Results tagged “burgers”

• Malone's has written in to tell us that in the 15 years (count 'em!) they've been in Shanghai, they've sold a whopping 750,000 burgers. That's a lot of meat! Congratulations, Malone's, from all our deliciously clogged expat hearts.
• Six of the best bartenders in town compete to make the most delicious martinis they can. We’re especially curious about how the Minty Gin Martini and the Fig Martini taste. Mmmm… [Cityweekend]
• Speaking of drinks, Chef/owner of el Willy, Guillermo Trullas Moreno, is trying his hand at mixology at a new place called el Coctel... two floors up from The Shelter. Soft opening is expected to be in late November. [Urbanatomy]

Speaking of Tongren Lu, one of the few classier establishments on that strip is now shutting its doors. Blue Frog, which has occupied its spot there for the last five or six years, has decided not to renew its lease. They didn't give us a specific reason why they're closing up shop, but they will be throwing a goodbye party on Friday. Guess we'll stop by to dry our tears on some of those delicious burgers and reminisce about how they hosted one of our first happy hours ever.

The Shanghai Center location of Gourmet Cafe opened up two months ago... and we were there to try it out then. Like the Element Fresh across the way, Gourmet Cafe features an extremely spacious outdoor dining area. You can choose between one of the wooden lunch bench tables or from the cushioned wicker lounge chairs.

   

Trying to separate yourself from the mass of red and blue lights on Tongren Lu is not an easy task. First time goers will inevitably pass by the likes of Blue Angel, Manhattan and Ecstasy Club while looking for the address of our dining location this time, Red Beat, which allows for some time for some not-so-nice preconceptions.

          

Oh the artery-clogging glory of it all! There are few words to express our good, old fashioned love of American fast food, but in celebration of the first Carl's Jr. to open in China, we figured we'd find a few grade-A words to celebrate. In case you've never been in the States, Carl's Jr. is a bastion of burgers, fries and shakes, all served to order and in heaping portions à la mode américaine glutton.

CNReviews has discovered what looks to be one of the first Carl’s Jr. to hit Shanghai. Snapped in Raffles City Mall near People’s Square was this very promising looking construction setup promising charbroiled goodness from 卡乐星 (ka le xing). The burgers in the ad look absolutely huge, though what burgers in ads don’t? When exactly will we get to see how closely they live up to the hype? We‘re not sure! They were supposed to have come by March this year already.

We always enjoyed Gourmet Cafe's playful creativity when it came to its selection of burgers. Thankfully, they've transferred that same sense of innovation to their doppelgänger; a noodle house on the flip side (literally and menu-wise) of the beloved burger restaurant but still under the same moniker. For those diners that constantly grapple with simultaneous east-west cravings, Gourmet Cafe now gives them the best of both worlds.

We were first introduced to Cincinnati-style chili back in the States when our roommate brought back a few cans of Skyline chili from his hometown. Poured over spaghetti and topped with a mound of shredded cheddar cheese, the chili's consistency was much thinner than the denser, Texas-style chili that we had come to cherish. Still, the finely ground beef and combo of spices made it a memorable one time experience before we packed up for China. At least, we thought it was a one time thing, since its lack of availability in California was a pretty good indicator that we probably weren't going to come across it in Shanghai.

New Burger on the Block: Thanks to the always up-to-date Christine Lu from the China Business Network, we learned that Los Angeles based burger joint Fatburger is planning on expanding big into China, starting with their first restaurant at the Venetian in Macao. From their press release: Additional Fatburger restaurants are scheduled to open in Hong Kong in the coming months: the first on Queens Road East and the second at Jia Hotel in Causeway...

During our times in the suburbs of New Jersey (don't hate), the American restaurant chain Applebee's was always a friendly place for meals with family and late night gatherings with friends. All of those nostalgic feelings came rushing back as Shanghaiist read some rumors on the internets about the opening of the chain's first outlet in China. With our curiosity peaked, we decided to go check it out. As Shanghaiist and accompanying guest entered the...

We just got word that Blue Frog will be opening a restaurant at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel on August 28th. From their press release:

If "burger" can be defined in the simplest terms as meat crammed in a bun, then we think Macau-Portugese restaurant chain Lisboa can throw their hat in the ring for next year's Shanghaiist Burger Grill-off. Their pork bun (pictured) is one of the many affordable delights that keep us heading back to Lisboa when in need of some Asian-style comfort food.

The first sign of trouble came when it took half an hour to get a waiter to take drink orders. To leave a party of twenty-one hanging dry for half an hour is a restaurateuring felony on the order of cockroach croutons. In fact, the actual wait was longer for some people who had arrived considerably before Mrs. Imagethief and I did. If nothing else, get the beer flowing. After some badgering we managed to get the waiter round to take orders. Apparently intimidated by the idea of keeping twenty-one drink orders straight (an admittedly tall task, but one I've seen managed elsewhere), he worked hard to encourage us to stay away from individual orders and simply take pitchers of beer. Most of us were willing to be persuaded on this front, despite some early enthusiasm for the heavily promoted craft beers served at the restaurant.

Continue reading "Imagethief vs Bubba's"

Now, that felt like a 4th of July party (and some Canadians in attendance said it wasn't a bad effort for Canada Day, either). Hot, sweaty weather. No rain! Hamburgers. Beer. Live music. Water balloons. Hamburgers. Beer. Drinking contests. Fireworks (albeit during daylight). Hamburgers. Beer. Ketchup battles. Some guy from Beijing getting pantsed. Hamburgers. Beer.

As much as you want of the above for 150 kuai.

Shanghai Daily predicts an "early summer" for Shanghai, with temperatures hitting 30 degrees Celsius today. The Shanghaiist Weather Center, however, says today's high will only reach 27 (our current temperature) and that temperatures will remain in the 20s throughout the week, maxing out at 29 on Wednesday. Not that 29 is exactly chilly — for all you Americans out there, that means 84 degrees Fahrenheit.

There was a lot of buzz among Shanghaiist's circle of friends about the recent addition to Shanghai's burger scene: ROK-based chain Kraze Burger in Xujiahui. We'd heard good things: cheap food, clean environment, great k-pop music videos and, of course, decent burgers. It wasn't that hopes were necessarily high, it's just that we had hopes. Hopes that Xujiahui would become a burger destination once again--not since the area branch of Rendezvous Cafe closed has the southwestern district laid claim to that title.

Last night, we got a look at the latest entry in Shanghai's sports bar scene -- The Oval -- and while it is still a work in progress (they will be in "soft opening" mode for the next few weeks) the place definitely shows a lot of promise. It's a new (the wood floor still shines) and huge (800 square meters and two levels) space on Dingxi Lu, near Yan'an Xi Lu, about a 15 kuai cab ride from the Plaza 66 part of town. The Oval has 16 flat-screen TVs and a big projection screen, viewable from the balcony and the main floor, is said to be on the way. There's a TV in the men's bathroom, too -- but what we like best are the private booths with flat screens and couches. You can reserve these areas if you are, say, a poor blogger who can't afford your own flat-screen TV and invite friends over to watch, say, the baseball playoffs after you get back from your honeymoon in Thailand.

So here's the deal: Friday, Sept. 22, 7-11 pm; 2 for 1 on selected Aussie wines (normal prices start at 40 RMB) and 2 for 1 on Coopers beer (that's two bottles of one of the better brews found in Shanghai for RMB 30 ... we haven't seen a better deal in a long, long time). They will also be firing up the barbie (burgers and other meats at good prices) out on the patio, where they will be showing some Aussie movies (no, not Young Einstein). We'll be playing Men at Work's "Land Down Under" over and over and over Aussie music all night long -- and if you are lucky, Shamus might break out the ol' didjeridoo.

The prize package for best 80s outfit at our Happy Hour this Friday sure is heating up. In addition to a bottle of Solid XS Vodka donated by our host Freelance Bar & Grill, the lucky winner will also get two items kindly donated by the self-described "sexiest menswear store in Shanghai" -- MANifesto. (We will force the winner to take a couple Shanghaiist T-shirts off our hands, as well.)

Did you realize that July 28 is the 20-year anniversary -- to the day -- of July 28, 1986?!? We're glad we noticed it when we did -- because that gave us just enough time to throw together an 80s-themed Shanghaiist Happy Hour at Freelance Bar & Grill (we are cool with the place now) to mark the momentous occasion. Here's all you need to know:

Recent reviews of the best burgers in town made Shanghaiist want a drink -- a cocktail, to be exact. Don’t get us wrong, we love our local favorites -- we’re addicted to Xinjiang Black Beer now that it’s stocked at the nearby convenience store. We’re even known to occasionally take a healthy shot of baijiu alongside our Qingdao Beer during dinner. (At least, we think so -- we usually don’t remember the details of baijiu nights.) But when the Black Beer’s sold out, and baijiu doesn’t feel quite right (does baijiu ever feel right?) a cocktail can hit the spot.

Three years ago, when this Shanghaiist first arrived in town, the downtown area was THE place to be for quality foreign food. It wasn’t exactly Manhattan (or even Omaha) but it was where you went when the craving struck — for Mexican at Taco Popo, Pizza at Melrose, burgers at Rendezvous Café, and that take-your-visiting-parents favorite, M on the Bund.

Shanghaiist received a distressed email from a reader named Tiffany. She writes:

Great news out of Jarrett Wrisley's restaurant and bar gossip column this week in SH (especially if you live near Tongren Lu like Shanghaiist does):

We're wondering how long our boycott of the former Cotton's location (more details here and here) was meant to last. One year? Two? Forever? It was pretty easy to boycott when it was Shane Bar -- that place sucked -- but what happens if something good takes over the space? It's just a great spot for a restaurant and bar, which is why we loved it when it was Cotton's. Some guy named Lance feels the same way, according Jarrett Wrisley's latest "new¬ed" column in SH:

There are actually a number of decent options out there -- and that is something we never thought we would say when we first arrived here back in 2002. SH magazine dedicated a big chunk of their latest issue -- we're assuming they had this feature in the can and ran it when most of the staff was on vacation -- to the "Burger Battle," which starts with 16 of the city's top contenders and whittles them down to one champion. Rendezvous Cafe edged Luna in the final. Rendezvous is a decent -- and very safe -- choice, especially if you factor price into the equation. A burger at Rendezvous will cost you about half of many of the other contenders in the battle. And it is a no-frills burger, similar to what you could get at just about any roadside diner in the U.S., which usually does the trick just fine. But we bet in a blind taste test, when price is not an issue, Rendezvous may not make it out of the quarterfinals.

Shanghaiist has always been one to pull for the underdog (except for in baseball), so it makes sense that we grew up eating our fast food at Burger King[1], not McDonald's -- well, at least until Wendy's moved to town. Oh, those were the days -- before nutritional information was mandatory, when a family of four could order two Whoppers, two Jr. Whoppers and onion rings for everyone and actually feel good about themselves. These burgers were flame broiled, that must make them good for us.