Kin and Alina were kind enough to take my in laws and myself out to Sichuan food. My FIL’s favorite food (other than Cantonese food) is Sichuan. K&A took us here a few times before and the hubs and I really loved the food. It was scary at first since I’m not a huge spicy fan but don’t let the bright red foods scare you. Each dish (that was spicy) was a different kind of spicy: some spicy hot, numbing, tangy… and so on. It was delicious and I wish I could name everything we ate for you but I don’t know Chinese so I guess I’ll tell you starting from the top row L-R.

Row 1: Noodles in a peanut sauce with cucumbers, Veggie in peanut sauce
Row 2: Fish in spicy oil, thinly sliced beef, skewers (tripe and mushrooms… I think other things too, I forgot!)
Row 3: Potatoes, lotus roots + veggies with frog legs,  I think quail eggs? (They were delicious!)
Row 4: Fuzzy melon stuffed with something delicious, tofu with pork belly

If you’re a fan of spicy food, I strongly suggest you go here. It’s located in Infinity Mall (Which is across the street from Time Square Mall). It’s served family style so gather your friends and go together so you can try more dishes. The price is quite affordable and it’s a nice place. Then you can go shopping afterwards if you want… which, I didn’t because I was too full to walk around. 

Larsho Restaurant 
Infinity Mall: 138 Huai Hai Middle Road, 4th Floor 

[揽香川菜馆(无限度店)]淮海中路138号无限度广场4楼(近普安路) Ph: 63756771

I absolutely love LUSH, my BFF HJ introduced me to the wonderful soap company when she got me a huge package of their most wonderful bath bombs, soaps and body butters for my bridal shower. I assumed that they would have one here since they have one in Hong Kong. But sadly they don’t. So I’ve been asking around and nobody could point me in the direction of a similar store.

I decided to just try searching for one on foot since I couldn’t find a LUSH alternative. One day, the hubs and I decided to go to a couple of malls in Shanghai. Infinity Mall and Time Square. 

A true LUSH alternative is a store called V.Rose. They have bath bombs, luxury hand-made soaps and the stores are much smaller than LUSH but definitely has a lot of similar products. I ended up buying their oatmeal, lavender soap and it’s so rich, buttery and has a gorgeous smell. The reason I was looking for a nice soap company was mainly because my skin has become a mess since moving to Shanghai. It’s so dry, cracked and my skin wouldn’t absorb anything I had at home. I thought I would try out their soaps and guess what? The soap is so moisturizing, my skin had a “AHHHhhhhhhhhhHHHHHhhhHH” feeling. 

Before we found V.Rose we found a shop in Time Square called Forest Cabin. I can’t seem to find a website for them but I did find something online describing the company. I sampled one of their “Almond Leg and Foot Care Cream” and my skin instantly gobbled it up. It was the consistency of thick, whipped butter. I’ve been using it after my showers and my skin is completely back to normal now! Hurray!

So if you’re looking for a LUSH type alternative, give these places a try!

V.Rose
Various locations including: Infinity Mall (138 Huaihai Zhong Lu), Henderson Metropolitan Mall (Nanjing East Road, Line 2)

Forest Cabin
Only one location I know of at Time Square Mall (93 HuaiHai Zhong Lu)