Shanghai's Central Park Cafe

Central Park Cafe is a piece of tranquility in busy Shanghai. Frenzied Palate stumbled upon one evening at the intersection of Shaanxi Nan Lu and Shaoxing Lu in Shanghai. The windows set into the brick building were warmly lit on the inside for the first two floors and there seemed to be a garden terrace on top. During summer, the leaves of the trees lining the street seem to protect the rooftop from the noise of the busy street below. Inside, you could see people reading and sipping on coffee. It looked very cozy and homely.

During a daytime visit, the entrance of the cafe gave an impression you were entering someone's home. There is a small staircase to going down to the ground floor, which has cute tables and a few wine racks. Taking a peek at the wine menu, the imported bottles are cheaply priced starting at 88RMB. If you decide to go up to the top of the cafe, you can take the winding staircase to the left of the entrance to the third floor, which opens up to the rooftop. Light-colored wicker garden furniture with thick cushions, an array of meticulously kept plants (with a visible shed) await on this green oasis. All the leaves from the trees protect you from direct sunlight and completely insulate the sound of traffic. At night with candles lit, the scene is magical and romantic.

The coffee at Central Park Cafe is pretty good (coffee bean origins are not yet known). It is not too bitter or burnt. After the order is placed, the drinks come out quickly. The serving is decently portioned as well.

One thing to be wary about is the food service. The kitchen is not prepared to handle a large volume of customers as everything is made to order. This could mean that you could wait forty-five minutes for a simple and forgettable toasted ham and cheese sandwich. The cream of mushroom soup was absolutely horrendous, barely resembling what it actually is supposed to be. The soup looked like water with a dash of cream added to it with diced carrots, cucumber, and mushroom. The proprietor said she did not know what cream of mushroom soup should look like and was sorry that the soup was not up to expectations. It is almost shameful to offer an item on the menu at a cafe that already seemed to have a lot of thought put into every detail. The least that she could have done was have a proper recipe looked up.

Central Park Cafe is a great place for coffee and drinks, especially on the small rooftop terrace, but the food should be avoided.

Central Park Cafe. 542 Shaanxi Nan Lu (by Shaoxing Lu), 陕西南路542号, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.