Huevos Brunch at Maya

Most brunches in Shanghai run closer to the range of 100RMB per person. Maya advertises a "Huevos Brunch" with everything listed on the brunch menu under 50RMB. The deal sounds really good, especially if you are not in the mood for a pricey brunch buffet.

The free-range egg dish selected for this brunch was the Pan de Maiz Huevos Benedictos (50RMB) or poached runny eggs over chorizo with a corn muffin and red pepper hollandaise. The eggs had perfectly cooked egg whites and yolks that slowly oozed out. The corn muffin was an excellent vehicle to soak up the red pepper hollandaise sauce and egg yolks. The hollandaise sauce had a bit of a smoked tinge of flavor from the red pepper making it a good match for the chorizo and the heavy, filling texture of the corn muffin. The roasted potatoes were also a great match for the dish as its cut edges were caramelized, soft on the inside, and nicely seasoned overall. The dish looked small, but was incredibly filling.

The best looking dish - at least for value - on the brunch menu was the Huevos Divorciados, a vegetarian dish, with green and red chili sauce, refried beans, cheese quesadilla, sour cream and salsa (45RMB). The Maya Mary (50RMB) was served in a low ball glass with plenty of rice and little kick. The brunch also includes bottomless sangria and margaritas for 125RMB and 150RMB, respectively (to be sampled). Advertising menu items as 50RMB or lower is the hook, but with all the other brunch items such as drinks and perhaps even an appetizer of guacamole and chips (50 RMB) while you wait, the bill adds up fast.

Maya. 2/F, Grand Plaza Club House, 568 Julu Lu (near Shaanxi Nan Lu), Shanghai, People's Republic of China. 巨鹿路568弄 四方新城俱乐部2楼，近陕西南路. www.casanova.com.cn/maya.

Munchies, But Not After 22:00

One of the greatest luxuries and conveniences of Shanghai is that you can get practically anything delivered to your door. Along with furniture, plane tickets, and water, this includes food. When you get cravings for something salty and bad for you, what better place to call than Munchies?

Munchies puts more emphasis on its food delivery service than its in-house service, as this Shanghai expat and several others have come to know. Usually, deliveries are made within 30 minutes of ordering, unless it happens to be raining. The entire menu is posted on its homepage featuring American classics like burgers, hot dogs, chili, and sandwiches along with south-of-the-border favorites of quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas and tacos. They also deliver beer, milkshakes, and smoothies. The best thing is - compared to the rest of the American food in Shanghai - everything is cheaply priced (for Western food in Shanghai at least). Amazing!


The hamburgers are constructed well with the beef patty proportional to the size and thickness of its bun. Even after the delivery ride, the bun was not the least bit soggy. The Munchies Cheeseburger is 34RMB and comes with a side (crinkle-cut fries are most requested).


The quesadilla looks as good as it tastes, although it definitely could use more cheese to hold the entire thing together. The vegetables kept falling out during consumption. I swear they used to put more cheese in the quesadillas before. It comes with a little fresh salsa and sour cream. The other "south of the border" menu items are generous in size including the burrito and the even larger Pedro's Feast of three bursting enchiladas. All that is missing is that salsa verde.

The smoothies are pretty tasty as well. They are thick and not weighed down with filler ice or liquid, bringing even more value to the order.

Not for the dieting or health conscious, Munchies can manage to satisfy your salty cravings. They offers free delivery within 1km (or pay 5RMB). During prime hours like weekday lunch, the wait could be longer than 30 minutes, but it is 30 minutes well worth it. If only Munchies was available for order 24/7, especially on weekend nights, when the real late-night munchies kick in full force.

Munchies. 974 Wuding Lu (by Changde Lu), Jing'An District, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. http://www.munchies.cn/

Pizza ToGo

The comfort of a good Mexican burrito is hard to come by in Shanghai. At the back of a copy shop is a little door with a poster menu proving the existence of Pizza ToGo (or Pizza To Go). There are no tables inside the copy shop. Aside from the poster and small sign on the outside, a passerby would not know of its existence. The "Cal-Mex" burritos get the food chit chat rolling as expats hankering for some cheap Mexican outside of the Chipotle fakery Cantina Agave totes. After an afternoon drink at Cottons, it seemed to be high time to go around the corner and check out what has been raved about.

The prices at Pizza ToGo are cheap. Really cheap. Probably the cheapest burrito in Shanghai with Teotihuacan already being cheap. Although pizza fits its namesake, that day was about the Cal-Mex, "a taste of home without the cost!" Looks good. The burritos range from 18-35RMB depending on if you want the 10 or 12-inch size. Quesadillas were more expensive ranging from 35RMB for the 10-inch cheese to 55RMB for the 12-inch steak (The chorizo quesadilla at Teotihuacan is only 12RMB and quite filling). The menu also displays hot dogs, milk tea, fresh juice, smoothies, chili cheese fries, and other American fast-food treats. After placing the order, the woman tells us in a mixture of Chinese and English

The large chicken burrito is enormous at 30RMB. It is probably better eaten with a fork and knife because of its size. Seeing as the difference between the big and small burritos are 2 inches of tortilla, the small burrito would already be satiating enough. The sight of a real flour tortilla is promising. The first bite reveals seasoned chicken, basic salsa fresca, lima beans, and a lot of rice (you can also get it with cheese, but this was omitted from the order). Actually, the bulk of the burrito is rice, but the rice was good. The chicken was also not too dry. The beans were slightly underdone and the fresh salsa left something to be desired (maybe a jalapeño or two) lacking the spice or punch to give a burrito an extra kick. It would have been better with refried black beans and the option of adding your own hot sauce, salsa verde, or whichever salsa is preferred. This burrito is more of a Cal-Mex quick fix than exciting


The quesadilla was somewhat of a disaster, barely being held together by the fake spray cheese. The texture of the cheese was more gooey than melted, but had a hint of spice to its artificial flavor. It came with bell peppers and mushrooms, which were evenly abundant throughout the quesadilla. The cheese part was just unsatisfying, proving once again how difficult it is to get decent cheese in China.

The woman informed us that there was another location on Wuyi Lu and that Pizza ToGo does free delivery within 2km with a 30RMB order. Pizza ToGo offers a better, cheap option for a Cal-Mex fix, especially if you want to order in.




Pizza ToGo. No. 193 Wulumuqi Nan Lu, Xuhui District. Delivery: 6431-2378 or 15000414787 for English / SMS. 10:30-22:30.