the wagas we usually go to, on nanjing road, is a small cozy place hidden down on the basement of citic square (a rather expensive looking mall). don’t let the location or the (fake?) eames chairs + fancy wallpaper scare you though, the place is good - the kind of restaurant you wish for on a weeknight, to just wind down in a comfortable surrounding, with good food.

yesterday, i had the roasted pumpkin spaguetti, with spinach, pinenuts and feta cheese, and p. chose the pasta du jour, a bacon, asparagus and cream mix. for drinks, we always choose the same here: the honey-ginger-lemon tea for me and the indian spiced tea (kind of chai) for him. now look at that:

   

   

doesn’t everything look so yummy and colorful? easy, relaxed food for uncomplicated dinners, i say!
they also have quite a selection of wraps, salads, smoothies, muffins and all kinds of healthy food. oh and illy coffee… and discounts on evenings and breakfasts… and free wi-fi… and quick friendly service…

info:
wagas
LG12A, citic square,
1168 nanjing xi road
near jiangning road

ps - we were introduced to wagas by some portuguese friends in our early weeks in shanghai, and i think the experience was nothing less of a turning point in our dining routines. this was probably the first restaurant where we realised that dining out well, affordingly and in a nice environment was not difficult in shanghai - we had probably just been searching in the the wrong places.

since then, we haven’t looked back on our plan to test-taste as many restaurants as possible (well, within our budget anyway). this series of posts has only made me more curious to try new places and spread these flavours and sights to the world out there. i’m in full blogger-reporter mode here, happy, excited and inspired. :)

today as we were leaving to work, i saw p. looking for some cables on our cables nest/bucket. “what are you looking for?”, i asked. “the camera battery charger”, he said. “you don’t want to run out of battery when we go out for dinner, do you?”

:) :) :)

today was my second time on ginger café, a little cozy place tucked away on the end of a little tunnel on fuxing road.

the drinks in this place are quite something. i had a lemongrass, orange and mint tea which was delicious, and i’ve had their ginger and honey tea before - strong, but oh so good!

the menu has a wide range of dishes and a quite a few are vegetarian. my little portion of spinach and pumpkin quiche looked a bit disappointing though, but p.’s spicy chouriço pasta was well served. both tasted good.

   

overall, i feel this is more the kind of place that you go for mid-afternoon drinks, or to read a book while sipping on a latte. the bright walls and the decoration have a sort of “asian treasure-chest” ambience to it, quite inviting for a nice chat on a rainy sunday…

info:
Ginger
299 Fuxing Xi Lu, No. 1
near Huashan Lu
(there’s free wi-fi, but we didn’t get the chance to take our laptops out - it was quite crowded).

some people have asked what do i eat everyday here in china, so i think a series of posts on “what can you eat in shanghai?” are in order. a brief disclaimer:

1. if you’d like to find out how dogs, cats or rats taste, you’ll find the series disappointing… the strangest thing i ate here were frog legs - completely by mistake (no menu translation available and the dish looked like chicken on the picture…)

2. i do eat chinese food most days, at lunch, when i have someone to help me order it. i have a few favourites which i’ll try to cover. mostly though, shanghai is such a big and international city that we don’t feel the need to stick to noodles and rice. i hope i can show you why.

3. i’m not being paid to do this.

that said, meet moon river diner!

moon river diner is a an american style restaurant with a very typical/cliché look-and-feel, hearty burgers, maccaroni and cheese, tacos and salads, apple pie, sundaes, all day breakfast (pancakes, waffles …), bottomless mugs of coffee, smoothies and lemonade! isn’t it just like in the movies?

ah, and there’s even a jukebox and a popcorn stand - popcorn is served as the appetiser for the meal.

we came around for today’s dinner, i ate the waffle breakfast (with fruit, egg and ham or maple syrup) and paulo had the mushroom burger (with hash browns and salad). here are the obligatory pics, which you can click for larger:

   

   

they were absolutely delicious and decadent. :)

nice bonuses:
* the service is cool and the waiters don’t “hover” you.
* the music is ok (nice volume and selection) as long as you don’t sit too near the stairs, where one can hear the music from upstairs as well as the one from the floor where you are :S
* they have wireless - it isn’t terribly fast, but it works.
* the place is huge but quite cozy, with a deli on the ground floor (sandwiches, bread, etc), and a sort of bar/lounge on the last floor. i heard it has a patio, but i’ve never been there.

so there you go, this is the place we go when we feel like pretending we’re in the states. :)

info:
moon river diner (jingan)
66,77 yuyao lu, near xikang lu
the new factories, building #1