Dining Downstairs

It seems every now and then a new boutique hotel springs up in Shanghai. Except for the Mansion Hotel, most seem to be ultra modern and hip, catering to a more discerning travel community bored with the five star hotels chains that have planted themselves all over the city in the last few years. URBN hotel, in the Jing'An district, aims to one up everyone else by being the first carbon neutral boutique hotel in China, and with a string of awards in the greater Shanghai area as well. They have teamed up with David Laris of Laris (Three On The Bund) for their F&B offering, culminating in the Downstairs with David Laris cafe that recently opened a few months ago. 

Whereas Upstairs is the hotel's lounge that serves artisan cocktails, Downstairs serves simple cafe fare focused on sustainable farming and organic produce from local farmers. Sounds a lot like a Bay Area type of joint, no? I'm not sure how the locals take to sustainable farming methods in a city overrun with backstreet restaurants using recycled cooking oil and dodgy produce laced with toxic levels of pesticides, but I'm sure the expat community appreciates any restaurant that can serve up a clean healthy meal.

The menu at Downstairs is not as extensive as some high end restaurants, but this is after all a cafe serving simpler dishes, and for that, the prices are very reasonable. Appetizers run between RMB45 to 75, and mains are usually in the RMB120 to 165 range, with the exception of the Angus steaks which are RMB390 a piece. A glass of Larosso Malbec sets you back RMB40.

I ordered a glass of Wild Cherry Cacao iced tea while I perused the menu, then later settled on the poached chicken salad with Vietnamese sauces for my first starter, which was essentially a Vietnamese chicken salad that tasted very light and refreshing. I also ordered the Thai fish cakes, which came in a serving plate of three pieces, lightly battered and fluffy, accompanied by a generous mound of coriander, but completely missed the mark when it came down to authenticity, so I was a little disappointed. For my main course I ordered the mac and cheese with truffle oil and three cheeses. This was also a bit of a letdown, perhaps because of the choice of the three cheeses used. I would have preferred a stronger flavor, like gruyere.

Despite the lackluster food, the service was excellent. The wait staff was very attentive and friendly, and made the entire meal an overall pleasant experience. I loved the decor of Downstairs, with lots of recycled elements that added to the cosy, rustic feel of the cafe. The adjacent outdoor dining patio opened out to the garden lined with bamboo and would be a perfect spot for warmer evenings. Unfortunately the flood lights were a little too bright, and it reminded me of the times I  was sitting at the benches watching night baseball games at the AT&T arena in San Francisco.

Overall, this is a rather decent place for a light, healthy meal, and I would probably be back for brunch one of these weekends. But as far as boutique hotel eateries go, my favorite is still the Jing'An restaurant at the PuLi.