Maolago is a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving modern Guizhou food, cocktails and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.

Maolago: Inventive Guizhou Food, Cocktails & Hotpot

​Maolago is a Guizhou restaurant from the OHA Group (Oha Eatery, Pass Residence). It resides in the building formerly housing Daga Brewpub—three floors of industrial chic space and a two-tier rooftop terrace.

It’s a two-pronged concept. The first floor is more of a bar that serves bites inspired from Guizhou food while the second floor does hotpot.

Maolago is a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
First floor
Maolago is a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Second floor
Maolago is a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Rooftop, which will open come spring

First Floor: Contemporary Guizhou Bar Bites

Food is inventive, in the same vein with chef Blake Thornley’s creativity at Oha Eatery. That’s because Maolago’s chef Zhou Mingyang studied under Blake at Oha. The menu on the first floor is mainly snack-sized dishes to accompany the cocktails and wine, and a couple of rice dishes with the trademark sour-spicy flavors of Guizhou. These snacks are also available upstairs with your hotpot.

Fermented sour soup at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Employees Rice with Fermented Sour Soup

If you want a taste of the hotpot soup bases without committing to a whole pot, one dish you could opt to try at the first floor is the Employees Rice with Fermented Sour Soup (¥38). It’s basically the sour soup base with a bit of rice and mince pork. It’s delightful. I want to dabao a triple portion of this so I can fend off the winter chill at home.

The rest of the food is tasty and enjoyable. The portions are small but the prices are relatively affordable, dishes starting from ¥36.

at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Steamed spareribs with rice flour (¥45) – pork, powdered rice, black pepper, marinated in a spiced stock then steamed with powdered rice and Sichuan peppercorns
Potato cakes at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Potato Cake (¥38) – Potato, fig, minced meat, five spice, purple carrot.
Pork skin salad at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Pork Skin Salad (¥36) with turnip. Skin that has been fried and boiled, marinated with rice wine and fermented chilies. I quite like this one, will order again.
Lobster crackers at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Lobster crackers and crab salad (¥52)
Fried sausages and banana at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Fried sausages with banana (¥38) Sichuan and Guizhou sausage with banana.
Konjak and green apple at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Konjak and Green Apple (¥38) Sichuan pepper and crispy pork
Fried rice at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Fried rice with fermented chili (¥18)
Stuffed eggplants at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Meat-stuffed eggplants (¥38)

Second Floor: Guizhou Hotpot

Hotpot. Self-explanatory: soup bases, meat, seafood and veg to boil in the broth, plus dipping sauce.

Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.

The sour-spicy rice I mentioned above? You can get that same broth for your pot—the sour-spicy broth with fish (¥98/500g, weight based off the fresh Guizhou river fish). There’s also a beef base (¥128/500g), mushroom (¥98) or a dry pot with beef (¥128).

Hotpot at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Sour-spicy broth with river fish
Dry pot at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Beef dry pot

Again, you can order other additives—vegetables from ¥8, meat from ¥32, mushrooms from ¥20, etc.

Hotpot at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Mountain vegetables imported directly from Guizhou.
Hotpotat Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Bricks of dried tofu, also from Guizhou.

“Drip Wine” and Cocktails

For drinks, they have something new called “drip wine”, cocktails made with clarified fruit, vegetables and herbs infused with liquor. They’ve bottled a few of their concoctions, too. It tastes like an odd mix of wine and juice and reminds me of some natural wines. They also have bottles of natural wine and cocktails.

Drip wine at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Crispy Orange “drip wine” (¥90/glass, ¥265/bottle)
Cocktails at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.
Mao 9 (¥92) – flavored gin, cranberry juice, peach oolong jam, bitters, blueberry
Cocktails at Maolago, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai that serves contemporary Guizhou food and wine. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.

In Summary: Good For Date Nights

Food is interesting, vibe is great—that is, if you’re looking for that chic moody atmosphere. Second floor is if you’re really into hotpot. I’d recommend the first floor, which is good for date nights. It’s also for those who have a curious palate for drinks and an open mind when it comes to contemporary Chinese bar snacks.


Maolago 毛辣果
Address: 100 Fuxing Xi Lu, near Yongfu Lu 复兴西路100号, 近永福路
Tel: 17317239035
Hours: 4pm-1am

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