The overpriced Thai restaurant residing on the first floor of the Ke Tang Jian boutique hotel is no more. Where once chintzy music chimed, now a non-stop Beatles soundtrack belts out while a boisterous crowd makes merry, as Japanese-owned Kota’s Kitchen have chosen the spot for their second branch.
The well-loved original is located in the netherworld south of Xujiahui and north of Shanghai Stadium, but still manages to pack their intimate space with fun food, drinks and an informal atmosphere that everyone - from suited salary men to college kids - can afford and enjoy. At the new spot, they’ve stuck with the ponderous lacquered wooden furniture and umbrella lamps of the previous inhabitants, but handsome, pony-tailed owner Kota has managed to deconstruct the fussy atmosphere and infuse a whole lot of coolness.
The key to their success is serving food that matches perfectly with their extensive Japanese booze selection. It would be folly to sit down with a beer without also ordering something off the yakitori, like their luscious grilled chicken meatballs (RMB20), succulent globes of ground poultry with a rich quail egg. The meat is brushed with a sweet-savory sauce and grilled almost to caramelization.
Likewise, it would be madness to pass up the opportunity to wash down an order of Kota’s famous hot spring egg (RMB35) with a glass of fiery potato or sweet barley shochu (RMB40-70/glass). The simple English name of the dish does nothing to prepare diners for its magnitude. It’s presented on an elaborate pottery plate with basket handles, in the middle of which lies an enormous fried sphere of mashed potatoes in a pool of tahini sauce. Dig inside and you’ll find an unctuous poached egg spilling glistening yolk. Equally indulgently fun is the braised pork belly (RMB35) stewed in a brew rich with cinnamon. Three perfect cubes of fatty pork are brought to the table and blackened slightly with a blowtorch. To cut the grease, order a side of pungent, spicy homemade kimchi (RMB15). This is food to satiate and comfort, much as the entire Kota’s atmosphere does. It’s all so good you’ll want to want to stick around eight days a week.
