Third Time Lucky

After two nights of great Japanese dining, I didn't think there would be a third. Friend of mine told me about this great Japanese hole-in-the-wall place serving fresh seafood for a reasonable price. Well, he described it as 'hole-in-the-wall' anyway. I was intrigued, so I said yes. I've eaten at a few high end Japanese restaurants in Shanghai over the course of my trips, but never a local dive, so this sounded like an exciting proposition. So what's to worry? A minor case of food poisoning?

We arrived at Rong Ri Japanese Restaurant at 427 Huashan Road, and yes, my friend was right about the hole-in-the-wall description, and not in a Shintori sort of way. But hey, I'm just here for the food. So we made our way up the tiny flight of stairs to the second floor, and walked into the cozy and brightly lit dining room. Imagine a typical Japanese family-run restaurant in one of the back alleys of Tokyo, and you'll have a good idea of how Rong Ri looks like. The crammed room had at least 6 tables and a long sushi bar, with lots of daily specials written in Japanese on slips of paper above the bar counter. One end of the wall was covered with business cards from patrons, and actually gave the whole restaurant a very homely and friendly ambience. This was no fancy high end Japanese restaurant, but judging by the mostly Japanese clientele that night, it seemed like it enjoyed a healthy following within the local Japanese community.

We informed the waitress we wanted the ala carte buffet, and she promptly gave us a picture menu to order. First round - sashimi combo, asparagus rolls wrapped in bacon, fermented bean and egg sushi. I was skeptical about the freshness of the fish but my fears were unfounded. The sashimi portions were generous and overall pretty decent. Second round - chicken yakitori, uni nigiri, another round of sashimi combo and salad. Yum. And we were still going strong. We ordered sake as well, but that wasn't as good as expected, yet still drinkable. This was the only grade of sake included in the buffet, so that explained the quality. Third round - miso soup, more sushi, cold ramen with seafood. We were stuffed. Round four was not going to happen. As we gazed around the room feeling rather contented and bloated, we saw two Japanese salarymen next to us having an uproariously good time teasing the very friendly waitresses and getting smashed. One of them actually spoke very fluent Mandarin. Ah, it sure felt like Tokyo.





The best part of the evening was getting the check and finding out the whole meal only cost us RMB298. That's a lot of good food for very little. I'll definitely be back for more very soon.

Escaping The Ordinary

I must be on a sushi roll - more like a constant craving for raw fish since I arrived in Shanghai three days ago. Last night I found myself back again at one of my old haunts, the Shintori restaurant at 803 Julu Lu. Like a Japanese businessman drawn to a famous geisha in a particular establishment in the town he visits occasionally for work, I'm unable to shake the appeal of this modern Japanese restaurant with a gorgeous exterior that seduces you into its inner sanctum of tasty heavenly pleasures. You'll fall in love with the entrance to Shintori, like most people do, drawn in slowly by its innocent and non-descript arch along the quiet narrow street. As you walk through, you find yourself led down a slightly meandering stone path fanned by tall bamboo trees on both sides extending high above the pebbled ground. The entire restaurant is built into an old terrace shophouse that has been completed gutted from the inside, leaving only the front and rear of the original facade intact; even the front of the restaurant is roofless. Imagine walking into a quiet, dreamlike realm away from the hustle and bustle of the city the minute you step in. And then you notice a glass and wood cubicle at the far end of the path, and as you approach it curiously, the front panel of the cube slides open silently and beckons you into the interior. As you walk into the cubicle enclosure, the other panel at the far end slides open automatically to reveal the entrance to the restaurant proper. Talk about grand entrances, as you walk into the reception area the sound of electronic chill out music fills the air and the aroma from the open kitchen at the far end drifts into your senses. You find yourself in the middle of the cavern-like room, with a communal table stretched out in the middle, surrounded by tall chairs, a sushi bar on the left side, and the bar on the right. A glass and wood staircase by the right side leads patrons to the second level where the private booths and smaller tables are located. The entire room is bathed in industrial chic - metal, glass and wood define this very hip and trendy setting. Whenever I take my friends here for dinner, I hear the same amazed and pleasantly surprised gasps of delight when they finally make it to the dining table. I think half the fun is in making a grand entrance into this restaurant - you feel like you just stepped into the Matrix. Let the food battle begin!

Shintori is actually part of the Shintori group of restaurants based out of Taiwan, all the outlets in this chain have a special gimmicky theme to delight and enhance the entire dining experience, but Shintori in Shanghai does it with a bit more panache. That's not to say the food isn't great, it's actually quite decent. This is modern Japanese fusion dining anyway, so expect some interesting combinations, new flavors and modern interpretations of classic Japanese fare. Service may be a tad bit slow at times, but the ambience makes up for it. I was however, a little disappointed with the limited sake menu. The highest grade available was junmai ginjo, and at RMB95, was reasonable but not great. Cold soba was served in a large bowl made of ice to keep the noodles chilled, that was a cool idea, literally. But definitely try the bite size appetizers, those are truly the highlight of the restaurant. Even if the food doesn't impress your palate, you'll at least be assured of a very pleasant and satisfying experience in this unique restaurant.

Hairy Scary Rolls at Haiku

As I flew into Shanghai yet again this month, my friend Yut decided to take me to Haiku by Hatsune, a rather popular restaurant down tree-lined Tai Jiang Lu near Heng Shan Lu for my first meal in town. After making our way through the evening traffic, we arrived to a very empty restaurant by 7:00pm.

From the outside, it looked like any other trendy dinner spot in town, but I had high expectations and was looking forward to trying their some of their signature handrolls that the locals have been raving about in the forums. We started with some chilled tofu, a few selections of sushi and two signature handrolls. I noted that they were a little stingy with the wasabi. You should know that I usually judge a Japanese restaurant by the quality of their wasabi. Some of the better ones prefer the freshly grated variety as opposed to the powdered form. Both are lethal, but the fresh version known as 'sawa' tastes like fresh grass with a real kick to the groin, and has a unique subtle flavor that is lost in the processed form once it is turned to powder or paste. Then again, most of the green glop found in restaurants in America isn't really wasabi anyway, but made of horseradish and green food coloring.



Anyway, I'm digressing again. The fish was fresh, albeit a tad bit warm for my liking, but the highlight was the handrolls. The Hairy Scary Roll was a unagi and asparagus wrapped rice roll smothered with bonito flakes, spring onions and drizzled with teriyaki sauce - a dream dish for any bonito lover. I also liked the RJ roll, named after the head chef of Haiku who created it. This was a combination of two types of fish, with a generous sprinkle of japanese chives on top. These delectable dishes brings to mind the fantastic handrolls at Blowfish Sushi, one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in San Jose's Santana Row. We also tried their three-course eel set, which features eel cooked two way (one grilled, one steamed) and a clear eel broth that was surprisingly flavorful despite its clarity. Overall, Haiku impressed me with their innovative handrolls that seemed very much a part of the Cali-Jap fusion scene.



There were many more items on the menu that we would have loved to try, with at least a dozen more handrolls that sounded as equally tempting as the Hairy Scary Roll, but those would have to wait till next time. As we left the restaurant around 9pm, the restaurant had already filled up to capacity and diners were still streaming in. I would recommend Haiku to anyone looking for a decent Japanese meal when in Shanghai - the excellent quality of the food, the modern yet simplistic decor and garden setting makes dining in this hectic metropolis a little more pleasant than expected.