Zen Chinese Cuisine

Great filling lunch at Zen, a chain with good Shanghainese and other food at Raffles Plaza.

411/412, Raffles Plaza, No 268, Tibet Road (Middle), Shanghai PRC
+86 21 6340 4333

Bar Rouge

Great bar in Bund, with (I think) a 6th floor balcony patio that has panoramic views of the Bund lights and skyline across the river. We were some of the first guests at their grand 're-opening' we were told.

Very expat, very little Asian faces, lots of champagne accompanied by sparklers. Wow.

http://www.bar-rouge-shanghai.com /

7F, BUND 18, 1 ZHONGSHAN DONG YI RD

Barbarossa

We did a work dinner at the Moroccan fusion restaurant about a 3 minute walk from the JW Marriott Tomorrow Square, located right by Shanghai Art Museum and Kathleen 5 in a small park in a cute house in the middle of a lake. It was nice to see some green space in Shanghai.

There's a second story lounge as well as bar and dining space on the first floor. Good mojitos, plenty of Western alcoholic options, and pretty good food. Appetizer plates are nice, and Moroccan lamb shank was pretty good

Went back a second time, and loved the wagyu burger.

http://www.barbarossa.com.cn/

231 Nanjing Road West, People's Park, Shanghai
+86 21 6318 0220

South Beauty

We had a large group dinner for the World Expo team at one of the South Beauty outposts in the French Concession. We filled the back room, and it was a great space for a group our size (80 pax perhaps). We had a pre-set menu that came at a decent pace. There were about ten to a round table to the food was shared on a lazy susan and usually gone in one round.

Ye Shanghai Xintiandi

Nice, classy Shanghainese restaurant in the row of old-style houses on Huang Pi Nan (South) Road in Xintiandi. I was there with a group of 20 of so loud and fun colleagues, and we completely ruined the ambiance for all around us. Otherwise, it would be a sweet date spot.

We had family style with over a dozen dishes, pretty good, though not spetacular.

338 Huang Pi Nan Road, Xintiandi, Shanghai

sasha's

Sasha's is a lovely restaurant and bar located in a historic house on the corner of Dongping Lu and Hengshan Lu. Nice couch seating. Great bloody mary's and tea, that comes in clear pot and kept warm over candles. Yummy tomato, mozzarella and basil salad, and rest of menu looked quite good.

http://www.smartshanghai.com/venue/1316/Sashas_shanghai

M1NT

Clubbing in Shanghai. Fun stuff. 17 meters long shark tank.

http://www.m1ntglobal.com/what-is-m1nt/shanghai
M1NT • 24 Floor 318 Fuzhou Lu • Shanghai • China • 200001

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

Nanbantei 南蛮亭

September 2009
Dinner

Great yakitori place that we found on Guru-navi in Shinjuku. They have several restaurants in Tokyo, and on the larger end of a yakitori place.

Started with some 'premier' draft beers and appetizers like sesame dressing salad, chicken karaage (Japanese fried chicken), tomato salad, and chicken yukke (sashimi). We ordered a ridiculous amount of yakitori. I think the most popular were the asparagus wrapped in pork, the amazing steaks with wasabi sauce, and the tebasaki (wings). Vegetables are quite good. I've had better tsukune (chicken meatballs). I love sunagimo (gizzards).

Hint: no more than eight to ten skewers per person, and remember orders come in pairs.

English menus with a few staff that speak if needed .

http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g041700/
Few minutes walk from JR Shinjuku station or Marunouchi line Shinjuku-sanchome station

〒160-0022 東京都新宿区新宿3-28-7 キーストンB1
03-3354-0343

Tori-hide 鶏ひで

September 2009
Dinner

This is my aunt's family's 'go-to' yakitori place in Akabane, and it is fabulous. Never been disappointed and have been there many times over the years.

Guru-navi http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a091900/

〒115-0045 東京都北区赤羽2-4-4 西村ビル1F

Black Pig 黒豚家

Seoul
May 2009

Korean BBQ place next to COEX. It's apparently new and huge (two story), with complex ventilation systems at each table. Delicious and seemed business/tourist friendly. Yum.

http://www.blackpig.kr/

(02)2051-0008

Si Gul Jip

Seoul
May 2009

Work dinner at Korean restaurant in Gangnam near COEX. Typical banchan (side dishes), pajun and meats, but what I loved was the dondon-ju (unfiltered soju), my favorite Korean drink!

568-7513, 7514

Hakka Ye Ye 客家爺爺

Hong Kong
May 2009

Great Chinese food restaurant from the Hakka region in the heart of Central. Nice place on the second floor of Parekh House building with trendy but cozy interior.

Food was great --
Limited alcohol, we had beer. Very reasonable too (250 HKD I think)

www.yeyegroup.com

2/F, Parekh House, 63 Wyndham St, Central, Hong Kong
+852 2537 7060

Orange Tree

Hong Kong
May 2009

Dinner with GSBers at a lovely Dutch place in Central, right off of the escalator a little above Caine Road. It is a fairly small place, feels very European (no tap water for example) and very cozy. Probably 10-15 tables, and it opens out to the street.

We started with mussels with garlic and light cream sauce for an appetizer. The seasonal white asparagus looked good too. Pandu had the "bitter ballen", fried beef balls that you dip in Dijon mustard, yum.

I had the steak tartare with salad and side of garlic sauteed mushrooms (switched out fries). Steak had anchovy and some onions on top, and some diced onions and I think pepper mixed in as well. The steak was great, I mean what a great way to have raw beef, great flavor and really soft. The chef said their signature is a lamb puff pastry, and Rai says he goes just to get that dish.

Wonderful Dutch chef/owner, Pieter Onderwater (love the name, it was on his chef jacket). He also gave the ladies a gift of battry operated pepper grinder.

www.orangetree.com.hk/

17 Shelley St, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: 2838 9352

Gusto

Hong Kong
May 2009


Saturday late brunch at great little restaurant. Norweigian Ben = two poaches eggs on smoked salmon atop potato hash with dill and Hollandaise.


http://www.gustogusto.hk/


No.41 Yik Yam Street, Happy Valley, Hong Kong
Tel: 2838-2689

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.

Samy's Curry House

Samy's is my favoriate Indian food in the world. I have only been to Bangalore for one week so perhaps I need another India visit to try more food, but Samy's is damn good.

Samy's is located on Dempsey Road way on the end of one of the forks at Block 25. I have sat at their covered outdoor tables each time I go (more of a sidewalk) though alot of room inside as well.

Since I typically don't know the names of anything, I go inside first and point at all of the dishes that I want. Typically I get the dried mutton, masala chicken, and sometimes fish (they have fish head curry, yummmm) and then ask for some naan. They lay a banana leaf on the table in front of you, spoon a huge mountain of biryani rice, the yummy chips that I don't know the name of, and then the food comes. I also like the lime juice, it's a bit sweet but so good in the Singapore heat eating Indian food.

http://www.samyscurry.com/

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Bambuddha Lounge

February 2009

We found Bambuddha Lounge online when we searched last minute for a pre-ballet dinner reservation in the area. It's unmarked and in the beginning of a shady neighborhood, so make sure you know where it is (the staff told us that as long as we weren't "bright shiny objects that looked like crack" the people on the streets shouldn't bother us...)

When I met my friend, there were about five patrons in the whole big place. Granted it was 6pm, but it didn't fill up too much more in two hours. Friendly, but average, service.

We ordered the shrimp over papaya salad and the tuna tartare appetizers while we waited for our third to arrive. Both standard Asian fusion fare, if not a bit bland. Had a nice bottle of South African chardonnay. We shared a skirt steak and scallop entrees, of which steak was a little too flavored and scallops were good. The drunken noodle and bok choy sides were good.

Looks like there is a lounge/club scene as well, and it might be a cool space half full, but not sure I have a reason to come back. Final bill ~$45 per person.

http://www.bambuddhalounge.com/

601 Eddy Streetat (between Larkin St & Polk St), San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 885-5088

BIN 38

February 2009

I had a lovely pre-movie dinner at Bin 38. It was totally packed at 8pm on a Saturday, with every table booked and a gaggles of yuppie Marina folks around the bar. Our table was out in the front by the bar, so I didn't see the rest of the place.

We had a good bottle of Rioja (well, two between three of us), and then several courses of food to share. The winter crudites were small but refreshing, and the spinach artichoke bruschetta were great. Good crab and citrus salad. Love roasted cauliflower and broccoli (did not love the random patron from the bar who kept asking us about it), and lamb meatballs were pretty good. Not huge portions all around.

It was a bit loud, but a fun girls dinner. Final tab ~$70 per person.

http://www.bin38.com/

3232 Scott St (between Chestnut St & Lombard St), San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 567-3838