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 

_________

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.

_________
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.
___
La Tagliatella
138 Ruihong Road 
Hong Kou, Shanghai

http://www.latagliatella.cn

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!

____

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

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!

________
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!

_______
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.  

___________

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)

We’ve been to Sunflour a few times and it has been a favorite place to get brunch. They have plenty of delicious breads, pastries, bagels and other baked goods. 

I love that they speak English, have free wifi and although it’s busy at peak times (Sunday brunch), it’s totally worth going to.

We always get the English breakfast because the portions are large and I love the variety. Plus being pregnant, I can actually eat a lot… thought it takes a while for me to finish! I really miss eating runny egg yolks, so I had to get the scrambled eggs but it was still delicious. They have a delicious multigrain bread with breakfast and it was so good. I love my healthy breads!

I had hot chocolate (with skim milk) and the hubs got coffee. I drank that in one gulp, it warmed me from head to toe and it was just the right amount. They have a huge chalkboard menu on the walls, drinks, breads and other things. If you’re interested in a western type breakfast, this is the place to go. 

_______
Sunflour
308号 Anfu Rd  Xuhui, Shanghai, China
+86 21 6473 7757

I took this picture at the bund right before I was about to meet my friends for brunch. Last year, I met our friends Kin and Alina for brunch at Shook! It’s definitely one of my favorite places to eat in Shanghai and I have to say that the price is excellent, considering that it’s on the bund!

This new year’s day, I met with them again. It was so nice to do this two years in a row and Alina’s parents joined us this time. It was a joyous time to celebrate 2013 and the fact that Alina is also pregnant! She’s about 6 weeks behind me so it’s fun to compare and rub each other’s bellies. 

This year Shook didn’t have a new year’s menu. But they did have their standard 88RMB business lunch and it was EXCELLENT. I had the beet salad, black pig sausage and a fruit cobbler for dessert. Everyone else’s lunch also looked and tasted amazing. I had a bite of everyone’s but Alina’s dad. He had delicious steak that was really rare, oh how I miss rare steak and sushi. 

I see this as a New Year’s tradition for us, next year with our babies. Sadly the hubby had to work both years but it was nice to spend new year’s day with people. 

I think about how different 2013 will be. We will be parents and our lives have been changed forever. 2013 is the year that my wishes came true. 

The only resolution I have this year is to better myself (emotionally, physically, mentally) everyday for my son. I want him to see that even at 33, (or 60) we can always be a better us. I hope that he knows how much we love him, I can’t wait to meet him in May.

__________________
Shook! 
The Swatch Art Peace Hotel
23, East Nanjing Road
(Bund 19)

The last day that Qing was here, I was really sad to see her go. It was nice to have a good friend here and was fun for me since I really miss my friends from home. 

Since she was flying out of Pudong, we took her to Super Brand Mall and ate at Watami on the top floor. Watami is a casual (but nice) Japanese restaurant, thought I wouldn’t say authentic, but inspired! 

The prices are excellent, it’s not expensive and the portions are really nice. We decided to get the two person set that included all the food in the picture (except the dessert) and two drinks. Don’t let the two person set fool you, it’s a LOT of food.

The hubs, Qing and I were stuffed beyond belief and the service was pretty good! 

If you’re looking for a place to eat that isn’t too pricey but filling…. Watami is your place! 

—–
Watami 和民居食屋
8/F, Super Brand Mall, 168 Lujiazui Xi Lu (Line 2/Lujiazui)

Watami also has many other locations including Infinity Plaza.