Gourmet Fare

Gourmet Fare 

Fancy Fusion to Traditional Chinese Xintiandi isn’t a difficult place to grab a bite. It is chock-a-block full of gourmet restaurants, bistros and eateries, everything from fancy fusion to traditional Chinese or straight-up Western food. Many of the restaurants offer outdoor seating, especially along the North Block, where the shikumen gates and tiled roofs create the ambiance of years gone by, and it is the ultimate place to people-watch, with a constant stream of Western tourists, rich Chinese, local gawkers and night crawlers passing through. Everyone is in a good mood in Xintiandi, simply enjoying Shanghai’s mix of old and new. On my most recent meander through the district, my boyfriend and I, weary from a long day of Shanghai walking, plonked down onto one of the large wooden outdoor tables at Paulaner Bräuhaus for some reviving steins of fresh German lager. Paulaner Bräuhaus is actually a Chinese subsidy of the German Paulaner brand, and the Shanghai flagship restaurant is a not-too-kitschy Bavarian themed beer hall and microbrewery - a rare thing in China. If you aren’t into brats and beer, Xintiandi has just about every type of tasty cuisine you can imagine. Munchies offers straight up American dishes like Cincinnati chili served by staff wearing tie dye, while Aniseed serves some of the best Vietnamese ph? in town. Several restaurants in Xintiandi are on the front lines of fusion, such as TMSK, which calls itself “new wave Shanghaiese cuisine”, with interesting combinations of French, Chinese and Italian cuisines, and new takes on old dishes. How very Shanghai.