Category Archives: Food
Shanghai tip: Don’t show fear to the monkey
Ahh Friday’s. What would they be without a good monkey story? About a month ago I was sipping, as elegantly as one can at 10pm, on a margarita at Cantina Agave on Fumin Lu (which is the best Mexican in town by the way) when a monkey came up on the bench and started begging. [...]
Also posted in Drink, Odd, Travel 4 Comments
The best Indian curry in Shanghai?
Last weekend we headed over to what is being hyped as the next cool area of Shanghai: Cool Docks. Located at the southern end of the bund at 479 Zhongshan Nan Road, near Fuxing Road, one could easily drive past and not really notice the new area – its right next to a whole heap [...]
Also posted in Drink, How-to, Travel Tagged Food, Indian Food Shanghai, Kebabs on the Grille, Restaurants 2 Comments
Eat the yangmei, eat the yangmei, eat the yangmei
Well, it’s yangmei season once again in Shanghai. Known as the Chinese Strawberry, yangmei can be found in the fruit stalls and street vendors all over town this time of year. The furry-looking fruit looks similar to a lychee at first glace but is dark red in colour. Tasting somewhere between a strawberry and a [...]
Also posted in Drink, How-to Tagged chinese bayberry, chinese fruit, chinese strawberry, fruit, japanese bayberry, redbayberry, waxberry, yangmei, yangmei cocktails 8 Comments
Learn to read Chinese characters
Some days I think I’ve come so far in talking and getting around in Shanghai and China. And then sometimes, things turn out like this recent cooking event: Jenni: Can you pick up sweet potato? Me: Sure. Beer/Wine? Jenni: Not tonight. Me: Me too. I could murder one. I’ll grab a couple. [Meanwhile...back at the [...]
Shanghai Shots: Qibao Town
“I could eat the arse out of a low flying duck”, a visiting friend said before we jumped a 15 minute cab ride to Qibao Ancient Town in Shanghai’s Minhang District. Neither of us knew we’d actually be squaring off more peculiar dishes than low flying duck arses for lunch. This was actually back in [...]
Also posted in Travel Tagged China, Minhang District, Qibao station, Qibao Temple, Qibao Town, Shanghai 2 Comments
Should China eat Kangaroo?
While the world press fixates itself on the future of China in the world economy there’s been a bit of a stir back home that’s hit the front page news: China eating our Kangaroos. Okay, I know what you’re thinking: poor old skippy, one minute he’s jumping around the countryside, having a great time reproducing [...]
Top ten bottles of red under 100RMB
One of the constant grumblings of lush expats in Shanghai (guys like me, I’m a guy like me) is the lack of decent ‘drink now’ red wines available for a reasonable cost. The casual bottle you can regularly buy and pour a cheeky glass or three for dinner, or, swill with a visiting neighbour. Unfortunately, [...]
Victorian bushfire appeal in Shanghai
In the last week bushfires (forest fires for the yanks) have ripped through the state of Victoria in Australia. It’s been the worst natural disaster the country has faces in over 100 years and so far has claimed the lives of more than 180 people with many more injured. The fires have destroyed over a [...]
Also posted in Drink, People Tagged austcham shanghai, Australia, Shanghai, Victoria Bitter, victorian bushfires Leave a comment
Homes Shanghainese Restaurant
Homes was the first Shanghainese restaurant I visited when arriving off the boat. After eating their delicious local food, especially the pork in brown sauce, I was hooked. The sad truth was that at the time I had no idea what side of the city I was in or where Homes was located. By good [...]
Eat the pomelo, eat the pomelo, eat the pomelo
You say pommelo, I say pomelo – is the sweeter father of the grapefruit and now in season around China. I was first introduced to the giant of citrus about a month ago and keep going back to the fruit shop weekly, sometimes twice a week, to grab one. It’s certainly healthier than the dumpling [...]
Places to eat: Xi Bei