HK Independent Traveller Blog

19 July 2012 Another business trip to Shanghai.  Rebecca recommended Downstairs with David Lari s and Cuivre .  The previous is Australian.  The latter is French and difficult to get a table.  OK, then aim for the more challenging one.  Auh Oh, we could get a table at 7.30, the same day.  Very nice!  Foie gras terrine After a full day of intensive work, we stepped into a cosy atmosphere blended with fun.  Fixtures are primarily wood, warm and welcome.  Menu is shown with a leather-framed ipad.  I like the Easter island styled statues, smiling to guests.  Cuivre means copper.  It's run by Michael Wendling , a young chef from southern France.  Price is not high, certainly a good value for the sumptuous food. Greg, Takahiko, Alex and I are the four diners.  It seems a natural pair up if the latter three are in Shanghai.  It's good companion combination.  No presence of the very high ...

My business friend is very nice of bringing me to Goga, famous for its truffle oil cuisine as told.  The owner and chef is Brad Turley , cooking Cali-Asian food.  It is a cosy little place, opened for two seatings at night, 6.30 and 8.30 pm.  It's always full. Reservation is a must.  A waiter called us half hour prior to the show time, making sure we would turn up.  Each round can accommodate up to 20 people.  Service is super quick.  You get your dish soon after the order. Appetizers came West Coast Lobster Roll and Sizzling Kampachi Sashimi.  The sashimi was excellent.  Fresh firm half cooked fish swimming in white soy and white truffle.  The fragrant mixture lingered in the mouth, trying to swallow it till the last second to enjoy the precious moments.  The lobster roll was good but still better if the roll was kind of Vietnamese rice roll which is neutral and not taking away the flavour and rich lobster....

Shanghai is a vibrant city.  Changes happening everyday.  There were only 2 subway lines in 2007 when I first visited.  Now, 11 lines !  Tremendous!  I visited most of the tourist spots and a waterway town.  Strong impression on the historical buildings at the Bund and the picturesque Xitang , a waterway town close to Shanghai where Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible III  was shot. Lately, I could spend a weekend free during my work in Shanghai.  This time, I opt for a quiet strolling in the French concession area and experience more of the ordinary life. My day started with a visit to Eileen Chang 's 張愛玲 residence. It's only passing by, taking a picture outside the building. She was a very famous writer at her time and is still so nowadays. Her works are often filmed. Famous ones include Lust, Caution and Love in a Fallen City . Then I turned to Yanqing Road 延慶路 a street with glimpses of ordinary life.  Aged nice houses are a...

Guyi , complimented with high quality and consistency restaurant in Shanghai. It serves Hunan dishes.  It lives to the compliment.  A fantastic restaurant delivers first class food.  Not a dish disappoints its pilgrims.  We were a big group, having a business lunch.  Appetizers did a great job to impress.  Hunan dishes are famous for its spice.  But none of the appetizers was spicy, threatened you to succumb.  Only got you to raise your thumb and say good. This Hunan braised pork, a dish deep in Alex's memory.  It delighted my taste buds.  It's sweet and not spicy.  The spicy prawns were a enchanting experience, delible and never forgotten.  Chunky prawns went wonderful the spice, stimulating desire to have a more and another more.  I had two. The cow frog was huge.  Flesh was tender, not super hot but heavenly.   A few mild dishes:  refreshing lotus roots were crunchy.  Mixin...

Another time in Shanghai, a few hours prior to heavy working days.  The Bund was my first choice, for a glance of the skyscrapers, people enjoying their leisure time in the early evening.  The Bund can be reached by underground.  Arrive at NanjingEast and take exit 2, turn to the street of the same name and walk to the end.  The Bund is certainly interesting and a highlight.  But family and people gathering there to enjoy a nice weekend is also a pleasure to observe.  Gadgets seem a fashion nowadays, older or younger generation. Strolling along the  Bund, its groups of historical buildings and along NanjingEast Road seems like back to the old days.  Peace hotel 和平飯店 has a splendid lobby with gorgeous art / sculpture reflecting life in Shanghai of the time.  Music played in the lobby, guards watching everybody to prevent photo shooting. My time at the Bund and NanjingEast Road came to an end very quickly....

Double A, Alex and Ada plus myself had dinner together after a busy day.  February days were still cold in Shanghai but tolerable. Ada took us to a sumptuous restaurant, Jardin De Jade 蘇淅 at ChinAn District.  I am not a person of spicy food.  However, among all the dishes, the spicy beef was my favourite.  The assimilation of chilly spice into the tender beef.  Spice rose within the mouth, woke up the mind, the taste bud, pleased one's feeling.  Great! Shanghaiese food serves cold appetizers.  Stick to the eating convention, we ordered spring onion chicken and smoked fish.  Both served to delight us.  Good job! Deep fried shrimps, hmm, not as adorable as its cousin, river shrimps.  Some left on the dish.  Vegetable dishes were fine and light.  Spicy soup, one serving was far too big for three of us, no matter how nice it was.      Fried juicy dumplings were a substitute ...