August 15, 2006
If you must eat at Latina Xintiandi, smuggle in your drinks
This would probably be a better post if we ranked the top Brazilian BBQ places in town, but we date are married to someone who doesn't eat meat, so we don't frequent such establishments. But we can tell you with some authority one all-you-can-eat Brazilian place you should try to avoid, unless you are wealthy or very well hydrated: Latina in Xintiandi.
We know, we know, our fault for choosing a place in Xintiandi. Our mistake -- we are aware of that. But we were hungry, and our stomachs were in Xintiandi, so we ate in Xintiandi. (We were also weary and disoriented form yet another day spent shoe shopping throughout the city. Unusually difficult to find a simple and elegant women's dress shoe in Shanghai without a bunch of weird crap placed on it somewhere ... not even in Xintiandi.)
Anyway, so we knew we would be paying 128 kuai per person for this meal (non-meat eaters get to pay the same special price). And, yes, we knew that was around double what some Brazilian BBQs charge in this city. But it was late and we were frustrated, shoeless and tired. And earlier in the day we saw a Brazilian BBQ in Raffles and we had it in our head that we wanted to eat Brazilian BBQ from that time on (these BBQ joints usually have pretty decent salad bars, so they are oddly kind of vegetarian friendly). So, we walked in. That was mistake No. 1.
In addition to being hungry, we were thirsty. We ordered two Diet Cokes. That was mistake No. 2. It wasn't until after finishing one and deciding we wanted to order another that we looked at the menu for the price of a can of Diet Coke:
38 f*cking kuai
38!
OK, our bad for not looking before ordering. How about a glass of water? Sorry, we don't have glasses of water. Only bottles. She showed us a bottle -- the kind you get at the convenience store for 1.5 kuai. How much are they? 28. No thank you, we'll just wash down all this meat with the froth our anger is forming in our mouths.
Not the kind of place you want to lose your appetite, but 2,000 percent mark-ups are little excessive at an already overpriced all-you-can-eat joint.
Anyway, the food was fine, but no better than any other Brazilian BBQ place in town. There were plenty of people there that night, so if they can get away with charging these prices, God bless 'em. But Shanghaiist suggests you take your money elsewhere -- not that you are stupid enough to make the same mistakes we did, anyway.
Got a favorite Brazilian BBQ place? Recommend it in a comment.
Photo from Jason S.
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This is TOOO funny. And ridiculous.
Going To Latina and being a treehugger vegetarian, makes as much sense as sending an albino with sand allergy to Hainan.
Seriously, did you not find ANYTHING better to pick on than drink prices ????
In german we call your journalistic drastic measure ' Saure Gurken Zeit' .You might want to google that. Or not.
perhaps if the story was written in german you would have comprehended it better?
casper,
has it ever occurred to you that not all people who don't eat meat are necessarily "treehugger vegetarians?"
now we all know what happens when one assumes. there's a saying about that that you can go google.
Price gouging on drinks is rampant in Shanghai's 'upscale' restaurants.
Perhaps the worst experience I've encountered was just last night at the 239 Restaurant.
With 'the outlaws' in town, my girlfriend arranged for us to visit 239 Restaurant on Shimen Yi Lu. As usual, the food was great, and prices were 'Western' but it was a special event. Our choice was within reason for a good occasion.
Throughout the evening the staff were attentive and constantly attending the table, clearing dishes (maybe a little too eagerly) and making sure our water glasses were always filled.
You should have seen our collective surprise when we were presented with the bill charged for water at a rate of RMB75 for 500mL!!!! :O For your future reference, RMB600 waters 8 people at the 239 Restaurant.
The real bone of contention here is not the fact that you have to pay for drinks at a restaurant, but the ways in which these highly marked up items are glossed over, or in fact that you're charged for seemingly complementary items. In our case, the provided constant stream of water alluded to this being complementary to the dinner itself. Added to this was our initial request for cooled table water.
You would never find such a situation where restaurateurs serve alcohol or common drinks like colas on such a free-flowing manner.
So, our grand evening quickly transformed into one where I felt my pocket had been picked by a trusted friend followed by a slap in the face.
Leaving the meat argument aside and lets address the "Unusually difficult to find a simple and elegant women's dress shoe in Shanghai without a bunch of weird crap placed on it somewhere ... not even in Xintiandi".
Try a shoe making store on Huashan Lu between Fuxing Lu and Xingguo lou. Little boutique with two guys who make great western style (or any for that matter) shoes to order. Male or female, but they have more male on the rack. Pick your style, bring a photo without the "weird crap".
Agreed, prices here are crazy, but don't you get beer included the buffett? I have a hazy memory that it included beer...
I went to the Argentinian BBQ (huai hai zhong lu)on the weekend. Price was ok (68 kuai for food and 18 for beer or ice tea) and there was a fairly large selection of food BUT it was all cold (excluding the stuff that they bring around to the tables). It is one place that I can check off as having tried but won't return to. Sorry I don't have a favourite to recommend
i had a similar experience when i first moved to shanghai in 2003. i went to "che," which thankfully is no longer in existence...when we got the bill, we noticed we had been charged 100 rmb for *water*. apparently they had gone into the back and poured us imported italian water (sans gas). grr! that definitely didn't leave a good impression of xintiandi as a whole.
Gosh.
I am not against vegetarians, really. And this is not the point here anyway. (and the treehugging part was supposed to be funny and therefore strike through but the HTML did not work)
Point is that DRINKS are the source of income in restaurants and bars as well. Sorry, but if you never realized this (letting all the all-you-can- eat-and-drink japanese aside) i suggest you try to order a plain water in Paulaner.
Cheers and keep hydrated.
well casper - that that accounts for the western world, where costs for personnel are going throught the roof. But even there the mark-up would not exceed 5 times the retail price (except for coffee & tea). In Shanghai you may pay 35 rmb for a stupid can of watsons soda water - that's ten times more!
I learned the lesson more than one year ago.....Never ever go eat at Xintiandi, unless you are ok with high prices, average quality food, pretentious establishments with unprofessional service and more often than not...crappy attitude.
I suspect that being a tourist-trap location has got something to do with it ;)
Rabeleais,
That accounts for every western food outet and western managed bar in Shanghai, probably China, maybe worldwide.
Of course i can eat deliciously in my neighbourhood restaurant for 50 Kuai and lots less and they charge you almost nothing (= buying price) for the drinks. No problem with a 8 Kuai Beer or 5 Kuai Soda.(prices not representative)
Except maybe Windows and similar outlets, drinkprices in Shanghai can have an up to 400% Mock-up.
So ? Gonna sneak your Veuve into Park 97?
Gonna smuggle your Baccardi Spritzer to Bar rouge ?
Gonne hide your Moulin A Vent under the Table in HFZ and drink it with a straw ??
I doubt it.
Got to agree with Casper. The premise of this post is that there are outrageous mark-ups on drinks at restaurants in XTD. No kidding.
I recall that about 4-5 years ago the Coke at Paulaner was about 66 rmb.
Not all restaurants in Xintiandi are bad. Have you forgotten Crystal Jade? Consistently good food AND free ice water.
Paulaner, on the other hand, is the worst of all the Xintiandi restaurants. We came in with a big group one day (friends visiting, wanted to see World Cup, was raining, had no other choice...) and one of our friends doesn't drink so she ordered hot (boiled) water. Waitress tells us only bottled water, they don't have boiled water. My ass, this is China, everywhere has boiled water. And it wasn't like they weren't ripping us off already with the half dozen 80 kuai pints on the table. I really hate that place. I remembered then why I never go there. That goes for all the Paulaner's in town.
Wow, I had no idea China was this modern/westernized already. Sounds like a fun place to be, no wonder so many people I know from the US are moving over to China.
Despite warnings, I ended up there last night.
A handful of whiskey and cokes later I was given a bill for twice the amount of what I had consumed.
Turns out, they charge you for both the whiskey and mixer....every time.
XTD or not - that's cheeky.
I just came across this article and it sounded absolutely outrageous to me. What qualifies two non-meat eaters to judge a Barbecue Restaurant???
Regardless of the drink price factor, the post comes out as if the place is overall questionable, which seem to me as absolutely nonsense.
As a Brazilian Gaucho (born and raised in Rio Grande do Sul, where Brazilian BBQ originated), living in Shanghai for 1.5 years, I have very high standards for meat.
Latina Xintiandi is BY FAR the best Brazilian BBQ place in Shanghai, and paying RMB 128 for a top-quality BBQ meal is a BARGAIN anywhere in the world, including Brazil and Shanghai, especially if you keep in mind they serve NON-STOP (all-you-can-eat) high-quality meat for a fixed price.
Note: I'm an average income expat, and every time I go to Latina Xintiandi I never spend more than RMB 150 per person, including drinks (beer and caipirinha).
The chef (Beto, a top "churrasqueiro" from Rio de Janeiro) is a great guy and will make sure you get the very best food and service.
Hi Ricardo,
Thanks for your note.
Only one diner was a non-meat eater. And she had to pay the same price as a meat eater, which is kind of silly.
RMB 128 is a fine price most places in the world, but it is not the best price in Shanghai.
Question: You said you never pay more than RMB 150 and still purchase "drinks" (plural) -- how do you do this for only RMB 22?
Dan