Author: life-china

It started with a lasagna and it ended with a lasagna. I was at an Italian family restaurant that’s been around for ages. It’s deep in a lane, packed seven nights a week, a neighborhood staple. I ordered a drink and a lasagna. The lasagna, an average mushy square of sauce and cheese, made it to the table before the drink, and the drink didn’t take long. It was hot as lava and crusty as a wet towel. Telltale signs of the microwave. My date had an arrabbiata, so bland it couldn’t be saved by any of the...

Speakeasies. What are they even, really? Some degree of hidden, expensive, and dying out, if the prevailing wisdom is to be believed. R.I.P. Dry Goods, U Way and the original Tailor Bar. We did a little survey on the state of this tired, worn-out genre of bars, and here're the ones that are still around! Speak Low 579 Fuxing Zhong Lu, near Ruijin Er Lu View ListingTaxi Printout Arguably the one that really kicked off this godforsaken trend back in 2014, this busy Japanese-style speakeasy from Shingo Gokan is hidden behind a secret door...

Bleu Bar 88 Songshan Lu, near Taicang Lu View ListingTaxi Printout Quick Take: Fancy whiskey cocktails in a bleu environment at Andaz Hotel. What It Is: Physically replacing Éclair, Andaz Hotel's in-house patisserie, and filling the spiritual void left by the closing of Xuan, Bleu Bar is Andaz Hotel's new centerpiece watering hole. Designed by Japanese firm Tofu Inc, it certainly is very bleu, featuring an extensive blonde-wood log bar with comfy low bar seats. Thumbs-up on the bar seats. Sprinkled in the window-nooks are musical instruments and curios, and there's a massive pair...

Kelvin Chai is officially the Executive Chef of Mercato Shanghai and Guangzhou, and, more quietly, the man who developed the menu for new Japanese restaurant Shinpaku at Three on the Bund. The Shanghai native started as Mercato’s sous chef in 2012 and four years later became the head man in the kitchen. Now he’s the one responsible for the 50-odd truffle pizzas the restaurant sells each day, and for taking care of the 400+ customers that pass through the doors on busy nights. He likes to drink high and eat low, and this is where. Yi Gui He’s...