Up to Shanghai (as an expat) - November 17th 2009 and onward

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March 2010


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Dinner at Pizza Marzano on March 1, 2010
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One day, I returned to Pizza Marzano, with Di Yin this time. We shared two respectable pizzas:
  • a caponata (tomato sauce, mozzarella, baby tomatoes, eggplants, basil, and pine nuts). Moist and fresh-tasting. "Classic crust."
  • an amatriciana (pancetta, red onions, mozzarella, basil, and a little tomato sauce). Spicy and exciting. "Roman crust" (i.e., a bit thinner).
Lunch at Charmant on March 3, 2010
One rainy day, I worked from home in the morning and decided to eat lunch before heading to work. For lunch, I returned for the third time to Charmant, a local Taiwanese diner. I had good vegetable curry over rice. The curry was like a standard Japanese curry but less heavy/deep/dark (e.g., the roux was lighter). The vegetables were eggplant, onion, tomato, carrot, cabbage, and mushroom. It came with a fried egg, pickled radishes, and, for a drink, a cup of good quality chicken soup.
One rainy day, I worked from home in the morning and decided to eat lunch before heading to work. For lunch, I returned for the third time to Charmant, a local Taiwanese diner. I had good vegetable curry over rice. The curry was like a standard Japanese curry but less heavy/deep/dark (e.g., the roux was lighter). The vegetables were eggplant, onion, tomato, carrot, cabbage, and mushroom. It came with a fried egg, pickled radishes, and, for a drink, a cup of good quality chicken soup.
Lunch at Godly Vegetarian Restaurant on March 6, 2010
Our usual good, tasty vegetarian wontons at Godly Vegetarian Restaurant.
"Vegetarian eel with sweet, sour, and spicy sauce." Di Yin and I both thought the eel was made of deep-fried mushrooms. Though correct in appearance, it didn't taste like eel at all. We didn't like it. The sauce, by the way, was surprisingly boring (despite that it looks like it should be strongly flavored).
The Chinese characters for our vegetarian eel. Literally, fish fragrance crisp eel.
Our usual good, tasty vegetarian wontons at Godly Vegetarian Restaurant.
"Vegetarian eel with sweet, sour, and spicy sauce." Di Yin and I both thought the eel was made of deep-fried mushrooms. Though correct in appearance, it didn't taste like eel at all. We didn't like it. The sauce, by the way, was surprisingly boring (despite that it looks like it should be strongly flavored).
The Chinese characters for our vegetarian eel. Literally, fish fragrance crisp eel.
Snack from Yuan Yuan on March 6, 2010
Not full from lunch, we got take-out from a local up-scale restaurant, Yuan Yuan. Although I'd never been there, Di Yin had and raved about the dates drizzled with honey and stuffed with sweet sticky rice. That's what these are.
Not full from lunch, we got take-out from a local up-scale restaurant, Yuan Yuan. Although I'd never been there, Di Yin had and raved about the dates drizzled with honey and stuffed with sweet sticky rice. That's what these are.
Dinner at Itsuki on March 7, 2010
One day for dinner we walked 30 minutes to a Japanese all-you-can-eat (and drink) barbecue joint, much like another one that we've been one two three times before. Its main entrance is through a lobby.
The interior is snazzier, more open than our Japanese barbecue restaurant.
Sauces: miso-tomato, vinegar, and soy-based (likely with tempura sauce). The adjacent small dish is pure soy sauce. Drinks: kiwi juice, oolong tea, and plum wine. The kiwi juice had good flavor that, though, seemed artificial.
A salad. Fairly good, but not as good as the great salad at the other place.
One day for dinner we walked 30 minutes to a Japanese all-you-can-eat (and drink) barbecue joint, much like another one that we've been one two three times before.
Its main entrance is through a lobby.
The interior is snazzier, more open than our Japanese barbecue restaurant.
Sauces: miso-tomato, vinegar, and soy-based (likely with tempura sauce). The adjacent small dish is pure soy sauce.
Drinks: kiwi juice, oolong tea, and plum wine. The kiwi juice had good flavor that, though, seemed artificial.
A salad. Fairly good, but not as good as the great salad at the other place.
Asparagus.
Raw beef salad. The beef tasted frozen. I didn't like it.
Mushroom platter: shiitake, oyster, and king oyster. I felt the restaurant put too much pepper on the shiitakes.
Beef, called sirloin on the menu.
Asparagus.
Raw beef salad. The beef tasted frozen. I didn't like it.
Mushroom platter: shiitake, oyster, and king oyster. I felt the restaurant put too much pepper on the shiitakes.
Beef, called sirloin on the menu.
Sushi platter (salmon and tuna).
Kimchi platter (radish, cucumber, and cabbage).
Fish platter. The cod was great! We liked it so much we ordered another plate of it.
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Sushi platter (salmon and tuna).
Kimchi platter (radish, cucumber, and cabbage).
Fish platter. The cod was great! We liked it so much we ordered another plate of it.
Shrimp. We grilled these before I remembered to take a picture of them.
Chawanmushi. Di Yin always orders this.
Sashimi platter.
Salmon hand rolls.
Scallops. For reference: they needed to be grilled.
Chawanmushi. Di Yin always orders this.
Sashimi platter.
Salmon hand rolls.
Scallops. For reference: they needed to be grilled.
Smoked duck. Fatty. This tasted frozen, so we put it on the grill for a few seconds, which quickly warmed the duck and melted some of the fat off. It reminded me of a duck prosciutto I had in Vancouver. Regardless, it wasn't as good as How Way's tea smoked duck (e.g., 1, 2).
Beef, thinly sliced, called ribs on the menu. I like grilling this type of meat a lot. It's easy and fast (20 seconds total, counting both sides, then a minute of resting on a plate as it finishes cooking with residual heat) and tastes good.
The potato salad went well with the meat.
Japanese soup with egg. Home-y, pleasing, a refreshing change.
Smoked duck. Fatty. This tasted frozen, so we put it on the grill for a few seconds, which quickly warmed the duck and melted some of the fat off. It reminded me of a duck prosciutto I had in Vancouver. Regardless, it wasn't as good as How Way's tea smoked duck (e.g., 1, 2).
Beef, thinly sliced, called ribs on the menu. I like grilling this type of meat a lot. It's easy and fast (20 seconds total, counting both sides, then a minute of resting on a plate as it finishes cooking with residual heat) and tastes good.
The potato salad went well with the meat.
Japanese soup with egg. Home-y, pleasing, a refreshing change.
Ramen. Merely okay, meaning sub-par for freshly made ramen.
Green bean sweet cold soup (dessert), much like those I see in Singapore.
House-made sesame ice cream. So sesame-y that it didn't seem much like / taste much like ice cream. Di Yin said the inability to taste the dairy is a good thing; she didn't like the ice cream because she could taste that they didn't use good quality milk.
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Ramen. Merely okay, meaning sub-par for freshly made ramen.
Green bean sweet cold soup (dessert), much like those I see in Singapore.
House-made sesame ice cream. So sesame-y that it didn't seem much like / taste much like ice cream.
Di Yin said the inability to taste the dairy is a good thing; she didn't like the ice cream because she could taste that they didn't use good quality milk.
Yes, we really exploited the all-you-can-eat policy.
Our conclusion: the restaurant is about as good as our other Japanese all-you-can-eat staple in Shanghai.