Ambassy Court Cafe

To be honest you can't really be picky on free food. The grub at the Cafe in Ambassy Court is not bad - having said that I would never go there if I had to pay for it, so you get the gist.

My husband tried the vegetable sandwich, I guess he wanted something healthy. Then he asked to have fries on the side. When it arrived I thought it was my hot dog - why was it served with a hot dog bun? The fillings included artichoke, pepper, and lettuce. Not very inspiring and with that big dollop of mayo it looked a little scary. He ate all the fries and the veg + half a bun at the end - perhaps it wasn't all that nice after all (I hadn't bother asking).
I decided to be adventurous and tried the Taiwanese minced pork noodles. First I couldn't tell what was Taiwanese about it. It was just like your regular styled noodle you get in mid-northern China. Then the pork was not minced. It was chopped, but not that it mattered. In fact it was better because I could then pick out the fatty bits easily (makes you wonder what IS in mince). It had a nice salty taste - bit nondescript but not at all offensive. I liked the egg marinated in sweet soya. Oh! Maybe that's what they meant by Taiwanese!

My hot dog looked and tasted better than I expected. The bun was toasted and it even had hot dog relish! Yum! Too bad the fries were soggy.

Overall verdict: 6 out of 10 - not bad as long as your expectation on the food is not high. The environment is stress-free (always have lots of tables), the service pretty good and civilised.

Ambassy Court Cafe

1500 Huai Hai Rd Middle (near Wulumuqi Rd), Shanghai.