North Jing'an, that's an area that doesn't get much of a look in does it? Over the last year or two that's changed somewhat, with URVC, Wishbone, Roxie, Bull & Claw et al opening in the area. Dope Shīfù, a shabby chic new bar and eatery on Changping Lu, joins them, slinging well-priced plates of food and drink from an open street-side kitchen with seating inside.
Still in soft opening, the drinks menu is pretty basic and extends to three draft beers (from RMB20-50) and 18 by the bottle, including Delirium, Rochefort, Liefmans, Newcastle, Singha and more of similar ilk. Cocktails set to follow after soft opening.
Surprisingly, the food is actually pretty good for such a low-key place, and it's obvious that somebody here cares about what goes out from the kitchen.
Roasted catch of the day, sole on our visit, was great value for RMB52 and comes served with spiced eggplants, grilled cauliflower and spicy salsa-topped salad. Good job. 
You can also do a lot worse than the original house marinated ribs (RMB52). We're not talking Texas BBQ here, but by Shanghai standards they're good.
Same goes for the croque monsieur-a-like ham and cheese sandwich (RMB32), which comes topped with flowing melted cheese on top and garlic butter inside. 
French fries (RMB15/20) come served in wire baskets and tossed in paprika seasoning; we ordered a small but suspect they may have given us a large. Perhaps out of sympathy, who knows. 
Lastly, there's butter-topped corn on the cob (RMB16 for two), alas captured on film post-butter melting. At any rate, it's all good stuff, and you can literally eat your way through the menu for RMB225.
Crowd-wise the place caters to a young crowd of, well, hipsters. Despite this, the place is friendly, chill, and has a really, really great soundtrack of electro house music. On our visit they also turned the aircon up to sub-Saharan temperatures, which go some way in mitigating the austerity of the bomb shelter-style interiors. 
Ultimately, the place has good vibes and makes for an inexpensive cool spot to bring friends to for drinks, non-shit food and nice music. Pretty, um, dope.
Price: RMB20-100 per person
Who's going: young locals, the skate crowd
Good for: beer, food, hangouts, casual drinks
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