Tag Archives: food

September 9th: Gothic Karaoke Swimming Pools

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Meal at Haven

Bron, Rachel and Grace at Haven

“Shanghai’s first gothic restaurant” (and only, I think), claims Haven’s website, “and we will close our doors forever after 666 events”.  Gothic in architecture, not in music (with creepy jazz rather than creepy Cure being played in the background), Haven offers its patrons a unique, vampire-esque experience in a city of copycat, overcrowded eateries.  Our table was in the middle of the huge dining hall, with high-backed chairs and only candles for lighting to continue the theme.   Sadly, the food during our meal with Grace and Rachel on Wednesday night wasn’t spectacular; I guess we were paying for the setting rather than the cooking.

Vampire Karaoke

The bar at the end of the Haven swimming pool

So what do vampires like to do once they’ve finished eating?  In Haven, they obviously climb the grand, sweeping staircase and enter the mysteriously lit door at the top of the stairs.  Behind the door lies a small swimming pool, complete with TV display in the ceiling for bathers to sing karaoke.   Vampire Karaoke.  Again, only in China.

 

Duck Blood

Duck blood

An impromptu Hot Pot meal on Friday night with Andrew and Richard saw yet another new addition to my list of “Foods to try once only”: duck blood.  Congealed and served like meat loaf.  Possibly a delicacy, but probably never again for me.

 

Shanghai is split on two sides by the Huangpu River, with Puxi – where we live – to the east, and Pudong to the west.  We rarely venture over the other side of the river, since to us it largely seems to be made up of huge ex-pat compounds, multi-lane highways and more importantly: a lack of taxis.  Early Saturday evening, we met up with the work gang at an Internations barbecue at a bar called “Face” over in the dark side of Pudong.   A well-attended event, with free drinks all evening long once we’d paid the initial £15 entry fee.  Followed by a taxi back to the normal world for a few more drinks and games of pool.
Only four of us left at the end of the night; a new temporary addition to the late-night gang; Alex, our HR representative in the UK, over here for a month to help out.  So 9 hours after meeting up, we called it a night.

* Hot pot: A communal pot of hot soup into which you put raw ingredients.  Usually thinly sliced pork, beef, etc.  But sometimes duck blood.

August 22nd: Beijing Bikinis

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The man in the photograph perfectly demonstrates a clothes-style I’m reliably informed is referred to as the “Beijing Bikini”.  Since it’s so bloomin’ hot outside, rolling up one’s top to allow the air to cool one’s belly seems an eminently sensible idea (a fashion unique to men in China it appears).  Having spent 2 hours exploring some of the older areas of Shanghai with Bron and Rachel in the heat of Sunday afternoon I was inclined to join in.  But fortunately for the locals, my t-shirt tan remains intact.

A box of insects

Boxes of insects. And feeding bowls.

There are those far better qualified than I to comment on how animals are treated in China (yeah, copout).  Instead, it was with quiet bewilderment that we stumbled through the huge plant/insect/animal market on Xizang Lu.  Five months in and sometimes I feel we’re no closer to understanding certain elements of Chinese culture.  Crickets in tiny cages; insects in small plastic boxes with what appears to be feeding trays filled with salt; lidded metal pots containing other mysterious insects.  All available for you to take home today.

So from bees to pies;

From the ridiculous to the sublime:

Glo London does probably the world’s best steak pie.  Guaranteed to take at least 2 days to digest, but well worth the effort.   The visiting family Burgess, now in week four of their visit to east Asia, had apparently had sufficient intake of local cuisine to necessitate a trip to a British-style gastro pub/bar.  We joined JB, his wife and 2 kids on Tuesday night for the most comforting of comfort foods in an attempt to avoid any further weight loss.   The food was excellent; my only complaint being the lack of British beers on offer (Guinness did the job though).

Monday’s attempt at comfort food was somewhat less successful: the lump of meat in our fridge clearly labeled in English as “best bacon” turned out not to bacon waiting to be sliced, but instead a chunk of uncooked ham.   At least that’s what we now think, since slicing it and grilling it seemed to turn the meat into pure salt.

Old streets of Shanghai

Old streets of Shanghai, with the new just appearing in the upper left.

Park near The Bund

Bron and Rach near The Bund. In bamboo world.