I always bring my guests to City Diner for brunch not only because it's owned by my friend Kelley but also it serves some of the most authentic American food in Shanghai. All of the items on the menu are from Kelley's own recipes, and they make their mayo from scratch. My favorites include the City burger, cobb salad, the carrot cake. However, I have noticed that both the service and food quality have gone down since it opened last year. Many people have complained about the service being uneven, and I'd have to agree: fresh brewed iced teas invariably mixed up with the nasty Nestle variety, chilli cheese fries served sans salt, salad served with the stems of lettuce. I will still continue to patronize but they really need to watch it in the kitchen and bring back some of the Filipino staff!!
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I took my houseguest to Whisk today for lunch. Didn't find the place in my Enjoy coupon book but decided to pay it a visit since it's been a while. We ordered some chicken arrabiata and pesto penne pastas, as well as an Italian chop salad with honey mustard dressing. Also got the Dark Granita chocolate smoothie, which is made of dark truffle. The servings were huge, enough to be shared between 2-3 people. Both the presentation and taste of the food were much better than some of the disappointing and overpriced places we went to recently. The paninis could use some more authentic bread but their panacottas and volcano cakes are heavenly. Espresson drinks are reasonably priced, and you must try their mocha --- it's perfectly laced with caramel --- yum!
I'm beginning to think it might be better for restaurants/cafes to NOT be listed in Enjoy; they might be cheaper and taste better...
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I found out about this little cake shop on SH 2 weeks ago, and since then me and my friends have already gone back twice. They share the first floor of a pretty renovated old building on XiangYang Rd near FuXing Rd with Frangipani Nails. I wouldn't say it beat out my all-time favorite fresh whip cream choco cake from HongYe in Taipei, but it's up there. It only sells 3 kinds of 6" chocolate cakes --- pure chocolate, chocolate banana, and chocolate rum cherry. The cakes are not on display so there's not much to look at in the shop. They will also have a few ice cream products coming soon. This is a Singapore chain that also has opened a shop in Beijing. I asked about the delivery service and they said it will be available very soon. That's a very sinful service they'll be offering... They should also sell their cakes into cafes around Shanghai to expand their footprint. Sure don't want them to close shop like they did in Taipei...
For those who can't to buy a whole pie every week, you can get a mini satisfaction at Whisk Cafe, where they serve nice volcano chocolate cupcakes, which go perfectly w/ their mocha topped with chocolate syrup.
