Here are all the new restaurant and bar openings we featured in our March 2017 issue:
New Restaurants
Bus Grill Turkish Steakhouse
Mere weeks after opening, Bus Grill Turkish Steakhouse snagged Trip Advisor’s number one restaurant rating, riding a wave of five-star reviews that include heavy use of the word ‘best.’ With staff recruited from a top Shenzhen hotel, service is uncomplicated, fast and friendly as a divine lahmacun (RMB48), or Turkish pizza, is set down. The mildly spicy minced lamb is mixed with bits of parsley and tomato before being spread over a wafer of dough. Looking towards the mains, the Lokum Wagyu beef fillet (RMB198) is five slices of premium tenderloin, seasoned with black pepper and chunks of sea salt, served with roasted garlic, potato and creamed spinach.
Price: RMB200
Who’s going: net review writers, meat lovers
Good for: steak, casual diners, groups, grilled food
Read our full review here. See listing for Bus Grill Turkish Steakhouse.
Classic Laya Burger
Despite the name – and Statue of Liberty painted on the wall – what Laya serves up is not a classic American burger. It’s a take on the dish that includes plenty of pitfalls for purists, yet may check all the boxes for casual diners. Laya’s menu presents an array of comfort foods, from wings to quesadillas to milkshakes. While the joint’s flagship burger (RMB89) is a double beef patty monstrosity apparently designed to please the eye more than the stomach, the peanut butter bacon burger (RMB69) is a delicious combination of creamy melted peanut butter and savory meat.
Price: RMB100
Who’s going: trend chasers, nostalgic Americans
Good for: filling your mouth hole, budget-friendly Western food
Read our full review here. See listing for Classic Laya Burger.
Lonfood
Lonfood sits across from the 115-story Ping’an Center’s Western maw, which in coming months will surely shower the trendy restaurant with the white-collar workers it’s designed for. The menu is focused on health-conscious diners that have money – not time – to spare. Pizza crusts are kept thin, salads labeled ‘low carb’ and most dishes cost over RMB50. Despite the rent in such a prime location, Lonfood hasn’t given in to the temptation to cut costs by keeping portion sizes down. The RMB56 Hawaii poke bowl, which balances sushi rice with salty seaweed, also contains a mix of vegetables and chunks of salmon large enough to be mistaken for watermelon.
Price: RMB100
Who’s going: designers, office workers
Good for: cozy second floor seating, quick lunch or dinner, chunks of salmon
Read our full review here. See listing for Lonfood.
New Bars
Nakama
We’ll just go ahead and say it: outside of hotels, Bao’an District was a cocktail dead zone. That is, until Nakama opened. Nakama is small, though we’re told 40 can fit in the bar, which is located a short walk from the Bao’an Center subway station. The smoky (RMB68) drink sweeps across the palate with sour and sweet notes. If we were being poetic, we might say it opens a door to a flower-filled garden of flavors. But, nah. The money is everything (RMB68) makes good use of elderflower to create a distinctive aromatic, floral taste and the love in a puff (RMB68) uses peach juice and Japanese Choya liquor to produce a savory, fruity concoction.
Price: RMB100
Who’s going: neighbors, creative cocktail lovers, IT dudes
Good for: inventive cocktails, a light buzz
Read our full review here. See listing for Nakama.
UB Whisky & Cocktail
Located in Futian’s Shixia, UB is hidden enough that you’ll look very in-the-know leading your friends behind a shopping mall and into the indirectly lit space where real candles illuminate tables and a collection of spirits sit on a two-story-tall shelf. Perhaps the most original drink we try – and something we would order again – is the RMB88 sushi cocktail. The wasabi taste comes in early but doesn’t overwhelm the whisky, apple juice and other ingredients. Moving to something more traditional, the old fashioned (RMB88, noticing a price pattern?) skewers to the sweet – but no matter, if you know how you want your drink made, they will do it.
Price: RMB88
Who’s going: Shixia cocktail sippers, friends of friends
Good for: dark dates, wasabi-themed cocktails
Read our full review here. See listing for UB Whisky & Cocktail.
Read more Shenzhen restaurant reviews and bar reviews.
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