pho joint with its whitewashed exposed brick walls, baby blue tables, bar seating and fish baskets tastefully hanging from the ceiling. However, the secret is out so expect a half hour wait during lunch times. The pho with beef flank is better than any I’ve had in Hong Kong.

If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, trek over to Table No. 1 at the Waterhouse Hotel and tackle Jason Atherton (formerly of the Gordon Ramsey clique)’s take on a Shanghainese version of Maze – modern European fare in portions small enough to share – all in a “social dining” environment. This means long unfinished wood communal tables, grey brick floors, and glass panels on either side; one overlooking the street, and one the minimalist interior courtyard. We are located in a half-demolished lanehouse on a remote corner of the Bund, with an “urban-decay chic” design featuring broken tiles, exposed brick, lots of rust and scuffed concrete. The interiors might not be your cup of tea, but do come here for the food – the razor clams with chorizo and coriander were particularly memorable.

For a taste closer to home, try Guyi and Lost Heaven. Guyi is an institution of sorts in terms of Hunan cuisine in Shanghai, with its original location on Fumin Lu perpetually crowded with diners who are willing to wait up to hours for it authentic, fiery food; unaffected by local tastes. Try the cumin-crusted ribs (ziran paigu) and fish-head with picked chilies (xiangxi yutou wang). Lost Heaven, on the other hand, is Chinese ethnic cuisine at its best. Housed in an old colonial house in the French Concession, Lost Heaven is like Yunnan’s version of Hakkasan with its dark wooden beams, embroidered drapery, chic, ethnic décor, and very good food indeed. I came to Lost Heaven for the first time in 2006 and have been coming back on all my visits ever since. Prepared to be spoilt by choices from Dali, Lijiang, and even Burma.

If you have time for only one Shanghainese restaurant, come to Jesse, the cornerstone restaurant of Shanghainese cooking that has sprawled a chain of new “Jesses” around town. This is however, by far the best with its no-nonsense Shanghainese staples like red-braised pork, sticky rice-ball with Chinese dates (xintairuan), and a fish head covered in fried spring onions. Expect drab but clean interiors. Reservations essential.

Finally, although I’m not the biggest fan of Shanghainese street food, preferring the healthier, more delicate Taiwanese xiaolongbaos and shengjianbaos (pan-fried pork bun) to Shanghai’s more rugged versions, a visit to Jia Jia Tangbao and Xiaoyang Shengjian would bring a nice, local touch to this rather sophisticated eating itinerary. The dumplings at Jia Jia get 10 pinches as opposed to Din Tai Fung’s 18, but at RMB19.5 for a basket of a pork and crab xiaolongbaos, what is there to complain? Hit Jia Jia and Xiaoyang in one go at Huanghe Lu, and cross Shanghai street food off your list.

Then of course, if you want the glitz, there is still Prive, M1NT, and hoards of expensive chain hotels mushrooming all over Pudong. But, for those who know her better, Shanghai has a quiet, more cultured side; its in the food, and its here to stay.

OYAMA
2/F, 20 Dong Hu Lu
Tel: 02- 5405 7705

BAKER AND SPICE / MR. WILLIS
1 and 3/F, 195 An Fu Road,
near Wulu Muqi Road
tel: 021- 5404 0200

PHO REAL
166 Fumin Lu,
near Changle Lu
tel: 021-5403 8110

TABLE NO. 1
1/F, The Waterhouse Hotel,
1-3 Maojiayuan Lu,
near Zhongshan Nan Lu
tel: 021-6080 2918

GUYI
89 Fumin Lu,
near Julu Lu
Tel: 021- 6249 5628

LOST HEAVEN
38 Gaoyou Lu, near Fuxing Xi Lu
tel: 021- 6433 5126
(there is a new branch on the Bund at 17 Yan'an Dong Lu, near Sichuan Nan Lu, tel: 021- 6330 0967)

JESSE
41 Tianping Lu,
near Huaihai Xi Lu
tel: 021- 6282 9260

JIA JIA TANGBAO / YANG’S FRIED DUMPLINGS

90 and 97 Huanghe Lu,
near Beijing Lu
tel: 021- 6327 6878 / 5375 1793

Understated Luxury has a New Name in Shanghai

黃潔玲 described in yesterday’s Ming Pao Shanghai’s Puli Hotel as 低調奢華 – understated luxury – what a phrase. We have finally gone beyond the gimmicks and the flashy Philippe Stark era (thank God), beyond the minimalism and the opulent, or the dramas of Park Hyatts to something closer to home. 黃潔玲 described the Puli further in such terms:

窗外的世界很繁華， 室內倒總是安安靜靜， 自個兒活在resort的調子。平淡是福，尤其人家在忙，你在無所事事，這種閒情逸致，說穿了就是奢侈。
The world outside is glamourous, while the one inside is quaint and quiet; it indulges itself in a resort-like rhythm. Simplicity is bliss. This kind of peaceful comfort - especially when others are busy and you alone are procrastinating - in the end, is simply luxury in its own right.

I cannot agree with her more. The Puli, which opened in September last year, is my favourite hotel in recent years for that specific reason. This is a hotel which has all the qualities of a star yet does not like to show off. Even the entrance to the hotel was hidden from the main street. To enter, you have to endure the grumbles of the local taxi driver – 這是甚麼鬼地方啊？！(What kind of shithole is this?) - and past a bamboo barricade before you reach the hotel lobby.

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When you enter, it becomes a whole different story. 中國式隱喻 (Chinese metaphor) is what 黃潔玲 called it. Indeed, the Puli is like an ancient Chinese poet reborn in style. He wears the pared-down Prada mandarin collar suit in traditional Chinese silk, dines at Jean George yet holds a copy of 史湘雲 (a book about one of the main characters in “Dream of the Red Chamber”) in his hands. Indeed, at the Puli, you will find books such as these lying around the library alongside coffee table books about the works of Zaha Hadid, while antique Chinese cabinets lay alongside contemporary Chinese paintings. The traditional reception area is given an interesting makeover as a reception “bar” – an elongated teakwood bench and lowered floors on the other side of the reception table, all the way across the entire length of the lobby until it reaches the back where it becomes a real bar. Even the black marble flooring was apparently measured and designed in meticulous detail by the consultant who works on the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Inside the rooms, a Chinese style fish-scale-patterned screen divides the entrance from rest of the room, while the bathroom is open but could be fenced off using a sliding glass door inlayed with a cream-coloured Chinese silk. For tabletops, marble is swapped for a black Chinese inkstone which gives it an unusual matt finish – all convincing me more and more that this is someone who does not like to be in the spotlight, but prefers to remain in the shadows of his more extravagant competitors.

It is this character of his that had me hooked. And with free wifi, complimentary minibar (YES, complimentary as in “free of charge”), a restaurant headed by Dane Clouston (formerly of critically acclaimed Opia in Hong Kong) and a bill that comes up to merely RMB2880 for three nights, what more can you ask for?

璞麗璞麗, 樸實而華麗, 人如其名啊！
Puli puli, plain but elegant, what a befitting name!

Inauguration of "My Favourite Restaurants" in Shanghai

It is easy to become delusional in Shanghai. You often believe yourself to be in Europe only to be immediately transported back to mainland China with the snap of a finger, the yell of “fuwuyuan!” (server!), the sight of a man spitting into a perfectly manicured garden or the typos on the menu. However, to my surprise, my experience at Casa 13 on Huashan Road was rid of all such similar mishaps.

Casa 13 is the latest addition to the ever expanding Eduardo Vargas family (Azul, Viva, iiiit) and features Mediterranean classics in a secluded renovated 1920s house in the heart of the French Concession. My one time experience there was flawless by Shanghai standards – the food was great and perfect for sharing (and those who know me will know that I’m a sucker for all things tapas!), the service polite, and the house tastefully decorated.

This is the perfect place to impress a date or to round up a group of friends, sit out in the terrace while kick starting the meal with the charcuterie board over a glass of sangria. On the night I was there I received a little notebook named “My Favourite Restaurants” from my friend K. Might as well, Casa 13 can the first one listed.

Casa 13 is on No. 13, 1100 Huashan Lu
near Xingguo Lu 华山路1100号13室 近兴国路

Tel: (86) 21-5238-2782

10 reasons not to visit Lapis Casa in Shanghai

1. I was trying to find my way to Lapis Casa from the northern end of Xintiandi on the corner of Taicang Road and Huangpi West Road. I called up and reported my location, asking for directions to the hotel. The staff on duty said, “We are located on the north of Xintiandi near 企業天地, where Bellagio (the Taiwanese restaurant) is.”

“Ok, but I am now at the corner of Xintiandi on the junction of Taicang Road and Huangpi West Road. Is your hotel located on the other corner of Xintiandi along Taicang Road?”

“Yes”. But when I walked over to the other side there was nothing but Paul’s (and what joy the sight of Paul’s brought me! I had been waiting for years for the arrival of Paul’s in HK and who would have thought that Shanghai would beat us to it in bringing this famed French bakery to the city? Favourite pickup at Paul: palmier – unfortunately, or fortunately, they don’t sell it here in Shanghai) and Starbucks. So I called again, this time giving them names of all streets enclosing Xintiandi plus my exact location. Still, they gave me the standardized answer. It was only after about 5 minutes down the conversation was I finally able to squeeze some useful information out of his confusing directions which led me to finally find the hotel.

2. The door did not open when I tried to insert my key card into the door. My mother had arrived earlier & had complained of the same problem with her keys, after which they claimed to have been caused by a mechanical failure of the locks, and which they supposedly later fixed. The same problem repeated itself after checkout. Total failures at attempts to open door – 3.

3. It was written in the hotel literature that the rooms are equipped with DVD players. However, I turned the room upside down and found no DVD player. I called reception and was told that they would bring a DVD player to the room. However, the TV was installed on a blank wall with no cabinet whatsoever underneath. The DVD player had to sit on a chair moved over from the dressing table. It took the staff half an hour to figure out how to connect the DVD player to the TV.

4. The sink was leaking water. The bathroom went wet before anyone took a shower.

5. The rainforest shower head was about 5 inches from the top of my head.

6. The temperature adjuster is super sensitive yet super slow at sending signals. The slightest movement in the adjuster turns the water super hot or super cold, about five minutes after the knob is turned. Water pressure is also low.

7. Towels are small and thin, amenities meager.

8. Breakfast is served at the adjacent River Seine French Restaurant. Food was already disappointing, but the biggest joke came when the toaster did not work. A manager came to fix the problem but burnt our toast. I asked a second member of staff to come take a look, “Your toaster is broken. Can you fix the problem?”

“Oh, it’s not broken, there’s just a little malfunction.”

9. When we complained about the various problems above to the reception during check out, our initial response was – no response at all. Zilch. Not a word of apology, not even, “Oh really?”Just an embarrassing glance. After persistent complaints they finally mumbled, “But we’ve had a lot of customers from overseas. They all like our place very much and return to us. If you return next time we will give you an upgrade.”

10. Jia just opened not far from here. Who needs Lapis when we have Jia?

Staying at Lapis Casa is like staying at a mediocre bed and breakfast in Europe, with a price tag of RMB1,700. Sure there is some “old Shanghai charm”like its predecessor, restaurant Lapis Lazuii on Dong Ping Lu. But like Lapis Lazuii Lapis Casa is a meretricious place.

Farewell Lapis Casa! Looks like will not be seeing you for a long while.

If you want to visit Tenya, my favourite all you can eat Japanese toro restaurant in Shanghai, however, the restaurant is located right inside Lapis Casa and you can find it on 68 Taicang Road, near Shun Chang Road (Tenya tel: 021-53836886, Lapis Casa tel: 021-53821600)

The Keanu Reeves in Shanghai Cabbies

Funny thing I noticed about cabbies in Shanghai, perhaps throughout China, is how, despite all their rudeness, crassness, loudness, amazing driving skills and admirable spitting habits (I always wondered, what is the cause of this spitting habit? I have tried oh so hard to cough up the mucus but try as I might I never succeeded in producing them, unless I was sick of course. Nothing comes out! Is this then a result of years of practice since childhood or this is a sad result of air pollution in China? The act of spitting itself is clearly not pleasurable at all so it is hard to imagine that it could be addictive and hence a habit. I then search deep down my memory to think whether people in the supposedly smoke-free environment of Kunming spit – and they do! So what have we got left? Spitting is neither a habit nor a result of air pollution. So what else can it be? Can someone enlighten me here?) , they are in fact remarkably honest. If you give them the benefit of the doubt they might turn out to be quite charming in some cases, and the most important thing is, they are by any standard far more polite than your average Hong Kong cabby.

Your Typical Shanghai Cab Ride

Cabby: Hello, where do you want to go?
Passenger: Junction of Huashan Road and Zhenning Road please.
Cabby: Let me make a U-turn. It is easier this way.
(Cabby makes U-turn and does not start the meter until he has fully completed the turn, is out of the vicinity of the deadlocked traffic and actually on the move)
Cabby: Are you Korean? (rolls down window and “tu!”)
Passenger: No. Do I look Korean?
Cabby: You don’t look Chinese, but your Chinese is very good! Where are you from?
Passenger: Well I was raised in Taiwan and…
Cabby: (Cabby jumped in without waiting for passenger to finish her sentence) Oh, Taiwan, I know Taiwan very well, my grandfather used to work alongside General Jiang Jieshi! Do you know xxx? (Cabby brushes past a biker, the distance between them a mere five centimeter. Both biker and driver continued his way as if nothing happened) He is very famous in Taiwan!
Passenger: (stiff and holding on to handle. She has not heard of xxx, but nods her head ferociously anyway) Yes of course.

Shanghai Finds - Ferguson Lane

Mum called me up few days ago to ask me whether I have been to Ferguson Lane in Shanghai. Apparently it is billed in Hong Kong’s Ming Pao as the new 蒲点“pu dian”, or, unless anyone comes up with a better translation of the term, “place to hang out”. I told mum, of course I have been! Heard about it, read about it, bought flowers there for the apartment and sat at Coffee Tree for a cup of tea.

Ming Pao or my mum may have used the wrong term for it (as the term 蒲点 usually refers to bars or clubs), but Ferguson Lane is quite rightly the upcoming place to hang out. A lifestyle hub with loft-style trendy office spaces, cafes, art galleries and artsy shops, Ferguson Lane is like a smaller Xintiandi without the gaggle of tourists and instead a touch of history. Doing some research on the internet I realized that Ferguson Lane takes its name from the small street it is on. Today's Wukang Lu was formerly named Ferguson Route, in honour of John Calvin Ferguson, a young American missionary sent to China at the turn of last century who was a prominent foreign figure in successive Chinese governments and who founded Nan King University, today's Jiao Tong University.

Once you enter the quite alleyway off leafy pleasant Wukang Road there is a small flower shop selling fresh flowers and indoor plants. You then walk through two newly renovated French concession buildings with exposed brick walls on your left (I love brick walls) right before you reach the main building which is apparently a former hospital. There is a Coffee Tree on your left, Globus Wines right next to it, an interesting looking homeware store further right, then you see Franck, a highly rated French restaurant.

Being on Ferguson Lane is like being back in Europe, with a twist. The clientele is largely foreign, both Coffee Tree and Franck has al fresco tables to transport you back to Paris, and then you bend round to the back of the hospital building and you see the clothing store D.I.S – Dutch In Shanghai – we are in China after all. But this is what makes Ferguson Lane an even more special place.

Ferguson Road is at 376 Wukang Road (junction of Wukang Road and Taian Road)

Shanghai Finds - Dagu Road

This is absolutely hilarious. Walking down Dagu Road today, apart from the numerous new cafes, restaurants and massage parlours (you have the best in Shanghai all within walking distance from each other, Dragonfly, Taipan and Peony amongst other lesser known names), I came upon two DVD stores that look exactly the same and right across the street from each other. To be exact, I did not come upon them just like that. In fact I had heard about these two stores on Dagu Road but this was the first time I saw them ‘in person’ – and what a hilarious sight it was.

To your left on 378 Dagu Road (if you are coming in from all the massage parlours that is) is Movie World. On your right hand side is Movie Star on 407 Dagu Road. So which one should I go into? Pondering hard (I know I should not be using the words “ponder” and “hard” together, but somehow, I just love the sound of the combination) and starting to feel helpless I saw under Movie Star’s store sign a banner that reads “EVEN BETTER THAN MOVIE WORLD”. Voila! So Movie Star is better than Movie World – and not just better, its EVEN BETTER, implying that Movie Star actually harbours at least respect for Movie World.

Easy choice then. Movie World it is: 1. Movie Star is even better, so Movie World must be pretty good to start off with. 2. Never liked comparative advertising to begin with. If you have to compare, it means you have nothing better to say about yourself.

So for those of you on a weekend spree to Shanghai & short on time, head to Dagu Road for a one-stop cure to all (or some) of your Shanghai cravings – good massage, nice coffee shops to regenerate in between, and not one, but two, good DVD stores.

Shanghai Finds - Taikang Road

Never intended to walk into a little piece of Provence in the middle of Shanghai at Bohemia Café. In fact, never intended to walk into a little piece of Europe in the middle of Shanghai in the form of Taikang Road.

Once again, although I have long heard of Taikang Road, it having made a name as an artist and designer’s enclave with lazy, loungy cafes, for some reason (again one too elusive to expound upon here) it was only recently that I had the chance to visit. I was bought ten seconds walking down Lane 210 (i.e.田子坊) in the middle of Taikang Road. Once down the alley you are surrounded by one off shops selling mostly Chinese or ethnic inspired pieces, from homeware to jewelry to stuffed toys and dressing gowns. Allow yourself to get lost in this labyrinth of alleyways (if you insist on not being lost, at the end of the main alley look for the sign to Ginger Café on your left. You will come across Japanese Antique Clothes on your left. Continue to the end of the courtyard and dog-leg left down the tiny alley) to find cafés with al fresco tables and an interesting, bohemian crowd nestled amongst the charm of old Shanghai. Here local residents go about their daily lives, hanging their washing above your heads and rubbing shoulders with tourists and local foreigners alike in their pajamas.

Amongst the many stores in this lost alleyway you will find Nuzi, a furniture shop from New Zealand selling bespoke wooden wares, Amidu, a gallery selling original Tibetan tangkas, and best of all Bohemia Café.

My best Shanghai find of the year, Bohemia Café spells rustic chic in Provencal terms. With unpolished wooden furniture, exposed brick walls from which sits dainty tea candles, fresh flowers and a team of expatriate staff, Bohemia Café is the ideal place is waste an afternoon in a book or on your laptop (like I was doing today). The banana cake was a bit on the dry side but the friendly staff and sweet airy environment pretty much made up for any shortcoming in terms of food.

Love for thy Neighbourhood (Part I of III) - Shanghai's Le Passage Fuxing

I have a tendency to love all things ‘neighbourly’. The same kind of shop or restaurant, one in my neck of the woods and another in a fancy district some 15-minute cab ride away and I will vouch for the one in my neighbourhood any day. I believe this is the same kind of love attributed to the ‘girl next door’, or 邻家女孩, a phenomenon I have in fact yet to understand (according to wikipedia, the girl next door is someone who exudes “wholesome, unassuming, or ‘average’ femininity…”).

Places, however, as opposed to girls, I understand, and in Shanghai the best example of my neighbourly love is Le Passage Fuxing on Fuxing West Road near Huashan Road. Le Passage Fuxing may indeed be unassuming thanks to its modest exterior but take a stroll down its small alleyway and you will see that it is far from average.

Housed over two floors in an old colonial building, Le Passage Fuxing boasts Cha Gang (edgy Japanese unisex separates) on the ground floor, stylish sino-chic yoga studio Y+ above, cosy and airy café Ginger (with free Wi-Fi – you will often find me here in lazy afternoon writing blogs and reading the papers) at the back and Rouge Baiser (pretty embroidered table and bed linen) near the exit. I guess there goes your girl next door at a neighbourly joint.

Lost Heaven Found in Shanghai

With Lost Heaven billing itself as the Folk Cuisine of Yunnan and with an address smack in the middle of the French Concession on Gao You Road in Shanghai, I knew this would be my kind of restaurant. However, for some reason Lost Heaven has never gained a following amongst the Asian expatriate crowd in Shanghai and accordingly I have been kept in the dark from it until now.

This is not to say that Lost Heaven is not popular. In fact, it is VERY popular and on the Friday night that we visited the three of us had to cram in a two-person table right above the stairs. The moment I stepped into the little courtyard leading to the main reception area I was bought. I have to say this again: this restaurant is just so me! Stylish, hip, yet rustic and ethnic – could this be nana’s bags you are talking about? In Lost Heaven’s courtyard hangs pictures of rice paddies and ethnic minority women at work while the main restaurant area is backlit with long strips of miao embroidered runners. Scattered throughout the restaurant you find nice surprises like lamp bases made of ethnic silverware and ethnic sculptures in the restrooms. Lighting is dim, the walls are crimson and the mood is laid back and romantic. You will even find a small cosy bar on the ground floor.

The most pleasant surprise of all came from the food. Everything we ordered was utterly delicious. The menu boasts cuisines from the ethnic tribes of Dai, Miao, and even Burma, and though their authenticity is questionable, who really cares when they taste so good? We ordered a spicy melon, stir fried mixed wild fungus, spicy chicken, spicy mussels and stir fried rice cakes with tomato and egg (ethnicity and ingredients unknown –was too excited about my find - but all on the spicy side), which turned out to be all, very good indeed.

If you like nana’s bags, you will absolutely adore this place. Lost Heaven has made it to nanamoose’s top Shanghai list, so make sure you book a table in advance the next time you visit!

Lost Heaven is at 38 Gao You Road, Shanghai (near Fuxing Xi Road) tel: +86 21 64335126