梅亭

Individual shabu shabu pots, all you can eat 88 rmb in Jing'an. We negotiated for AYC beer too. Fun with a big group, and I loved the carpaccio

841 Yan'an Zhong Lu, OOCL Building 1F (look for the building with green vertical lights)
静安区延安中路841号东方海外大厦1楼

13651617578

http://rakurakupress.com/restaurant/2143.html　
http://www.dianping.com/review/22555250

Four Seasons 四季亭

Japanese izakaya food and beer/sake. Pretty good and super cheap! Steak tartare, sushi, sashimi, age tofu, lots of selection. All you can eat and drink for 150rmb per person.

369 Xinhua Road by Pan Yu Road
新华路369路近番禺路

They also have a few other locations

6280-0249

Mr & Mrs Bund

This is one of my favorites in Shanghai I think. Fun elegant, with mix of loungey and funky "Alice in Wonderland" furniture and waiters (right now they are all wearing MM soccer jerseys), and most importantly delicious food and cocktails. They call themselvs "a modern French eatery in cosmopolitan Shanghai"

I was lucky enough to have two occassions in a weekend to dine -- apparently reservations are impossible to get there.

Friday evening, I joined a friend's dinner late. They had done all of the ordering and brought his own wine so I just sat back and enjoyed. Starters included tuna tartare, a light fish marinade, and delicious beef carpaccio. Bread's good too, with this super light . The spare rib off the bone had amazing flavor and delectable meat. Loved it. Pork I was a little less excited about, but I find it hard to get excited about pork. We ordered four or five desserts to share (table of 8) and all were just amazing.

Saturday night, I was with our wonderful organizer way early, enough to be about a cocktail ahead of the crowd, and what a lovely cocktail it was -- a wasabi martini, one of the multitude of yummy, can't-tasting-a-lick-of-alcohol creative martinis. I sadly did not complete my goal to make it through the whole martini menu, but the raspberry, French (Chambourd), ginger pineapple, and Mr Bund (basil) are all worth trying (for the record, I tasted a number of my colleagues' drinks, not all mine!)

We had a group of 21 at the tall table with tall chairs (quintessential Alice in Wonderland pieces) and also the set menu with family style for all courses. Most of it was delicious - starters include a pate, eggplant tartine, cold chicken with aioli, with a beef bourgignon with mash and the best fish for mains.

Caveat, I didn't pay for it, but otherwise might be tough to do twice in a weekend

http://www.mmbund.com/

Phone: 6323 9898

6/F, Bund 18, 18 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, near Nanjing Dong Lu
中山东一路18号6楼, 近南京东路

Azul

I think I found my favorite Shanghai brunch place. Azul Tapas lounge is "Peruvian Modern Cuisine" with a fantastic 130rmb brunch that gets you a drink, coffee/tea, two dishes, and scones/bread. 160rmb if you want 3 dishes.

I had a bloody mary (pretty good), gazpacho with crab meat, and Latin steak and eggs. Scone also yummy and warm and comes with regular or honey butter and jam. I loved my gazpacho and was ok with the steak and eggs (simply because I happen to like everything rare and this wasn't, taste was good). However, I had terrible food envy of my lovely brunchmates who had a Spanish bruschetta, gourmet omelette with goat cheese, asparagus and other veggies (this was delicious, I am getting that next time), and blue berry pancakes. Benedict looked good too.

Also the drinks, though there were many bloodies to go around, the fruit shakes looked fantastic too. Cute neighborhood in French Concession right by Sashas.

http://www.azulviva.com/
Reservations at azul@azulviva.com or 6433-1172

http://www.smartshanghai.com/venue/357/Azul_Tapas_Lounge_/_Viva_New_World_Cuisine_shanghai

18 Dongping Road (by Hengshan Road), Xuhui District, Shanghai
上海市徐汇区东平路18号

Mesa

I went for rooftop drinks, but Mesa also has dinner.

Drinks were very fun, great crowd inside with pop-music dancing and outdoors.

The Thailander was interesting Absolut Peppar drink with a huge kick. It was good for one drink, not for the night.

Muombie is a ridiculous (secret) concoction of alcohol and some kind of Malibu rum or coconut juice that goes for 98 rmb. It says two per person, but you really shouldn't need more than that.

www.mesa-manifesto.com

748 julu road (east of fumin rd), shanghai china 200040
(86) 21 6289 9108

Sichuan Citizen

Cool Sichuan restaurant run by the same people as Citizen Cafe. Pretty foreigner-friendly and had more ex-pats than Chinese, but yummy food, interesting drinks and fun atmosphere.

Four of us had pan fried green peppers, tofu, string beans, chicken, fried pork, and rice, with a few drinks and came out to about 50 rmb per person.

http://www.citizenshanghai.com/

30 Donghu Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu
东湖路30号 近淮海中路

5404-1235

Dintaifung

Dintaifung is a great Shanghainese and dim sum-like restaurant in Xintiandi. Ironically, it's a Taiwanese chain with locations across China and Asia (and one in LA), but some say Dintaifung has some of the best shaolongbao in the city (my favorite for now).

For the shaolongbao, they come in sets of 5 dumplings. I would recommend the standard pork, pork with hairy crab, and the chicken. All delicious and quite different. Drip out the sauce and then slurp the whole thing (and be careful not to burn your tongue if you decide not to let out some of the hot soup first).

I have brought vegetarians who were quite happy as well. Many veg/tofu dishes if you want and all quite good. Raw cucumbers with sesame oil and hot peppers. A bean curd and mushroom dish, quite some heat. Veg dumplings. Veg and pork and veg pork buns. Mushrooms with oyster sauce. Noodles with peanut sauce. Fried rice with egg and scallion. My favorite of the green dishes is the morning glory with ginger.

http://www.dintaifungsh.com.cn/

Located on second floor of the mall-like complex in Xintiandi.

2/F, South Block Plaza, Lane 123 Xingye Lu, near Madang Lu
新天地南里广场5楼, 兴业路123 弄， 近马当路
Phone: 6385 8378

Metropolis

Hong Kong
May 2009


Metropol's dining hall is above the Admiralty MTR Station (4F). It is an enormous dim sum restaurant, but with both carts and a buffet center to order from. Delicious and reasonable and every kind of dim sum you could want.

Lingba

August 2008
Sunday brunch

Interesting Asian fusion-y menu at this cute place in Richmond (maybe? I have no idea where this really is).

Really yummy bloody mary's with an entire stick of bacon in it, pretty amazing. They had some great appetizers that we split - a corn fritatta kind of thing, fried egg rolls with risotto inside, taro chips with mango and tuna tartar, and ribs. My meal was kurobuta pork hash with roasted potatoes, kabocha pumpkin and poached eggs.

http://www.lingba.com/

1469 18th Street (and Connecticut), San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 355-0001

Palo Alto Sol

August 2008
Dinner

Popular Mexican place on California Ave with great and potent margaritas. I love the food, though I always go back to the carne asada plate or fajitas. Everyone is always happy with their choice though.

www.paloaltosol.net

408 S California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306
(650) 328-8840

La Bodequita Del Medio

August 2008
Dinner

Yummy though pricey Cuban restaurant on California Ave. Great drinks and pretty amazing food.

www.labodeguita.com

463 California Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306
(650) 326-7762

Pampas

Marie's Going Away Dinner
June 2008

Great new Brazilian churrascaria across the street from the train station at Alma and Hamilton. Pretty big and trendy venue, with a lounge/bar space up front and several dining areas. They have pretty good caipirinhas and other fresh mixed drinks.

Like many churrascarias, there is a phenomenal salad bar buffet ($27 I think), which would be worth it by itself. Add $20 and you get all you can eat meat too. Yum. Not the cheapest place, but fun and you definitely get full.

http://www.pampaspaloalto.com/

529 Alma St, Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 327-1323

Tomales Bay Oyster Company

July 2008
Picnic with Take, Carolyn and James

Wonderful trip to Tomales Bay up Route 1 about an hour north of San Francisco. There is a parking lot, picnic tables and a counter to buy oysters, but you can make a fantastic day of it if you bring up the right stuff. Mainly several bottles of champagne and white wine (we brought 5 and ended up taking a trip to get a few more), tons of picnic food, and good company.

Bring shucking tools if you have them (gloves and knife), though they will sell them to you for $15.

The oysters come by dozen in different sizes. To be honest, the "large" oysters were a bit too much. We settled on the medium size ones, and then the special which was these "doubles", two of them stuck together. I think like $10-$15 per dozen, great deal.

I love raw oysters (bring cocktail sauce, highly recommend lots of horseradish and lemon), but they do have little grills that you can use, if you bring your own charcoal and brickettes. Some other tables were kind enough to let us use theirs and the grilled oysters are pretty phenomenal.

They don't take reservations, so go early, particularly on nice weekend days in the summer. Closes at 5pm, and they will kick you out, so make sure someone can drive home by then.

http://www.tomalesbayoysters.com/

15479 Highway 1, Marshall, CA 94940
(415) 663-1242

Tortilla Heights

Dinner
July 2008

Just like Tortilla Flats in NYC, good Mexican, pitchers of margaritas and generally a good time.

www.tortillaheights.com

1750 Divisadero Street (between Bush St & Sutter St), San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 346-4531

Hot Pot City

Lunch wtih Becky
June 2008

So we came across Hot Pot City as we walked around the Asian fast food mall (otherwise known as Ranch 99 shopping center). Looked a little bit dark and not so many people, but intrigued and we went in.

We asked for a table and they asked us - spicy or normal soup? We were a little confused. So the way this place works is each table has a grill with a hot pot that you can fill with all normal, all spicy, or half and half soup. Around the pot is a flat surface that you can cook meat on (like Korean BBQ). And best part? Buffet. Sweet.

I was SO excited for this place, and totally psyched that it turns out Becky is a huge foodie too :) We went to the buffet bar - I loaded up a plate with marinated chicken, pork and beef spare ribs, and Becky got stuff for the soup - thin sliced beef, lamb, some veggies, noodles, dumplings, and two squids. Yup whole squid. Awesome. And we went back for more.

We later discovered they also have kimchi (alot of heat) and shaved ice for dessert.

And all for $9.99 per person.

*I am also a huge fan of their $3 charge for wasting food. All buffets should do that. As my water polo coach used to say, "get what you eat, eat what you get"

*Friendly waitress kindly told us that they are open from 11am til like 1am or something like that, and they have late night specials

http://www.hotpotcitymilpitas.com/

500 Barber Lane, Milpitas, CA 95035
(409) 428-0988

Ubuntu

Dinner with eight people
June 2008

Despite the NYT food critic rave, I was a bit skeptical about a vegetarian restaurant/yoga studio. I mean really. But Yell is my best friend and she is both (veg and yoga-y) so I thought it would make her happy to go. We had a group of 8, and they require family style tasting menu for $50 for groups 8+ so we reserved their big table for a post-Napa wine tour dinner.

OMG. Phenomenal. I can't even describe to you how great the meal was. We started with marcona almonds with lavander sugar and sea salt, and carrot top pesto covered olives. Tostones with fennel. Roasted peach salad with burratta (officially my new favorite cheese, a super creamy, tender mozzarella) and homemade croutons. Strawberry margharita thin crust pizza with a strawberry puree that was reduced for hours, super subtle. Creamed cauliflower and couscous in iron skillet with crispy bread. Morels and this lentil-like grain with roasted garlic sauce. The desserts, OMG. Blueberry cheesecake in a jar. Play on breakfast with cereals and ice cream with coconut milk. And not to mention the almond milk shake.

I actually highly recommend taking a large group since alot of the experience was getting to taste to many different dishes, certainly not feasible for a smaller party. And how reasonable is $50 to be stuffed at a really nice restaurant. Love it.

New York Times Review - phenomenal, you should really read this
http://www.ubuntunapa.com/

1140 Main Street, Napa, CA
(707) 251-5656

V Sattui

June 2008

Great winery to stop with a group for lunch. Big lawns and picnic tables if you can snag one, and they typically have a BBQ going (lunch $8-14 or so I think, ranging from mozzarella sandwich, tri tip hero, and salmon burger). Also a gourmet deli inside for huge selection of cheese and other goodies.

And of course the wine. Tastings are $8 or $15 per glass (they let you share which is nice, though they dont waive the fee even if you buy bottles). I like their off-dry Reisling, fan of their Gamay Rouge in the summer, and love the Madeira, a lovely port, which I get every time I can stop by here.

http://www.vsattui.com/

1111 White Lane, Saint Helena, CA 94574
(707) 963-7774

ABC Seafood Restaurant

Lunch
June 2008

Good dim sum place next to the Asian fast food mall by Ranch 99 (in the two story plaza next to it). Absolutely no atmosphere since they were doing construction on the entranceway, but typical yummy dim sum, with carts of goodness and pushy servers. It was mass chaos at peak lunch time but I have seen it more subdued later afternoon. $36 for two for lunch.

www.abcseafood.net

768 Barber Lane, Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 435-8888

Mexico DF

April 2008
Dinner

Super fun and yummy (and supposedly authentic) Mexican food by Embarcadero. Fantastic guacamole and a sampler of ceviches. We let the extremely friendly and able waitress pick most of our dishes, and they were delish. Also some ridiculously strong but good shooter of tequila with something else...

http://www.mex-df.com/

Next door to Japanese/trendy bar with great sake :)

139 Steuart Street, San Francisco CA 94105
(415) 808-1048

Hog Island Oyster Company

March 2008

Picnic with Eric, Sandy and Shane

Amazing place -- reserve a picnic table, bring wine and food, and shuck your own oysters! They provide grills for the oysters and smaller food items. Oysters are very reasonable, I think we had four dozen for $50.

Make a reservation, they fill up at least a week in advance! Information at http://www.hogislandoysters.com/

20215 Coast Hwy. 1, Marshall, CA 94940

(415) 663-9218