Lotus in Moonlight 荷塘月色

Lotus in Moonlight vegatarian restaurant is in Beijing at two locations.

We were recommended the one near Worker's Stadium, but the hotel concierge had us go to the Liufang NanLi one in Chaoyang, which may have been a mistake, as it is in the middle of a residential complex that no cabs will ever be able to find, even with a call to the restaurant (remember to bring that number).

Deck 4, inside the east fate of Workers' Stadium, Sanlitun
工人体育场东门内 4看台
6268 0848 / 6268 1318

Bldg 12 Liufang NanLi, Chaoyang District
潮阳区柳芳南里小区内12号楼
6465 3299 / 6466 3114

www.hetangyuese.com.cn

You Xin Kao Ya 友鑫烤鴨

This place was recommended by a Shanghai friend who said it has the best Peking Duck she has ever had. The restaurant is across from main gate of 798 Art District (Dashanzi), which is a little off the Beijing tourist track. Kind of like 50 Moganshanlu in Shanghai, it’s a collection of art galleries and hipster community of artists.

The restaurant itself is located in an alley behind the main street, and is a local place without ambiance (think Chinese guys without shirts).

I don’t know my duck that well, but it was delicious. I ate half a duck, and they also give you a huge bowl of broth that they make with the rest of the parts that was just exquisite. Their menu looked great and I would have eaten a ton more meat and spicy food, but had a great dinner of vegetables as well. I think 150rmb for whole dinner (2 ppl).

Chao Yang, Da Shan Xi Bei Li 9 Lou
朝阳区大山子北里九楼

Again, it's located in the alley behind the main Da Shan Xi road across the street from 798. When you come out of 798, walk left to the closest overpass and walk down the little street with Semir clothes store on the corner. Take first right and it's a few houses down.

TEL is 6437-1602 but they don’t take reservations and definitely don’t speak English

Pure Lotus Vegetarian 净心莲

Delicious Chinese vegetarian -- this place did not have the fake meat that I enjoy from Chinese veggie places, but the food is good nonetheless and the presentation is fantastic.

The table is set with real lotus leaves and huge clam shell plates. Their menu is unique with many "words of wisdom" and the names of the dishes kind of made my roll my eyes a few times. Menus are also about 3 feet long and weigh a good 12 pounds.

Their genmai tea is great, as are many of their fresh drinks (had a great vegetable one, cucumber-tomato I think). Sushi rolls were interesting and good. We liked the papaya salad with a little spicyness. The dumplings were good and I liked the mochiness of the cheese balls (though my friend didn't). They brought us melons for dessert.

There are two Beijing locations. We went to the Nongzhanghuan Nan Lu one first, which is in this little alleyway that is impossible to fine (bring the phone number for your cabbie) -- very cool space. The one in the Holiday Inn is not so nice - it's on the third floor deep inside the hotel next to a bowling alley, much closer tables, and service was definitely not as good (or I might have been put off by the waiter who recommended one crappy little fake beef dish that was about 50% of the bill and tasted like rubber).

Chaoyang Park 朝阳公园
Tongguang Bldg, 12 Nongzhanguan Nanlu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区农展馆南路12号(通广大厦内)

6592 3627, 8703 6669

http://www.thebeijinger.com/directory/Pure-Lotus-Vegetarian

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

Enoteca 2

Great wine bar a few blocks off of Xintiandi. Great space for a bottle (or two) with friends, and they have a nice menu as well. We liked the salad with warm goat cheese on baguettes. Very reasonably priced wines are available.

58 Taicang Lu, near Jinan Lu
太仓路58号, 近济南路

5306 3400

People 7

Number 7 of the Taiwanese "People" franchise, People 7 has the signature sleek design, interesting dishes, and quirky entranceway (hint: make sure you arrive close to your reservation and bring the phone number!)

805号 Julu Rd near Fumin Lu, Jing'an, Shanghai
巨鹿路805号， 近富民路

+86 (21) 5404 0707

The Deli & Bakery

We came across this cute little cafe/bakery after lunch at Colabo on Hengshan Lu. They have a few tables and an upstairs. Nice place to have a chat over coffee (or milk tea with pearls for me!)

No. 150 Fen Yang Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200031
6474-4823

www.bln.com.cn

842 Lounge and Restaurant

Nice French restaurant on Hengshan Road set in an old house with patio seating (though too hot for that in August) as well as dining inside. All white setting and romantic, though not so full on Saturday night. The scallops were ok. Swordfish was well flavored and black cod was good.

842 Hengshan Road, Shanghai
衡山路842号

Jujubetree Vegetarian Lifestyle

As their card says, "no smoking, no alcoholic beverage, no egg, no meat." Doesn't really sound like my kind of place, but it was amazingly delicious and I even forgot it was a vegetarian meal.

First time we went, we over-ordered by several dishes (three boxes of take home) and it was 250 rmb for two of us. Have been there three times since (yes in three weeks, though I did have a vegetarian visitor for two of them). Favorites are the sweet and sour pork, Malay chicken satay, tomato and tofu stir fry and their great selection of juices (melon-cucumber and watermelon are two good ones). Also some great teas like the brown rice and corn (which is kind of like creamed corn).

They have five locations total, three in Shanghai
http://www.jujubetree.com/

No. 77 Songshan Rd by Huaihai Zhong Lu, Shanghai
Note: walk under the arches up the driveway off of Songshan Lu, second restaurant on left

6384-8000

Colabo

Italian place on Hengshan Lu
Lunch set menus
Had a great salad and vongole for ~80rmb
Old house so drafty and hot

http://eg.colabo.cn/

156 Hengshan Rd near Dong Ping Rd
衡山路156号近东平路

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

Nova

Cute French place on Dagu Lu. There's an outdoor patio space and cozy dining room (though it never seems to be full). Had a delicious steak tartare.

http://www.nova-sh.com/

418 Dagu Road, Shanghai
大沽路418号上海

Banana Leaf

The Thai restaurant in Dawning Center (where Cisco office is located)... fascinating and unexpected decour, kind of Waikiki-like. Service not so fast and food mediocre to ok. The food is also more Chinese than Thai really...

They started us with water that tasted like it was from a park fountain. The tea took a while but better. The closest to pad thai we could get were Thai rice noodles, which were a bit bland. Eggplant was good, and the green beef curry was great, and we went to town on that. We also went with the small appetizer plate, which generally was ok except we didn't finish it since it came last and we overordered (for three).

215rmb for the whole meal of four dishes, tea and tax.

Dawning Center, 500 Hong Bao Shi Road, 2F
红宝石路500号2楼

People 6

Part of the super-cool Taiwanese chain People, the Japanese designed People 6 is funky and interesting with decent food.

The uber-cool design starts at the front entrance -- I won't ruin the surprise (hint, poke around if you can't get in). The bamboo lined walk leads into a three-story cleanly designed dining space, with a bar on the first floor. All of the tables are white with a single spotlight illumating the food (which is good and bad). The bathrooms are also a trip worth making.

My colleague took charge of ordering a great spread, from duck to the test tube drinks with dry ice floating out of the bowl.

150 Yueyang Lu, near Yongjia Lu

岳阳路150号,近永嘉路

6466 0505

Amokka Cafe

A fantastic space with a bar/cafe downstairs and large yet cozy sitting space on the second floor. It feels like a fancy dorm lounge in a way, with small tables and booths where people have meals, drinks, or just reading or typing away. One guy even had a full PC station set up (that remarkably collapsed down when he was done).

They have some good inexpensive wine options (few bottles under 200rmb) and the food is good. You can order pizza from the place down the street, as well as Thai from next door. We went with the antipasti sampler with salumi, cheeses, olives, etc.

No 201 An Fu Rd, Shanghai
上海市安福路201号

5405 0998

Lost Heaven

Lost Heaven on the Bund is a Yunnan restaurant with great, reasonably priced folk cuisine from the southwest Yunnan province. It is definitely foreigner friendly, with English speaking hostesses and menus, and plays to tourists with staff dressed in the colorful traditional costumes of Yunnan. The clientele was more foreigner than local, and fairly full for a Tuesday late dinner hour.

It is housed in its own full building -- you walk upstairs into a sprawling dining room that requires the hosts to communicate via walky talky. The restaurant is right off of the Bund on Yan'an East Rd before Zhongshan East Rd, and we didn't make it up to the lounge, but they just opened one on the 3rd and 4th floors.

We ordered a lot for two, but remarkably finished almost all of it and it was pretty light. The papaya salad was richer than I'm used to but good. Sauteed kale was super garlicky and yummy. Shrimp spring rolls looked more like cylindrical shrimp cakes with dipping sauce but were light for being fried. Tibetan beef was delicious, and I liked the pork with lettuce wrap. All of this plus pu'ur chrysanthemum tea for roughly 350rmb. Good deal.

http://www.lostheaven.com.cn/

17 Yan'an Dong Lu, between Sichuan Nan Lu and Zhongshan Dong Lu
延安东路17号, 近四川南路

Gyu Jin ShabuShabu & Sukiyaki

All-you-can-eat shabu-shabu with heavenly buffet of meats, vegetables, Asian goods like tofu and fish cakes, and sauces galore to mix yourself. We had half pot of kimchi and half pot of soy milk (I think), both quite good and makes great rice porridge at the end.

There are two locations, one by Nanjing Xi Lu and other on Nanjing Dong Lu

No. 242, Lane 169 Wujiang Lu, near Shi men yi Lu
吴江路169号四季坊242单元，近石门一路
+86 (0)21 6218 5171

http://www.diningcity.com/shanghai/restaurantgynjin/index_eng.jsp

Room 213 on the 2nd Floor of 353 Plaza, No. 353 East Nanjing Road, near Middle Shandong Road (this is a pedestrian street, so cabs can't drop off in front)
3331-3575

http://www.gudumami.cn/en/shop/cs08135/

たんや又兵衛 Tanya-Matabei

Amazing kushi-yaki, or skewered meat shop, specializing in high end wagyu 'tan' (or tongue). It is a small place with a counter and high seats that seats maybe 12 or 15 in the narrow restaurant.

Definitely get the 'gyu-tan' -- the rows of enormous black tongues hanging in the fridge might make some nervous, but believe me they are delicious. The sirloin just melted in your mouth as did the uzura-egg (quail I think). Many vegetable options that we loved. Ginnan (gingko I think) also quite good.

Very high end, reflected by the prices, but worth it. Probably close to $300 for three people to eat until stuffed with a few drinks

高級黒毛和牛たん専門店
東京都港区六本木3-13-8斉藤ビル2F

Roppongi 3-13-8 Saito Building 2nd Floor

山の上てんぷら

Fabulous view from Tokyo Midtown Tower with high end tempura. Nice to sit at the counter and watch them cook. Lunch sets are lovely. Definitely expensive.

www.tempura-yamanoue.jp

Tokyo Midtown Tower Garden Terrace 3F
東京都港区赤坂9-7-4

島唄楽園 Shima-uta Rakuen

Shimauta-rakuen (島唄楽園) is a great Okinawan restaurant in Roppongi that co-workers had first taken me to, and I have since taken my big boss to because it is so yummy and unusual.

Okinawa has its own distinct culture and heritage (kind of like Hawaii in the US) and that includes food. They use ingredients that are not available anywhere else in Japan, like sea grapes (海ぶどう) and goya (ゴーヤ) and have funny names for their dishes too. "Rafty" (ラフティー) is pork belly (豚の角煮) and "chample" (チャンプル) means stir-fry. Okinawa is also known for an amazing and potent shochu called awamori (泡盛), and there is an extensive awamori and cocktail list here.

I arrived tonight to a raucous Okinawan performance by Nakasone Mitsuru-san (仲宗根充). The restaurant has live performances about twice per week (schedule). Most of their seating is family style communal tables and you pay 1000 yen cover for a seat where you can see the little stage. I was a little skeptical at first, since I had planned on a quiet dinner with a book, but I am so glad I got to experience this! Not only was it super fun and interactive with people getting on stage to sing and the whole room dancing, the people were incredibly welcoming and inclusive. I can't wait to visit Okinawa!



Btw, in addition to his musical talents, Nakasone-san runs a taxi service in Naha, Okinawa. I am so calling him when I visit!

The restaurant is on the 4th floor of a building on the big Roppongi corner of Roppongi-dori and Gaien-dori. Here's the g-navi site (Japanese)

〒106-0032 東京都港区六本木7-14-10 誠志堂ビル4F
03-3470-2310