Ditch your shitty rice cookers, check out these aesthetically-pleasing babies. Helen Chen’s Rice Cooker & Sang Jang Lee’s concept design.
January, 2010
25
Jan 10
Phat in Shanghai: Tenya
I’ve said it before, but Shanghai has some of the best Japanese food around. Unlike Western food or even Chinese in the city.. its reliable and consistent. Tenya is one of my favorite places to go for a sushi dinner.
There are two Tenyas, I prefer the one off of Huashan Lu in the French Concession. Tenya is known for its snow crab and quality toro, but skip the crab leg hot pot – its such a rip-off. Instead, ask for the sushi menu. I don’t know why they don’t automatically give it to you, you have to ask for it specifically. It’s China service.
This is the best dish on the menu – the “Bukkake Salad”. Yeah, I don’t know why its called that either. Haha. It’s an 8pc cucumber roll topped with snow crab leg meat, minced toro, and salmon roe. For $98RMB, its quite a good deal. You get to sample Tenya’s two specialties, and they are quite generous with the crab and toro toppings. Yum!
Now I’m not saying the sushi at Tenya is cheap, but its really good quality for what you pay. Nigiri ranges from $8RMB/2pcs to $28RMB/2pc for more luxe items like uni and snow crab leg.
My favorites off the sushi menu are the uni (creamy, fresh, full of flavor), scallop (sweet and delicious), and the grilled salmon topped with fried shallots (to die for, the shallots really do it up). I would avoid any clam-related sushi.. not very good. The handrolls are pretty nice too, I think they cost about $28RMB and I love the very necessary addition of a shiso leaf.
Enjoy!
$$$
Tenya
2/F, Lane 1520 Huashan Lu, at Tai’an Lu
(It’s actually in a driveway off Tai’an Lu between Huashan & Shinfu)
华山路1520弄2楼，近泰安路
+86 6281 4918
www.tei.com.cn
21
Jan 10
Phat in Shanghai: Mr. Willis
Anfu Lu is certainly shaping up to be laowai-ville. Expats are flocking to the new Vargas/Wagas concept building that includes La Strada for brick oven pizza, Baker & Spice for rustic breads, and the new home-style eatery, Mr. Willis. After hearing good things, I definitely wanted to check it out. Met up with Anita for a nice Sunday brunch.
After you ascend up the wood-paneled staircase to the third floor restaurant, you are greeted enveloped in the warm, bustling atmosphere that is Mr. Willis at brunch time. The crowd is casual, the art is bad, and its perfect for a lazy Sunday.
The pate at Mr. Willis. Pretty good. Served with good bread from Baker & Spice downstairs.
The menu at Mr. Willis sounds really fabulous. Omelettes with chorizo and potatoes! Ricotta and smoked salmon! But when you get your dish you are really puzzled at the price tag to portion size ration. I’m not sayin that this ricotta omelette wasn’t good, but it certainly wasn’t worth $85RMB. Throw in a goddamn salad or something!
A complete benedict fail. Last time I checked an eggs benedict came on English muffins and were not assembled into a two-egg sandwich. I think this was served on a hamburger bun? The hollandaise was tasty, but once again, definitely not worth the $85RMB. If you’re not going to toss in a salad or a potato side, I would scrap the oversize plates. It makes your dish look.. sad.. lonely… unsatisfying.
I’ve heard good things about Mr. Willis’ dinner menu and I would be happy to go back and try it. But as for brunch? You can catch me at the other Vargas outpost, Azul.
$$$
Mr. Willis
3/F, 195 Anfu Lu at Wulumuqi Lu
安福路195号3楼, 近乌鲁木齐路
+86 5404 0200
20
Jan 10
Poor Man’s Dinner
When I was in HK, my friend Lindsay whipped up these awesome instant noodles. They were fresh noodles instead of the dried shit you usually get. (Although I do love me some Shin Ramyun) I popped into Lawson’s and found these delicious noodles in their fridge. Yay!
They come 2 servings to a pack, for $11RMB. This is the pork bone flavor, these also a duck flavor.. mm.
Also had to hit up Arugula Lady for some goods.. this is like $6RMB worth of veggies. I never really ate fresh shiitake til i got here. I’m so happy to have them on hand all the time – they are so good and add so much flavor to whatever you cook with them.
Follow the instructions on the back, and voila! Dinner for two for $17RMB (~$2.50USD). Add a poached runny egg if ya fancy.
15
Jan 10
Phat in Shanghai: Boxing Cat Brewery
I feel so fortunate to live where I do. Shelter, el Coctel, Kito’s, & the Boxing Cat Brewery are all just a hop and skip away from my front door. Guess what I’m sayin is.. I like to be able to stumble home.
Boxing Cat is another venture by serial-restauranteur Kelley Lee. Ms. Lee is definitely doin something right, all her restaurants (Cantina Agave, Closed Door, Iiiit!) are doing really well and churning out fantastic food. Boxing Cat is a great place to go if you’re in the mood for some Southern comfort food and a tall glass of microbrew. The service is always super friendly, and bike friendly! On the weekends it feels a little like Boston – lots of baseball caps up in there. Where there is beer, the frat boys will come.
The bread at Boxing Cat is really good. It’s like half bread/half cake, all delicious. Served with herbed butter? Yes, please.
Fried goat cheese & beetroot salad. I die over this salad, its so good. I think it’s my favorite salad in the world, in fact. I love the way the creaminess of the goat cheese goes perfectly with the acidity of the well-dressed butter lettuce. I’m not a salad girl at all, but when I’m at Boxing Cat, I gotta have this.
The halibut & oyster fish and chips is a major fail. The batter is super thick and soggy. I ended up cutting the fish out of the chewy batter… not very good. I was definitely kicking myself for ordering this.
The Lazy Man’s Fried Chicken. This dish is so much better. The chicken is juicy and tender and stays crispy even though its smothered in a white gravy. The rosemary biscuit is quite thick and dense.. a nice touch. Next time I’ll be sure to get this instead of the fish and chips!
$$$
Boxing Cat Brewery
82 Fuxing Xi Lu at Yongfu Lu
复兴西路82号
French Concession, Shanghai
+86 6431-2091
15
Jan 10
Phat in Shanghai: Travelled Coffee & Tea
Moganshan Lu is a pretty cool place. It’s Shanghai’s art district and one of the only places you can take in some sick graffiti in the city. (Well, until the clean-up crews finish) It’s a little lane full of contemporary art galleries doing their thang and well worth the visit. If you’re ever in the area and in need of a quick bite to eat, Travelled Coffee & Tea is the (only) place.
The meals are super cheap, only $28RMB (~$4USD), while a coffee or tea will cost you about the same. My favorite dish is the mushroom and chicken rice. Enjoy!
$
Travelled Tea & Coffee
50 Moganshan Lu
at Xi Suzhou Lu
莫干山路50号近苏州河
Shanghai
13
Jan 10
Phat in Shanghai: Bo Duo Xin Ji
Canto food in Shanghai is not really Canto food. It’s always got some weird additional ingredients, or its too sweet, or its just.. unfamiliar. But let’s face it.. we’re not really in Canton so its ok. Bo Duo Xin Ji is one of those spots that cooks “Cantonese” food, but doesn’t. Yet, their brand of Shanghai-style Canto/Chao Zhou is super delicious, casual, and almost reminds me of home.
Bo Duo Xin Ji is a chain restaurant with several outlets throughout Shanghai. We visited the one on Fuxing at Huahai Lu. It’s been recently renovated – now features some sweet Ikea chairs and signature black/red plaid fits for the waitstaff. Upgrade! The menu is the same.
We ordered this spinach in soup to start. I like that at BDXJ you can get your veggies wok-fried with garlic, or in this delicious soup with goji berries, fried garlic, and dried scallops. It’s perfect for a brick ass winter day in Shanghai, and with a bowl of steaming hot rice, it could almost be a meal in itself. Almost.
Ah, steamed Cantonese meatloaf. This is the ultimate home cooking dish for me. My dad minces half lean/half fatty pork with fragrant dried shiitake and woodear, while my girl Gee does hers up with Chinese pickles. I’ve only had this at a restaurant a few times, and I still think it’s kind of weird that I’m not eating it at home. BDXJ does their meatloaf with water chestnuts and pickles on top. It’s super tasty, and I love the crunch of the water chestnuts. But they could mince their meat a little better… fat chunks between every other bite is not a good look. This dish comes with a scoop of rice, green bean pickles, and boiled napa cabbage on plate. Kind of weird for a Cantonese resto, but I like it.
Herring with Chinese pickles (mei gan cai). This dish is so good. A nice section of white fish steamed with Chinese pickles and shredded green onions. Mei Gan Cai pickles are made from sun-dried mustard greens or bok choy and are not very acidic. They just lend a really fragrant flavor to the dish that works well with the soy sauce and green onions. Mmmm. This dish also comes with the whole rice plate thing too. BDXJ also offers whole fish, but for a weeknight dinner for two, this portion was perfect. Whole fish – next time!
$
Bo Duo Xin Ji 博多新记
1465 Fuxing Lu at Huahai Lu
复兴中路1465号近淮海中路
+86 6437-2222
12
Jan 10
Phat in Shanghai: Baker & Spice
So while I was on vacay in the USA, looks like a lot of stuff happened here in Shanghai. Central Studios opened up with bang, Arugula Lady expanded and took over the shop next door, el Coctel became the new hotspot, and Baker & Spice opened up in the French Concession. I was very excited when I heard a new bakery opened up in my hood, but a little hesistant when I found out it was a Wagas concept. I am unimpressed by their expensive Western food, but still respect what they are doing out here.
The bakery looks really promising – nice prime location on Anfu Lu next to plenty of coffee shops and restaurants. The interiors are slick and feature an industrial kitchen separated from the retail space by a pane of glass. Looks good.
The baguettes are quite good – only around $15RMB for a loaf of crusty bread. The variety of bread loaves they bake is really impressive. They also offer bagels, homemade granola, and assorted pastries and tarts. I tried this apricot danish and blehhh what a waste. I expected loose, flaky, crispy pastry, but instead got a chewy lump of inedible crap. Not the best pastry, but not the worst either. The brownies with white chocolate are good though.
For lunch, Baker & Spice also offers simple pressed sandwiches for $45RMB. The rocket, parma ham, and mozzerella cheese is a winner.
Go early when the pastries are fresh and the baguettes haven’t all been snapped up by hungry laowai like myself.
$
Baker & Spice
195 Anfu Lu
at Wulumuqi Lu
French Concession, Shanghai
+86 21 5404 2733
www.wagas.com.cn
12
Jan 10
Phat in NYC: Raymund’s Place
I love Willyb because even though its overrun with young, creative, upwardly-mobile, “hip” people… hipsters, i believe you call them… it still retains some of the culture of its past inhabitants. Puerto Rican food on the south side, Polish on the north. Love it. I met up with some good friends for dinner at Raymund’s on Bedford. It’s a nice spot to go to when you are a group in search of cheap eats. Just make sure you order the right things!
I’ve been to Raymunds a lot in the past.. but I usually get the same thing (white borscht + split the polish plate.). This time I decided to get adventurous.. bad idea. Stick to the schnitzel and the kielbasa.. everything else on the menu is pretty bland and disappointing. Like this, the “roast pork.” More like boiled, tough, dry, tasteless pork medallions in white sauce. bleh. The cucumber salad was good though.
One dish that Raymunds does really well is the apple pancakes. I’ve never had them anywhere else that does them as good. They come 4 to and order and topped with this slightly sweet, mild sour cream. It’s fantastic. Almost made up for the shitty roast pork dish.
If you go – stick to the tried and true. The white borscht is really tasty and comes with a side of mashed potatoes topped with bacon – pretty much a meal in itself. And you can’t really go wrong with the Polish Platter – kielbasa, pierogies, and kraut. Yum.
I miss you guys!
If you want a REALLY good Polish meal, walk up Bedford through the park and hit up Lomzynianka on Manhattan. It’s the real deal – every dish is amazing and their homemade sauerkraut is the bomb! The Girl Who Ate Everything has a great review.
$
Raymund’s Place
124 Bedford Ave
at N 10th
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Bedford L
+01 718-388-4200
$
Lomzynianka
646 Manhattan Avenue
at Bedford
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Nassau G
+01 718-389-9439
www.lomzynianka.com
12
Jan 10
Phat in NYC: Xe Lua
NYC’s Chinatown is a treasure-trove of cheap eats. I know, because when I was a super-broke student and working a 9-5 to pay tuition, I used to thank god that my office was in Chinatown. When I wasn’t on the $3.50 banh mi tip, I would mosey on over to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in the hood, Xe Lua. Like San Francisco’s taquerias, NYC’s spots for cheap Vietnamese spark great debate. Nam Son, Tai Son, Pho Pasteur, Pho Bang.. yeah yeah I’ve tried them all and I keep coming back to Xe Lua. Not only is the decor funky (plastic fish swimming across the walls), the service is super friendly and it’s never hard to get a table. Plus, I’m pretty sure this is the only cheap Viet restaurant in NYC that offers you sawtooth/razorleaf herb with your pho.
This is my favorite dish – bun with grilled porkchops and fried spring rolls. The spring rolls at Xe Lua are to die for. I always get them. They aren’t traditional in the sense that they use a Chinese-style egg roll wrapper instead of rice paper. But the filling of pork and veggies is so perfect and garlicky… and I think I actually prefer the egg roll wrapper. It makes it super crispy. The pork is always well marinated and grilled to perfection – juicy! Xe Lua’s fish sauce is amazing. They go heavy on shallots, making the flavor superb and wondefully addictive. I gotta say the carrot and daikon pickles could use better knifework, but regardless, all the ingredients come together to make the perfect bowl of bun.
The house special pho at Xe Lua is also stellar – huge servings with plenty of offal (tendon, tripe.. all the goodies). The broth is nice and beefy, a little on the salty side, and not too greasy. Many times I have finished the Pho Xe Lua all by myself… with not even a drop of broth remaining. Yeah, its that good.
If you go, make sure to sit up front near the window – that’s my table. 
$
86 Mulberry St
South of Canal
Chinatown, Manhattan
NRW/456 to Canal
+01 212-577-8887
www.xeluanewyork.com
