Another date for the hubs and I, we managed to squeeze one in on one of his days off. We wanted to try something new so we tried out Azul Tapas Lounge on Ferguson Lane in the Former French Concession. 

Be advised that the elevator will take you to the 7th floor, then you have to walk up a flight of stairs. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but for this preggo, it wasn’t easy. I imagine with a baby and stroller, it’ll be even more difficult. Just FYI.

With that said, when we walked in, we were pleasantly surprised by the modern decor and the fresh feel. We absolutely loved it and thought that the rooftop would be an excellent day when it’s nice weather or night time drinks.

They gave us some warmed bread with olives and homemade hummus. The hubs wasn’t impressed by the hummus but I liked it, it was light and fresh. I got the mango ice tea, which was a bit sour for my liking but all the while, refreshing. The hubs got coffee (which was really espresso, most places don’t serve Americano unless it’s espresso + water) with steamed milk. It was strong coffee, he loved it!

We both got the lunch set and can I just say… WOW. That was a LOT of food and we were surprised since lunch sets are usually pretty small. The hubs ended up getting the Cesar salad, it was delicious and I just love that ham they put on there. I ended up paying a little extra to get the blackened tuna taco. Don’t let the picture fool you, it was quite large. Although it was delicious, it was a bit salty for my taste but blackened things are usually salty. (And I’m very light handed when it comes to salt)

The entrees were crab linguine for him, it was SO GOOD. I love a good light (sauce) pasta in the warmer weathers and the crab flavor was so refreshing. I got the beef chimichurri sandwich and it came on a ciabatta bread. The sandwich was delicious but kept falling apart since the bread was so soft, I think it would have been easier to eat if the bread were toasted. But I can’t deny that it was finger licking good!

And of course, I can’t pass up dessert… I pretty much ate all of it! We got the key lime pie and the berry pana cotta. Highly recommend both as they are not too sweet and the perfect ending to our lunch. Fair warning… we were stuffed and probably could have gone with the two course versus the three but…. omg. So worth it.

If you feel like trying something new for lunch, give Azul a try. We’ll definitely be back to try the other dishes on their lunch menu!

I also want to give a special shout out to my friend Vivian!!! Happy birthday Viv!!!!!!! We love you so much and can’t wait till you visit us in August! <3<3<3<3 

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Azul Tapas Lounge
8/F, Ferguson Lane, 378 Wukang Lu (Former French Concession, Puxi)
5405-2252

Since I’m so close to my delivery date, the hubs and I took a date night a couple of weeks ago. We always wanted to try Bistro Burger, friends have recommended it to us but we always went to Gourmet Burger in Shanghai Center instead. Shanghai Center is quite close to our apartment but we are always down to try new places so date night is the perfect night to try a new place, no?

According to Smart Shanghai: “Bistro Burger is a gourmet burger concept from Eduardo Vargas, with a range of Craft beers, spiked milkshakes, and burgers of all persuasions.”. It’s a cozy place and decorated really nicely and perfect for a date night in my opinion. It was busy but we didn’t have to wait for table, yay!

The burger menu ranges from 60-80RMB from the simple to the extra fancy. There were other non-beef burgers but I really wanted to eat a really delicious, juicy hamburger. And of course… all the fixings.

The hubs had a nice frosty beer, very refreshing on the humid, hot day that we went. I miss beer… 

To my surprise, it was Lady’s Night when we went! On Thursday nights, ladies get a free milk shake and I was QUITE happy. They even have spiked milkshakes but of course, being pregnant, I just got a regular one. The hubs and I were saying that we need to always come here on a Thursday night because of how much I enjoyed the milk shake. 

We ordered a plate of chili cheese fries. The fries were thick cut, extra crispy and the chili was a thick meat sauce with a kick. We loved it! We haven’t had chili fries that were very good in Shanghai so far, so we highly recommend this if you’re craving some. The chili didn’t have too much cumin (or maybe it had a small amount) and we liked that since sometimes chili can smell a bit like body odor to us. And BO just doesn’t smell that great when you’re pregnant. (Ok.. it never smells good)

I got the Hawaiian burger which had deliciously grilled pineapple, spam on a burger with cheese. It was surprisingly not salty! I completely expected it to be super salty but it was the perfect balance between slightly salty and sweet with a tomato-oregano salsa. I got the burger well done and it was extra juicy and tasty, great quality burgers really make the difference no matter how well done they are cooked.

The hubs got the Argentine Gaucho burger, which has chorizo, cheddar and mozzarella cheeses with a chimichurri sauce. The hubs said it was really delicious, salty (especially from the chorizo) and while it was absolutely heavenly… it was too much meat for him. Though, at the same time he doesn’t regret it! If you’re a meat lover, this is the burger for you. 

Both burgers came with a choice of fries or salad and we opted for the salad since we ordered chili fries. I can’t wait to go back after we have our baby so I can eat it medium rare and order some of the burgers that have some cheese that I can’t eat during pregnancy. 

So what do I think of Bistro Burger? 

My favorite place to grab a burger, fancy or not… the quality is amazing. Definitely going in my favorites.

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Bistro Burger
A Mansion, 1/F, 291 Fumin Lu, near Changle Lu
Puxi

This past Sunday was a gorgeous day in Shanghai and my friends called me up for an impromptu lunch. We usually eat Asian food with this couple but our friend suggested a new Italian restaurant that opened up in Hong Kou. We ate at La Tagliatella, a super nice looking Italian restaurant that was perfect on a beautiful sunny day. We opted to eat outside and loved it… other than a guy smoking, which sadly blew right into my face with the wind. Sigh.

They gave us bread for free, it was toasty and delicious. I wish we could have gotten more than just 3 breadsticks but we also didn’t ask. Alina and I ended up getting soup: I got the cream of pumpkin with mozzarella and she got the minestrone. (48RMB/58RMB)

The interesting thing about this place is that they have an array of pastas and sauces, so it’s almost a pick and match sort of deal. On average the pastas are around 88RMB, which is a lot in my opinion for pasta but the portions were rather large. I think one pasta dish can be shared amongst two hungry persons. 

I got the pappadelle pasta with pesto, Alina got the spaghetti with the pescatora (salmon, seafood, tomato, cream, chopped onions and peppers) sauce. Both were excellent and extremely filling. Our friend Kin got the Pizza Rustica (fresh tomato, mozzarella, black olives, mushrooms and tuna fish – all in separate sections). While the pizza was good, thin crust… I wasn’t really impressed by it. 

Alina and I were so impressed by the decor inside that we just had to take a picture… and since we are both pregnant (me at 38 weeks, her at 32) we were excited to take a pic with our pregnant bellies!

And since it was absolutely gorgeous inside and really did remind me of the short time I lived in Italy, I wanted to snap some pictures to show my readers how lovely it was. But then one of the workers gave us a lecture and wouldn’t let us take pictures saying it was copy righted and that he was afraid we would use the pictures to open our own restaurant. 

I get it dude… but seriously? Sigh. So although it was delicious food, that guy pretty much ruined it for me. But if you’re not planning on taking pictures like I do, head over there. The food is nice and if it’s nice weather you can eat outside or enjoy the beautiful dining area indoors.
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La Tagliatella
138 Ruihong Road 
Hong Kou, Shanghai

http://www.latagliatella.cn

After living here about 1.5 years I can say that I’ve come a LONG way in terms of understanding the culture and language in Shanghai. 

I remember when we first got here… I absolutely hated it. Not so much the people, the city or just being here but the fact that it was so foreign to me. I couldn’t understand anyone (which happens of course, in a new country) and some of the mannerisms caught me by surprise. 

Then as I learned the language, I began to communicate more and saw a whole different side to Shanghai. I started to explore more, understand the culture and fell in love with the city which is now my home. There is so much good in Shanghai and I’m so glad that my eyes have been opened. 

I hung out with some local friends recently and I honestly can’t tell if this is a personality thing or a cultural thing. But nearly every single time I hang out with them this is the typical conversation that happens:

Me: Aww thanks for inviting me out guys! It’s so nice that you think of me.

Friend: It’s not like you have any friends here or any plans so we know you’re free.

Ha. I can’t help but to laugh… it’s just so funny that they assume that I don’t have any plans, don’t have friends and that I’m just sitting around my home waiting for someone to call me. It’s so far from the truth, maybe when I first moved here I was free and bored but these days I’m actually settled in and quite busy. 

So… yeah, I can’t quite tell if it’s a cultural difference or their personality.

Here’s another convo:

Friend: What language are you going to speak to your baby?

Me: Probably Korean and English. I think the hubs will speak Cantonese and English and we figured since we’re in China, he’ll pick up a little Mandarin just from living here and going to school here.

Friend: Your baby is never going to talk, he’ll be so confused and it’s bad that you think he’ll be able to understand all those languages. I think you’re wrong.

Me:  Um… I grew up with multiple languages in my home and I was just fine.

Another instance is when I talk to a friend about how I want to wash my hair during the 30 days after birth and how it’s much easier to dry now that it’s short. My Hong Kong friends say it’s ok to do that because the non-hair washing tradition was because ladies had long hair and didn’t have a way to dry their hair quickly before they got cold again. So as long as I blow dry it quickly it’s fine.

My local friend here FLIPPED out on me when I told her that I want to wash my hair. 

Her: NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN’T WASH YOUR HAIR YOU WILL GET SICK. YOU ARE GOING TO RECOVERY TERRIBLY, IT’LL BE YOUR FAULT!

I’m not exaggerating. This was all yelling and placing the blame is something I am quite familiar with in the Chinese culture. 

My in laws have told me about certain foods being good for recovery and certain ones being bad. They have told me multiple times that if I don’t take care in what I eat that I can only blame myself in the recovery. 

Example:

Seaweed = bad because it lowers your inner body temperature, it is a “cold” food. Not physically cold, the digestive process of seaweed will lower my yin-yang balance and I shouldn’t have “cold” foods. 

Ginger = Good, cleanses and keeps your body temperature “warm”.

That’s just two examples. Now what makes me sad is that seaweed is in the “bad” category. As you know, I am Korean and one of the most prized and honored tradition is eating Korean seaweed soup. A lot of women eat this after birth to replenish their iron, help with their breast milk and nourish the mother. After a discussion  with the in laws I have decided not to eat it. Not because I don’t want to, I really do. But because they kept telling me how awful my recovery will be and that if I want to, they’ll make it for me but to keep in mind everything they said about my recovery with seaweed. 

If I happen to have a bad recovery, I don’t want them to blame the soup that my people eat so I figure… eh, 30 days and honestly, it doesn’t taste the same when a non-Korean makes the soup. So I’ll let my MIL do what she knows best and cook Chinese. I won’t deny I am a bit sad about not having the soup but I think this is better in the end of it all. 

And of course my in laws are only doing what they know is best in their culture and eyes. So I understand it’s not personal… it’s cultural. It’s still hard to grasp sometimes for me, being non Chinese and being told all these things that I should and shouldn’t be doing. They do have a tendency to believe that their culture is right in everything (food, beliefs, health, medicine, etc). So it makes it hard to have a solid discussion about my culture and how they really don’t know too much about it but make comparisons. I can’t tell if this is cultural or if it’s a combination of them being old and cultural to be so pushy and opinionated.

But in the end, they are good people… and I want to stress how much they are helping us here. My MIL buys all the groceries, runs errands, get things that she thinks I’ll like to eat and she does the cooking and dishes. They do a lot for us and I am so thankful for that.

So yes. Cultural differences… still getting used to it. Be it Shanghai or my Cantonese in laws. I love both but I wonder if I’ll ever “get it” fully. 

On Chinese New Year our family friends cooked a hearty traditional Cantonese meal for us and we were stuffed! The next day they wanted to grab dim sum in Shanghai (since the parents were from out of town) and they took us to the new K11 Mall on Huai Hai Road. 

The decor is very reminiscent of Hong Kong and the food was great! Now that my in laws have been here, the hubs and I wanted to take them out for some quality dim sum since they haven’t been too pleased with the dim sum in Shanghai.

Some of the things we ate include the pictures that I’m posting. The quality is excellent, piping hot and the atmosphere is very nice. My Cantonese in-laws even say how authentic the selections and tastes are. I personally love the turnip cake (I love turnip!) and the shumai. 

Here are some of my other favorites that we ate: an adorable panda bun with sweet filling, beef balls and scallion dumpling (though looks more like a pancake! I liked the shumai so much, I guess I’m posting it twice!

While it is extremely delicious and a very nice place to eat… It is on the pricier side compared to other places in Shanghai. So it’s not going to be a weekly thing for us (or a daily thing for my in-laws) because it’s expensive compared to Hong Kong.

But if you’re looking for a nice place to treat yourself and your family, I think it’s a great place for a special occasion to go out and have some delicious dim sum!

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Super Star Seafood Restaurant 
300 Huaihai Zhong Road (Puxi)
K11 Shopping Art Center Shop No. 405-501

It’s funny because I had planned on cutting my hair since I only have two weeks till my due date and my BFF told me I should do it now also! I actually got it cut then I saw my BFF’s advice about cutting my hair and laughed. Ahhh, how we think alike! 

I’m going to rave again, about how much I love my stylist. James at Esprit Salon in Super Brand Mall (Pudong) is excellent. He doesn’t speak much English but it doesn’t really interfere with how well he cuts. I usually bring a picture or get the same hair cut every time. But he always makes me look so nice and he’s especially kind-hearted.

I was complaining to him that I’m always hot. It’s not even that hot in Shanghai. I’m just über pregnant and my hair was really long. I wanted to have a little longer than shoulder length hair but when he talked to the hubs, he told him that it wouldn’t look nice. I have a feeling he thinks it would flip out in odd places. So I just said,…. whatever, do what you feel is good. Since I’ve been to him many times, I don’t mind at all, I trust him.

Then to my surprise, he cut about 6-7″ (maybe more?) and I feel 20lbs lighter! And although I can’t put my hair back into a pony tail, I feel a lot better. I am enjoying the short hair but I can’t tell if I look better with it short or long. I usually change my hair all the time from super short to super long and sometimes in between. But it’s been so long since I’ve changed it since moving to Shanghai. But I like it! Plus when my son arrives, it’ll probably make it easier because my hair took forever to dry. (Super coarse, thick and long)

So what do you think? Did I do ok?

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Esprit Salon
Super Brand Mall, 
3/F, 168 Lujiazui Xi Lu, 
near Lujiazui Huan Lu 
陆家嘴西路168号, 
正大广场3楼, 
近陆家嘴环路

I had an intense craving for Korean “Chinese” food. Since I didn’t experience cravings during pregnancy so far, I had to satisfy it!

I looked at the hubby and said “I have a craving for 짜장면 (Black bean noodles)!” 

He didn’t even hesitate, he said… let’s find a place and GO!

So I did a quick search and found this CNN Travel article of “The Best South Korean food in Koreatown (Shanghai)“.

We immediately got into a cab and headed over to Tao Yuan (도워) in Hongqiao. It’s located near many Korean stores, restaurants as this is Shanghai’s Koreatown. 

We ordered the 탕수육 (Korean sweet and sour pork). I have to say, this was actually really good! The pork was very crispy, the sauce lives up to its name and I highly recommend it.

We also got an order of the fried dumplings (군만두) and you can’t go wrong with anything fried. It’s gigantic, which we weren’t expecting and we ended up taking half of it home. I haven’t had Korean dumplings in so long, this was an immense treat for me. 

The hubby got 짬뽕 (Spicy seafood noodles) and he said it tasted authentic to him. He has  a tastebud of a Chinese so I can’t comment if this is true or not. I would have tried it but spicy isn’t my thing, even more so while pregnant. But it looked and smelled delicious to me!

Ah, the reason why we went… my craving for 짜장면! The noodles were a bit too done for my liking, I like mine with some bite and the sauce was underwhelming. I’m really surprised by the above article that raved about this dish. It did satisfy my craving, but in all honesty… I’ll probably never order this dish again. 

While 짜장면 is supposed to be less salty than the original version in Beijing.. it shouldn’t be bland. The sauce itself should have a punch from the bean paste and be smoothed out from turning it into a sauce. But it was only 20RMB ($3USD) so it’s hard for me to complain too much. 

Pros: Everything we ate was cheap, delicious (minus my dish which was just ok).

Cons: The black bean noodles were meh. The restaurant allows smoking and since the dishes aren’t the healthiest and if you have a tendency to swell or get bloated after fried/salty foods, this is probably NOT the place to go!

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Tao Yuan (桃园 )

103 Jinhui Nan Lu, near Hongquan Lu

金汇南路103号, 近 虹泉路

Oh heavens help me… I met up with my friend Joanne yesterday and after our lunch she suggested we go to Awfully Chocolate. Last time I had a lunch date with her we also ended up going there and sharing just a piece of cake. It was amazing.

They have so many delicious desserts and I highly recommend ANYTHING chocolate there. I haven’t had anything but chocolate there, since the name itself says the word… I figure, I should stick with it. She had to pry me off the display case, I was drooling and pressing my face up against it. Not the most spectacular image of a 9 month pregnant girl but… you get the point.

I keep meaning to try the cupcakes above but I always get distracted and order other things. I must, MUST try these next time. For a girl that has no sweet cravings… I drool every single time I come to this place. 

We ended up sharing the flour less chocolate cake and it was so rich, flavorful and I can’t believe I’m saying this but… you should share it! It’s so decadent that I think it would have been impossible for me to finish on my own. 

And because it was around 81 degrees yesterday and I was sweating, hot and red in the face… I decided to get two scoops of chocolate ice cream! WHOA! It was a lot bigger than I thought so I shared with Joanne as well. It was just the chilling dessert that I needed for a hot and humid day. Yum. 

I went to the location off of the Nanjing West Road Exit on Wujiang Rd pedestrian street but there is also another location if that is easier for you. If you’re in the mood for something extremely chocolately and sweet, this is the place for you!

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Awfully Chocolate

When you take the line 2 subway to Jing’An Temple, off of exit 2, you’ll find yourself in a food court area of the Jiu Gang Mall. One of the first places I took immediate notice was Uncle Tetsu’s Cheese Cake. You can’t miss it with the gigantic lines, probably the only place in the food court you’ll find a line this long.

Every single time I have been, the line is just too long to bear. I’ve always wanted to try it but neither the hubs or I wanted to wait that long. This is where my in laws come in… I took them to the grocery store that is next door and was telling them how much I wanted to try this cheese cake but the line is too long. 

My FIL told me he doesn’t mind waiting and told me not to worry, he’ll buy some for me. Awwwwww, I told him it’s not a big deal but he did! Him and my MIL both waited 45 minutes for this cake! You can only buy one per person so they wanted to make their wait worthwhile so they bought two.

The cakes are cheap, 39 RMB per and baked fresh in front of you. It’s given to you steaming hot, right out of the oven and the smell is wonderful. It’s quite funny because when I showed them this place, they showed me a picture of the same thing in Taiwan! It’s famous there as well, with giant lines and when we did the currency exchange… it was about the same price. I hear they also have this in Japan as well.

They brought it home and I was so thankful for their patience to buy it just for me. (I’m so spoiled, so lucky huh?) We had some after dinner and we all enjoyed it very much. At room temperature (and I imagine hot) it has a strong egg taste, more than a “cheesecake” taste. It’s light, airy and spongy. Quite good in my opinion.

We put the other cake in the fridge overnight and had some today and I have to say that I prefer it cold. The egg wasn’t as strong and it did have more of a light cheesecake taste. It reminds me of a Japanese cheesecake I used to love. 

Now, is the wait worth it? 

It depends on your patience. It’s cheap, it’s delicious and to me it’s worth it if you can stand a 45min-1 hour wait. But I know that most people probably don’t have that kind of time. But I really like it for afternoon tea or dessert and feel pretty blessed to have the in laws sacrifice their time for my sweet tooth.

If you happen to try this, let me know what you think and if it was worth the wait.  

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Uncle Tetsu Cheese Cake
1618 Nanjing West Road, Jiu Gang Mall B1 (Subway Line 2, Jing’An Temple: Exit 2)
南京西路1618号久光百货B1楼(近静安寺)

Fellow expats, I have to say… and I know there are a ton of you who email me and ask me where I get my groceries from. I was ordering online from here and there but never really found a place that I felt 100% happy about. Sometimes I would receive veggies or fruit that was half spoiled… sometimes I would just plain be disappointment just because I couldn’t find things I wanted to find.

I had lunch with a fellow expat friend, who is COMPLETELY awesome so you should go check her blog out right now: Donuts to Dumplings. And she recommended Gusto’s Fine Foods who have recently partnered with Kate & Kimi. Kristin was telling me how the quality of their produce is excellent and all the top hotels and restaurants on the Bund use their products!

I placed my first order to be delivered on Monday, ordering some meat and a veggie/fruit box for 2-3 people.

I am… BLOWN AWAY. (See above picture, that’s everything from our box!)

The quality of the fruits and veggies were out of this world. Tomatoes with no bruising? Salad greens without mold??? I know these are silly things as I should expect it but honestly nearly every delivery place I’ve ordered greens or tomatoes from have been horrendous. The variety and quantity of things in my veggie and fruit box were amazing, I am more than satisfied with it and will be ordering this weekly. Did I mention that they even threw in herbs for free with my box? *swoons*

I also know that once Boram is born and he’s old enough for baby food, I’ll be making my own baby food for him using their Baby & Toddler box. I’ll be posting recipes of what I make once I do!

I can’t wait to order their other products and do another review on them. If you’re looking for high quality produce, meats and much more… give Kate & Kimi a try! Let them know that I sent you because I’m always looking to help other expats out! While you’re at it, take a look at their FAQs, that is really what sold me on them!