The Shanghai Scoop is a column dedicated to the latest food and drink news happening in Shanghai.
BIG NEWS! Bottega to open second location. Le Baron returns, as does Barules. More new hotels and O’Mills to open at PVG. Shingo Gokan’s SG Group reopens Speak Low and new cocktail bar Swirl, and does a collab with The Shanghai EDITION.
Shanghai Burger Month 2024
That’s right! Shanghai Burger Month is BACK!
Shanghai Burger Month 2024 is happening from May 1 to May 31 — 12 restaurants, 12 burgers, 1 burger passport.
For the full list of participating restaurants and burgers, and how you can eat burgers and win prizes of up to ¥4,888 in dining vouchers, click here.
Shanghai Burger Month is an annual event, brought to you by Nomfluence. It’s a month of burger worship, featuring some of the best burgers in town!
New Restaurants in Shanghai — Coming Soon
More pizza coming soon to a neighborhood near you. Bottega is opening a second location in Jing’an, due for this summer.
Le Baron is reopening! The announcement came via the official WeChat account. The popular nightclub opened on Donghu Lu in 2014 and became a mainstay for nightlife in Shanghai. It closed in 2022 to much uproar, citing lease and rental issues due to Covid, thus saying “goodbye” to Donghu Lu. Reopens on Fumin Lu this May. Rumor has it that it will reopen in the former ZUP space.
Barules, a famed cocktail bar that was extremely popular during Shanghai’s speakeasy boom, is reopening in June, revived by founder Sam Kuan. It was originally located on Fuxing Zhong Lu, “hidden” behind a telephone booth. It opened in 2014 and closed early 2020. More details soon!
Hilton Shanghai City Center is opening June/July 2024 in the former Nikko Hotel space in Changning district. (The Nikko Hotel closed in September 2023.)
The Shanghai EDITION will launch YONE mid-May, the rebrand of Japanese restaurant HIYA. YONE is a collaboration with Shingo Gokan, award-winning bartender and SG Group founder and representative, and Fumio Yonezawa, chef-owner of No Code in Tokyo. The concept embraces “innovative rice-centric cuisine” — modern Japanese food with sake and shochu-based drinks.
Shanghai OUDE group (J.Boroski, Bistro 11, The Upper Room) is opening HOXA, a modern Xinjiang restaurant in the Somekh Building. It’ll have Mediterranean interiors with shisha-friendly balconies and creative food and drink inspired by Xinjiang cuisine. It will replace their Living Room concept, which has moved to the other side of the same building. Due for July.
The group is also partnering with Charbon, taking over the seventh floor space and terrace for a long-term takeover, dubbing it BONBON. Expect creative cocktails, snacks, rooftop terrace views, and DJ parties.
More burgers coming soon via GOODMAN — smash burgers that are crispy, lacy, and juicy from a soon-to-be hole-in-the-wall. Brought to you by co-founders Dan Li, Andrew Moo and Warren Pang of Yaya’s, and Jiro Hsu and Michael Janczewski of Bastard and Juke. Beverage program by Warren Pang (formerly Janes and Hooch, Beijing / DIY, Shenzhen), pouring highballs and beer for late night street drinking. Due to open in the Fumin / Changle / Julu Lu area.
Exciting news for O’Mills! They’re opening a location inside Pudong International Airport, T2 departure hall. Finally, more good food options while we wait for boarding.
Now Open — Restaurants & Bars
New in Jing’an is La Fu You Kitchen (辣富友), a Sichuan restaurant at 446 Yanping Lu. Spicy meals in your future with traditional Sichuan flavors in a modern space. Grand opening April 28.
Back to SG Group, they’ve opened Swirl at 577 Fuxing Zhong Lu next door to Speak Low. Swirl is a restaurant and bar concept brought over from Tokyo (Swrl), a collaboration between SG Group founder and bartender Shingo Gokan, manager of Tokyo’s Swrl & Ash, Shuichi Ofuchi, and chef Fumio Yonezawa. Drinks of wine based cocktails, highballs, wine, and contemporary bar snacks.
Around the corner from Xingfu Li and Huashan Park is Park South, a modern Taiwanese restaurant, serving Minnan (Hokkien) fusion food developed by Andrew Moo (Yaya’s, GOODMAN).
On the second floor is Bark, a cocktail bar led by mixologist Zikker (formerly Slurp & Sip), specializing in house-infused Chinese liquors and cocktails.
Xiao Xun (炊小云的锅) is a Yunnan restaurant at 71 Wuyi Lu, from the same people behind Chaco Pomelo and Meraki 189. It’s a 90-seater space with a private room. On the menu are regional Yunnan street food favorites and natural wines. Signature dishes include Baoshan-style beef and tripe stew (保山火瓢牛肉), Lijiang-style pork bone soup (丽江腊排骨), Fuyuan-style beef with pickled greens (富源酸菜牛).
New in Columbia Circle is Naif Coffee·Bistro, located on the second floor of the “pool” building. During the day it’s a bakery that serves brunch, and at night the menu switches to Southern French cuisine with wine.
Sound Bites — Around Town
Speak Low has reopened following their refurbish with fresh interiors.
La Matcha now has Tong Sui on the menu, serving up two desserts of matcha ginger tapioca and snow swallow white jelly with coconut date and ginger, both ¥28.
The Rooster has adjusted its hours and is now open from 8am to 10pm for breakfast, serving up bagel sandwiches.
American BBQ restaurant and sports bar Parlay by Matty Waters and Aaron Choi in Shankang Li will begin soft opening on May 1.
Closures
Unfortunately, quite a few closures of late.
San Lin Tang, the 40-year-old noodle and dumpling shop I just wrote about, closed on April 21 due to issues with the location. They’re looking for a new home and will hopefully reopen soon.
All locations of CityShop closed! Founded in 1995, the grocer ceased all operations as of April 16, 2024.
Also closed: KOR, Cyclo, Habit Burger, Cactus, Fenoli (Sinan Lu).
Closing soon is Machiya. The last day of operation for the Jing’an omakase restaurant is April 30.
Osteria will close at the end of May after 16 years of calling Jinxian Lu home.