Kabb Bar and Grill

We totally forgot about Kabb ever since I stopped drinking.  The food is actually not too bad in there although it is a bit pricey these days.

My virgin bloody mary kit.  By serving the Worcester sauce etc extra on a nice tray they have the cheek to charge RMB75 for my drink.  It's a bit of a rip off I have to say.

The brunch menu is a little limiting if you don't eat eggs (like I am at the moment).  My husband's nicoise salad looked very nice though.

My burger with chili was average.  No real surprises there and it's really difficult to get a nice chili in Shanghai.  I miss Moon River!
Kabb Bar and Grill

North Block, XinTianDi, Shanghai.  Tel:3307-0798

Shanghai Zoo

We've been here for more than 3 years and yet we never thought of visiting the zoo.  I guess we are not really zoo people to begin with.  

We didn't expect much to be honest and we were surprised to see the vast variety of animals!

This is the first vulture I saw in real life.  We were down-wind and I swear I could almost smell the raw meat.  It put me off a bit.

Cute little jack-ass penguins.

This has to be the ugliest brown bear in the world.  For some reason the mouth is all crooked?  Too many biscuits?  Poor thing is being fed junk all day.

Begging for food here.  So sad.

At least the pandas are kept behind glass otherwise they will be eating junk too.

A cool cat.

My husband said he was sure the lion heard his shutter and decided to stare right into his camera.  It freaked him out a bit.

My favourite animal for the day.

There were at least four giraffes as we could see.  I wonder why so many?

Too bad there were so many clowns in there feeding the poor animals junk food.  Where are the park rangers when you need them?

Slice

We paid yet another visit to Slice on a rainy Saturday afternoon.  Although it was a little chilly it didn't stop me from having my favourite mango smoothie. Yum! 

Since we were staving we decided to have a full meal.  To start I had the antipasto platter.  Not a bad selection.  Lots of eggplants!

My husband's mezza plate.  I wish we have a slicing machine at home so we can slice and toast bagels they way they did it.  They tasted almost like melba toasts but more textile.  Loved them!

Organic Chicken.  Apparently it was really spicy.

Grilled Atlantic salmon.  It looked and tasted good and I felt very healthy afterwards.  Lots of eggplants!

The meal was very nice but we had to dash really quickly as it was VERY noisy in there.  Everybody was talking, kids running, people dragging their chairs across the floor...the noise level was unbearable.  Perhaps we would limit our visits to weekdays.

Slice

688 Bi Yun Rd. (nr. Lan An Rd.), Pudong Shanghai.  Tel: 3382-0653

La Creperie

It's a bit limited for me to order at La Creperie when I am now cutting out dairy and eggs completely.  It was satisfying enough to look at my husband's galette.

I didn't want salad and went for some beef rolls instead.  I had no idea what they'd be like but they were actually a pleasant surprise.  The beef was quite juicy and I wished there were more.

My husband's coffee ice cream crepe.  I tried a tiny dollop and all I can say is forbidden ice cream tastes so much better!
La Creperie

1 Tao Jiang Rd. (nr. Dong Ping Rd.), Shanghai. Tel: 5465-9055

Laris

Sunday brunch at Laris was a very pleasant surprise.  When we decided to go we were expecting to splash out a little as a treat to our sleepless baby nights.  Then we saw the very reasonable brunch menu and wished we had known about it sooner.

Our 3-course brunch was RMB228 per person.  We got to pick from a pretty big menu with starters, eggs, mains and desserts.  I was tempted to do a 4-course but I guess it'd be a little odd to have a starter, then eggs as well as a main and a dessert.  maybe next time.

My husband's slow cooked eggs.  They looked like they were very carefully and slowly poached.  Even though he doesn't normally eat runny eggs he said they were not bad, as the pate tasting sauce added life into the dish.

As Laris has always been known for its excellent seafood  dishes I decided for a more conservative approach and had cod cakes to start.  They certainly didn't disappoint.  They had a perfect consistency: not too flaky and not too pappy.  The fish tasted really fresh and full of flavour - I didn't know cod can taste so good.  They were so much better than crab cakes! 

For main my husband got a duck confit with risotto.  He was very happy with it.  I tasted the risotto and surely it was rich and bursting with flavours.  

My pork loin was very tender and the jus was a nice complement.  I wish I could make my pork loin taste like this at home.  What is the secret I wonder?  Where did they get their pork?  The ones we buy from the supermarket are usually tougher than shoe leather.

Now the real reason to come to Laris: the dessert.   Here we have the brioche doughnuts.  We didn't expect them to be like regular doughnuts but they tasted very nice nonetheless.  As if they were not sweet enough they came with sweet jam and cream.  My husband said he felt pudgy before the meal  and he had probably put on another 5 pounds after his dessert.

My chocolate marshmallow tart with chocolate sorbet was to die for.  The "tart" was more like a brownie with melted marshmallow on top.  It was sooo rich and sweet I am most certain that I felt a rush afterwards.

The petits fours.  I was overloaded with chocolate I couldn't make myself eat anymore of the stuff (I never thought I'd say that).  My husband sampled the truffles and said they were OK.  Not nearly as nice as the ones in Godiva's.
We will definitely go back again!

Laris

6/F, 3 on the Bund, Shanghai.  Tel: 6321-9922

The Park Tavern

My last visit to the Park Tavern was quite a pleasant one and on this Sat afternoon I decided to take my husband there.  It was a nice long walk with the Little One in her stroller - too bad the pollution was pretty bad and we all got a bit of a nose congestion afterwards

It was almost 2:30 in the afternoon and the garden was pretty quiet with 2 other tables.   As I seem to remember the burger there was pretty nice my husband decided to give it a try.  Funny enough he went for the vegetarian version and it's basically like a fried bubble and squeak ball.    Too bad the mashed potato was a bit dry and the ball was quite crumbly and was falling apart.  We liked the chips very much though and it's the only place in Shanghai where they brought over a bottle of malt vinegar after we ordered.

My bangers and mash.  I remember it being so-so last time but I thought I'd give it another try.  The verdict:  skip it.  The sausages didn't taste too bad but they had bits of gristly stuff in them which I had to spat out (pardon me).  I didn't want to think about what they might have been.  The gravy was too thin without a whole lot of taste.  I think I will be better off with a pie or a burger next time.

Although Tetley's was on the drinks menu it wasn't available.  We got a pint of Boddingtons instead but it looked very much like it was from a can.

It was still a pleasant afternoon even though the garden is not as nice as Paulaner's.

The Park Tavern

840 Heng Shan Rd. (nr. Tian Ping Rd.), Shanghai.  Tel: 5465-9312

Peter's Tex Mex

We had another visit to our favourite Tex-Mex restaurant with my in-laws.  It's a good opportunity to order a table full of food! 

To start we had nachos with bean and beef. Loved the melted cheese and sadly it was my last bite of cheese as I am cutting out all dairy once and for all for my 4-month old baby. :-(

Quesadilla with chicken and cheese.  It was so good I even ate one when it got cold.  It tasted just fine even though my husband was pulling a face.

My father-in-law went for a spaghetti Bolognese to be safe.  I don't think Tex-Mex is in the UK and they were a little apprehensive about the dishes.

Another safe choice for my mother-in-law:  spaghetti and meatballs.  Both spaghetti dishes were very nice I was told.

My husband's burrito.  I think burrito is a man dish as the fillings are almost too dodgy.

My chicken burger.  On the menu it mentions something about a secret batter with spices and boy was that batter nice.  The seasonings were perfect and the chicken was moist and meaty.  I think I will get my husband to go back with us this weekend.

Since I am eating for two I got a serving of chicken fingers as well.  They were fried nicely as usual.  I have to say they could probably do better than using frozen fries but hey.   I wish they would make chicken fingers with the same batter they use for my chicken burger!
We saw freshly made cinnimon rolls but we did not have room.  I know my friends C and C (who are now back in teh States sadly) would love to have one.  We miss you here in SH!

The scrumptious meal for four with drinks came to around RMB400.  Not bad at all!

Peter's Tex-Mex

Unit 7, Lane 3911 Hong Mei Rd. (nr. Yan An Rd.), Shanghai.  Tel: 6261-2505

Slice

Slice in Pudong is so much nicer than the one in Puxi, both food and layout wise.   The patio on the second floor overlooking Dulwich's rugby field makes you forget about actually being in Shanghai!  I love the little deli shop on the ground floor too.  Service is always friendly and efficient.  If I have to nitpick I would say the place (especially the bathrooms) isn't very pram and baby friendly.  Good thing we can always change our Little One at the back of our car.

We find ourselves back at least once a week when we go to Pudong.  Here are a few things we tried during our visits:

Parma ham melt on sourdough.  Loved the bread, and extra points on keeping the ham lean.  

Chips with rosemary and sea salt.  These days you often get fries for chips but here at Slice they got it right.

My beef burger with chips.  It was a very burger indeed.  I wish it could be bigger.  The salsa/dip had a spicy kick to it and it was perfect for the chips.  I believe all the ingredients are organic.  

Slice's version of lasagna with slices of tomato in it.   I was told it was very nice, light, and refreshing indeed.

Steak sandwich with chips.  This is the one dish that looks better than it tastes. The beef didn't taste of beef at all.  It was like chewing on a piece of fiber.  The sauce helped wash it down but didn't save the dish.
Slice

688 Bi Yun Rd. (nr. Lan An Rd.), Jinqiao, Pudong.  Tel: 3382-0653

Shiro

The tagline for Shiro is "where Sushi is Fashion".  I found that out after we had the meal.  Had I known I would have proceeded with caution.

The lunch menu was relatively small with a few items to choose from and they all seemed pretty pricey.  Bentos were a;sp available for around HK$200 each.  Since I was not clear whether the bentos were for take-away only or not and the waitress was no where to be seen I chose from the menu instead to save time and hassle.

My negi toro (HK$178) looked very fancy indeed.  Too bad it had no taste!  If I was blindfolded I would never have guessed that I was eating toro, or should I say fish for that matter.  Somehow the pile of mashed up fish didn't taste of anything.  The raw quail egg was pretty scary too.  A total disappointment and for what they are charging I would expect more!

Since there was not a whole lot of things to choose from we got an eel rice (HK$138) even though it was expensive.  Well at least we got 2 huge pieces of eel and they were actually quite nice, still we thought it was a bit over priced.

Lunch for two came to HK$370.  We had to pay for our tea and the non-existing service.

I think while sushi is fashion it should also be decent.  It's easy to forget that when you have a fancy/pretentious joint.

Shiro

Level 1, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Hong Kong.  Tel: 2155-8066

Da Marco

Another late Sunday afternoon, another visit to Da Marco.  It's the only time we can go without having to book a table.  Now the place was only half full (if) and we fail to understand why they ALWAYS have to cramp everybody right next to each other?  It's plain lazy from the waiters' side perhaps and it's really frustrating when we have a stroller and a car seat with baby.  Anyhow.  Back to the food.

Perhaps we were really hungry..the bread was pretty tasty!

The antipasto platter was quite substantial for one person.  We liked the selection and everything was fresh.

I decided to be adventurous and ordered the octopus salad.  It turned out to be a little too funky for me.  I thought there would be stewed baby octopus but it was actually thick slices of rather chewy stuff without a whole lot of taste.  A little disappointing I have to say.

My husband had the beef sirloin once again.  The presentation was a little different:  the beef was sliced this time for some reason but it was as nice as usual nonetheless.

My spaghetti bolognese was average at best.  Will stick with something non-tomato base next time maybe?
Da Marco

103 East Zhu An Bang Rd. (nr.Zheng Nin Rd.), Shanghai.  Tel: 6210-4495