Yaya's Pasta Bar is a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. @ Nomfluence

Yaya’s Shanghai: Fresh Pasta With A Chinese Spin

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A year of pop-ups comes to fruition. New in Jing’an is Yaya’s, a pasta bar that’s churning out fresh strands of bliss, finishing them with sauces peppered with Chinese flavors and ingredients.

Yaya's Pasta Bar is a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. @ Nomfluence

About Yaya’s

Yaya’s is in a gem of a location, tucked down an alley on Tongren Lu, right behind Shanghai Centre. There’s even an outdoor space, which they’re currently sprucing up with additional seats. Inside, it’s small and cozy with the bar counter and open kitchen taking center stage.

Yaya's Pasta Bar is a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
Yaya's Pasta Bar is a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence

There are a couple of tables, but it’s not much, which is why you’d need a reservation for more than five people. On busy nights, it’s bustling with diners at the counter, and as the hour grows late, more imbibers join in turning it into a bar-like atmosphere.

Founders Andrew Moo, Dan Li, and Mike Liu of Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. @ Nomfluence
L-R: Andrew, Dan, Mike

It’s brought to you by creative powerhouse team chefs Andrew Moo (Le Daily) and Dan Li (formerly Bird), and designer Mike Liu (Lucky Mart). Yaya’s first set up shop inside X Bar on Donghu Lu in July 2021, followed by a spattering of appearances around town. (Yaya’s actually opened their brick-and-mortar in March this year, for only but a week before the city went silent.)

Yaya's Pasta Bar is a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
The fresh pasta room

Food at Yaya’s

The food, as they so boldly put it, is “not like your nonna’s” cooking. Yaya’s marries Chinese ingredients with al dente pasta, borrowing from popular Chinese regional dishes and flavors to mix and match. The mapo tofu lasagna is the ne plus ultra of their concept.

Burrata at Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
Burrata (¥88) with a roasted bell pepper base tinted with cured lemon, and topped basil. Can’t go wrong with burrata, and the mildly spicy bell peppers adds a nice twist. Served with sourdough bread.
Anchovies at Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
Anchovy (¥48) – Sharp, pickled anchovies with sweet Guizhou “red sour” and dill. A great, simple starter.
Arancini at Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
Arancini (¥48) stuffed with cheese and mushroom served with roasted garlic aioli. Bite-sized comfort food. Good for aperitivo. Be sure to get all of that aioli.
Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
Mortadella Spiedini (¥48) skewers of oven-baked mortadella topped with gremolata with guindilla green chilies and house-pickled cauliflower.
Fussiloni pesto at Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
Fussiloni Pesto (¥58) with peas and house-made ricotta. They’ve managed to sneak in green peppercorn oil, too, which adds a very pleasant layer of aromatics to the dish. Vegetarian.
Carbonara at Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
Carbonara (¥68) with a hint of green peppercorn, topped with a dusting of salted egg yolk.
Pappardelle at Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
Pappardelle (¥68) with splashed chili and confit egg yolk. This is actually inspired by Shanxi’s famed biang biang mian, made with extra-wide fresh pasta splashed with house chili oil.
Pappardella at Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
Excellently smooth noodle texture and suitably spicy chili oil. It’s also vegetarian.
Mapo tofu lasagna at Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
Mapo Tofu Lasagna (¥88) – An ingenious twist on lasagna. Chunks of silken tofu with a fine ragu seasoned with the distinct numb and tingly mapo tofu spices between sheets of pasta.
Tagliolini at Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
Tagliolini (¥78) with blue mussels, chili oil, and pangritata (herb-laden breadcrumbs). This is my favorite pasta here. Fresh, velvety tagliolini in a very buttery cream sauce brightened with lemon juice, tossed with poached mussels. It’s heavenly.

There’s also a chicken parm (¥68) on the menu and other dishes to share.

Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence
Chill-Out Fruit Tea (¥28)

As for bevvies, there’s drinks on tap and simple cocktails, including beers, negroni, Aperol Spritz, G&Ts, and a nitro espresso martini, ranging from ¥38-68. House wine is ¥58/glass, ¥260/bottle, plus more bottles on display.

In Summary

Yaya's Pasta Bar, a restaurant and bar in Shanghai serving fresh pasta with Chinese flavors and ingredients. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence

Pricing is honest, great value even. The pasta portions aren’t massive, but they’re not small either. You could easily split three pastas between two people, or four pastas if you’re really hungry and skip the appetizers. Great pastas, nice vibes—go eat there.


Yaya’s Pasta Bar
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