New Shanghai Bars and Restaurants: April 2018

By That's Shanghai, April 3, 2018

Here are all the new restaurant and bar openings we featured in our April 2018 magazine issue.

Restaurants

MBD

MBD Shanghai
The Japanese are known for their precision. So when someone from the Land of the Rising Sun decides to work in the pastry kitchen – a part of the culinary world that requires intense meticulousness and attention to detail – you know something good will likely come out of it.

At the helm of Huashan Lu’s MBD is Kobe-born baker Hiroaki Homma, who has been honing his craft for more than a decade in his home country and Shanghai. Petite in size compared to similar boulangeries around town – with just a handful seats inside and out – MBD’s more of a grab-and-go type of place that can easily satisfy the carb cravings of nearby residents.

Total Verdict: 3.5/5

Price: RMB30-60 per person
Who's going: Japanese expats, lovers of French baked goods, nearby residents
Good for: intense carb loading

Read the full review here. See listing for MBD.

Charcoal

When it comes to sushi, there are some things that are just worth splashing out on, if you’ll excuse the pun. But at the other end of the spectrum, the best quality sushi experiences are expensive enough to compete with round-trip tickets to Tokyo. That elusive middle ground of Japanese restaurant is what we look for, where it’s reassuringly expensive without causing sticker shock when you open the menu.

Situated inside the smart Shanghai Centre, we have reason to believe Charcoal could oblige us of our desire to throw several hundred yuan at raw fish. The restaurant serves almost exclusively surf and turf; luxuriantly fatty wagyu beef barbecue and raw sashimi by night, with casual set lunch versions of the two in rice bowls by day.

Total Verdict: 3.5/5

Price: RMB88-250 for lunch; RMB300-500 for dinner
Who's going: it won't matter as you'll be sitting in a booth
Good for: sushi, wagyu beef barbecue, sake

Read the full review here. See listing for Charcoal.

Yuu Yakiniku

As you and I go about our pedestrian little lives in Shanghai, the wheels of trade and politics turn in Washington DC and Beijing, shaping our world and even our diets as we scuttle about obliviously. Last year in some smoke-filled room, it was agreed that US beef would once more be permitted into China after a 14-year ban. Disappointingly for USDA bigwigs, the response from Chinese consumers, since trained to appreciate the perceived ‘greener’ reputation of Australian beef instead, has been more muted than the anticipated rapture and subsequent buying frenzy of the pride and pinnacle of American industrial farming.

Nevertheless, a trickle of flavorsome and fat-heavy USDA-certified beef is slowly gathering pace within Shanghai’s restaurants, particularly at new Japanese barbecue bar Yuu Yakiniku, where it is exclusively employed on their menu, priced from just RMB3 per 10g.

Total Verdict: 2.5/5

Price: RMB200-250 per person
Who's going: locals
Good for: USDA beef, whisky highballs, casual dining

Read the full review here. See listing for Yuu Yakiniku.

Man Long Chun

Two years ago, it would’ve been a bad idea for Man Long Chun to set up shop on Yongkang Lu. Designed as if it were a 1960s Hong Kong-style diner stage set for a scene from In the Mood for Love, the restaurant is pretty much the antithesis of the street’s former boozy tenants and their rowdy following.

Fast-forward to 2018, and things have changed. Quaint lifestyle boutiques and artisanal cafes have replaced many Yongkang watering holes of all shapes, and now Man Long Chun makes perfect sense here. In fact, the place has already reached wanghong status and the wait time for lunch on the weekends can easily surpass 45 minutes, partly thanks to the restaurant’s small number of seats and tables.

Total Verdict: 3/5

Price: RMB 70-100 per person
Who's Going: locals, xiaolongbao lovers, social media-savvy diners
Good for: stuffing your face with soup dumplings

Read the full review here. See listing for Man Long Chun.

Bars

The Water Margin

Split over two, moodily-lit floors, The Water Margin doesn’t emphasize pomp and concept. There are no eye-catching design gimmicks or old time, Southside speakeasy affectations – in fact its most remarkable aspect is its complete lack of an accent. Upstairs, laughter rings out from a group of friends, for whom prior to our arrival The Water Margin was essentially a personal bar.