Cha's Restaurant with Shanghai Bloggers

Cha's Restaurant for "Cha canting" is the 1950's Hong Kong style diner on Sinan Road. It is a place I have heard many expat friends in Shanghai like to visit because they say the food is good and cheap and the line is worth it.

Instead of taking on the challenge of an epic wait, The Thirsty Pig (Jimmy Chang), Sugared & Spiced (Cindy Wang), and Buzz of Dining Secretary's Dumplings to Donuts met on a rainy Sunday right after opening at 11:30, beating the lunch rush. Actually, there is no actual waiting area in the restaurant, but the small entrance where patrons manage to tuck themselves into in anticipation of a table. We were seated at the back in a tight table where the menu was visible under the glass on the table. Never have being been to a Hong Kong style diner, The Thirsty Pig reassures us it looks exactly like the old diners in Hong Kong. Points for authenticity.

The food came out as quickly as it was ordered. The egg tarts did not come out until last, as is tradition. I will say that I have never tried typical Hong Kongese diner food, so bear with my newbie experience.




The Poached Chicken in Soya Sauce (50RMB) came out first. The meat was incredibly moist, tender, and cooked all the way through. The thin skin of the chicken had a slightly sweet tang to the otherwise salty dish. The chicken flavor was allowed to come clean through. The Homemade Curry with Beef Brisket and Tendon (40RMB) had a vibrant color and a strong, spiced flavor to match. It had large chunks of potato, carrot, and green pepper to compliment the incredibly tender and rich thickly-cut beef brisket. The potato and carrots were cooked all the way through and the green pepper still maintained some of its crunch. The curries at Cha's are supposed to be the household specialty. Cha's Fried Rice (32RMB) had bits of egg, cucumber, and a few shreds of salty cured meat in it. Just pour a bit of the curry sauce or more on a spoonful of fried rice and the curry flavors overpower and are carried by the rice, which simply offers a variety of textures (some crunch from the vegetables, softness from the bits of egg, and fluff from the rice) when eaten with the sauce. The Sweet and Sour Pork (32RMB) also left quite an impression with the exterior of the fried pork still being crunchy even after being on the table for some time. The Pineapple Buns (6RMB each), so named for looking like a pineapple although not containing any trace of it, were served with a giant tab of butter inserted in the middle. Seeing how much butter was put in the middle to give it a soft, buttery center to contrast with the more crunchy topping was kind of gross, but at least the pineapple buns were warm. It made it easy to spread the butter evenly, making them more satisfying.


To end the meal, we each had an egg tart (5RMB each). The crust was dense and baked just the way through tasting bland. The custard filling was bright, but a little runny. More effort was placed into maintaining an aesthetic expectation of bright-yellow custard filling instead of baking the tart the whole way through, even if it means some browning. The egg tarts at KFC are still a lot better, in my opinion.

The final bill came to 243 RMB for four people. Not too bad as we left absolutely stuffed. As we left the restaurant, the queue was taking up most of the entry space. So glad we did not have to wait through that. Cha's Restaurant is a solid choice for Hong Kongese dining and while some dishes were good, I may require a return visit to decide if it is really something I would wait in line for.

Sugared & Spiced and The Thirsty Pig going at it with their cameras
Cha's Restaurant 查餐厅. 30 Sinan Road, 1F (by Huaihai Middle Road) / 思南路30号1楼 (近淮海中路), Shanghai, People's Republic of China. 思南路30号,近淮海中路. +86 21 6093-2062. 11:00-02:00.

Sheng Sushi

With most sushi places in Shanghai being priced out of the budget diner's list, Sheng Sushi (盛寿司 Shèng Shòusī) is a little sushi shack on YongKang Lu welcoming you with open arms. The tiny restaurant has only about 8 seats (4 of which are at the bar) or a tad more if the lone table outside is set up. Extra stools are pulled down from the storage space above the sushi bar to accommodate a couple more people. Most of its business seems to be geared towards home delivery, operating between 10:00-21:00.

Upon arrival, grab a seat if you are so lucky to find one or prepare to queue. Take away is also an option, though there are not many nearby spots favorable for sitting to eat. The menu is listed both in Chinese and English with descriptions and explanations of its rolls, most of which are named after major U.S. cities and some of which are misspelled e.g. "Salt Lack City." The menu could have been copied straight from a Californian sushi joint take away menu that made its way to Shanghai. A lot of the rolls include some aspect that does not require a variety of fresh raw fish like tempura, cooked shrimp, crab, cucumber, or eel, which is broiled right in front of you. Considering this, it may be the reason that the costs at Sheng Sushi are kept down. Also on the menu are ramen, hand rolls, sashimi bowls, maki, and various other sides.

The Phoenix Roll has cucumber and crab and each piece (8 in total) is topped with a generous sliver of salmon, a round of cucumber, and roe. The whole thing barely fits into your mouth. The salmon sashimi (25RMB) was five thick slices of salmon served with raw radish and tasted fresh, not being rubbery or taking on a sheen from fish left out too long. The bulk of the other roll shared had tempura and a heavy drizzling of sauce. The rolls are big and surprisingly filling. Two rolls, salmon sashimi, and draft sake cost a total of 152RMB.


The sushi and its offerings are no frills with several choices of Californian-style rolls that are not commonly offered in other establishments serving sushi (aside from the classic "Californian roll"). While not being exceptionally fancy or amazing, the sushi is great for its price and the quality is a lot better than you would expect for a budget sushi place.

Check out the take away menu below:

Sheng Sushi. 63 Yongkang Lu by Xiangyang Lu / 永康路63号，近嘉善路, Shanghai, 200031, China. Delivery: 10:00-21:00. Tel: 13816418701.

Pho Deluxe at Pho 88

Yet another pho restaurant has hit the Shanghai scene. Still having hope for pho in Shanghai, I had to try it. The reviews on CityWeekend seemed promising, though have apparently been taken down due to review spamming when I checked the link whilst writing today. Anyway, I went to Pho 88 on a weekday during lunch. Pho 88 is located right above Tanya Mantabei in its former second floor space. Upon entering during peak lunch hours, the restaurant was completely empty and not one other patron came into the restaurant during my leisurely stay.

I went for the Pho Deluxe Course, suitable for one person, which is one bowl of pho dac biet and cha gio or one house special pho with rare steak, tripe, well-done flank, brisket, tendon, and beef meatballs plus one deep-fried spring roll for 48RMB. Or, for basically 10RMB more, you get a single fried spring roll, which came with a weak serving of greens to add to the pho. Off the menu, simpler versions of pho with a smaller meat variety go for 29RMB.

The first taste of the broth showed promise. The flavor was rich and not oily or salty, but something was missing. The broth could have benefitted from a few more hours of stewing or adding more or better quality bones to enhance the depth of its flavor. Too bad there were not more typical leafy greens to throw in the soup to try to compesate for its flavor short-comings. The noodles were not overcooked and were pentiful. There was also a good amount of meat in the large bowl, probably from all the variety it is supposed to have. Though, the quality of the meat was average, though the rare steak was the only decent piece in the bowl. The meatballs were flavorless and reminiscent of a frozen, store-bought variety.

Pho 88 should benefit better from putting more effort into its broth and quality of meat than marketing tactics reeking of review pumping.


Pho 88. 2nd Floor, 581 Fuxing Zhong Lu (by Ruijin Yi Lu), Shanghai, China