Mad About Shanghai

Shanghai Restaurant Week (March 5-11)

DiningCity.com presents the return of Shanghai Restaurant Week this March 5-11

Online bookings go live at 10am on February 15
 

More great restaurants, more special menus, and more great deals await Shanghai food lovers this March with the city’s 5th edition of Shanghai Restaurant Week. Bookings through the online reservation system start at 10am on February 15, and – as always – tables are expected to go quickly. 

This year’s selection of restaurants is set to include Mr & Mrs Bund, el Willy, Otto e Mezzo, Madison, Moon Steakhouse, T8, Sir Elly's, Pelham’s, Grand Brassiere at the Waldorf Astoria, Table No. 1, Restaurant Martin, along with many others to be announced when bookings go live on February 15. 

Each dining experience features a 3-course dinner at 168 RMB or 248 RMB, and a 3-course lunch at 78 RMB or 118 RMB (check shanghairestaurantweek.com for menus and pricing, open February).  

“Chefs go out of their way to create special menus for Restaurant Week,” said Onno Schreurs, Managing Director for China and Hong Kong of Diningcity.com, the organizer of Restaurant Week. “The element of surprise is something that our diners appreciate – it gives the restaurants a chance to really show off.” 

 A special emphasis for this edition is food safety via traceable products. Selected restaurants of leading Shanghai Chefs such as GoGa, The Purple Onion, el Willy, Madison and 5-star Hotel Radisson Hongquan will feature traceable ingredients that can be traced back “from farm to fork”. With the "Eat Safely. Eat Traceable." program initiated by METRO China using Star Farm Products, restaurant goers can fully trust the quality of the food they are eating. Eric Gagnon, Key Account & Star Farm Manager, says "Star Farm is a unique concept, providing full transparency in the food supply chain hence providing higher food quality to the Shanghai Chefs”.

The cooperation between Shanghai Restaurantweek and METRO China will show that fine dining and traceable food go hand in hand perfectly and will set the highest standard in 2012.  

The last edition of Shanghai Restaurant Week, September 2011, featured over 80 restaurants and 12,000 reservations. Dining powerhouse T8 took the top prize as “Restaurant of the Week” as selected by diners, followed by Nougatine by Jean Georges and Grand Brasserie of the Waldorf Astoria. A successful Restaurant Week in Hong Kong and upcoming in Beijing this March have helped create an astonishing amount of dining buzz around China. 

Book early to avoid disappointment!

Date: March 5-11, 2012

Bookings Open: February 15, 10am

Reservations: shanghairestaurantweek.com

About DiningCity.com China
DiningCity started in 1998 and is the leading worldwide dining guide. Currently operating in 35 cities around the globe, DiningCity cities include Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rotterdam, Dubai, Madrid, Geneva, Rome, Vienna, New York and Singapore. In cooperation with DiningCity the event Restaurant Week was born. 
 
Visitors of the website can search for a restaurant via the following criteria: price, cuisine, location and extras. Every restaurant has its own unique profile and high quality photos, so visitors can have a good impression of the interior and the atmosphere. Menu information, a virtual tour, and online reservations make it easy for diners to choose a restaurant to fit their mood and taste. 
 
Don’t know where to go? Via the “Dining Suggestions” section the DiningCity team will help you select the perfect restaurant for your dinner, your event or your meeting. The DiningCity website distinguishes itself by the interactive opportunities and clear information, and no distracting advertisement. Hungry or just curious? Go to: www.diningcity.com/shanghai 

Remnant Pavilions from World Expo 2010

If you missed the World Expo in 2010 and you intend to visit Shanghai, do you know that you still can have a taste and glimpse of the Expo?

Yes. Some pavilions from the World Expo held in Shanghai in 2010 has not been dismantled yet. Even the official gift shop there is still open for business. If you would like to take some pictures of the pavilions itself, you still can go there though most of the interior exhibits have been removed. For example, the China Pavilion is still there and serves as a exhibition center and other events.

Some time back, Regine and myself went there to have a look and toured the Picasso Exhibition held at the China Pavilion. The immediate thought that struck me was the irony. Italian masterpieces being displayed in a pavilion that is suppose to represent the best of China? It was just like the first time I went to the Forbidden City in Beijing. Some of the exhibit and national treasures were proudly displayed as "Exhibit sponsored by American Express ".  Anyway, that is a separate thought all together.

The moment we got out of the metro station, we were swarmed with touts asking us to buy expo memorabilia, fully stamped expo passports and cheaper tickets to the exhibit.

One tout followed us for a good one hundred yards. Another offered a fully stamped Expo passport for only RM10. Despite their eagerness to close the sale, we ignored them and bought the tickets from the booth.

Sorry, no photos of the Picasso exhibit as we are not allowed to take pictures inside. However, I managed to see a few people standing in front of the masterpieces and copying/drawing the same thing. One of them was quite and elderly lady and she probably did it out of interest, what she close was really close to the real thing!

Overall, I would say it is a fairly good day trip. A place I would recommend still for all the shutterbugs out there.

Mid Autumn Festival - The Day After

What happens the day after mid autumn festival? Usually one can can expect to get mooncakes for up to half the price or one for one free at the stores!

Heres another one given to me by a business partner:

Shanghai to Beijing : Mercedes Benz B Class F Cell

From the automobile exhibition "Auto Shanghai" the three Mercedes-Benz, B-Class F-CELL cars set off on their journey through China, which took them to the capital Beijing on 24 April. With this leg, the final and longest leg of the F-CELL World Drive began: all in all, the fuel cell powered cars will each absolve around 9000 kilometres until they again reach European soil in Russia 20 days later. From there the tour will start its homeward journey to Germany via Scandinavia. Before setting off from Shanghai, the F-CELL World Drive had already travelled half the globe: since its start at the end of January the tour successfully crossed southern Europe, North America and Australia.

Lets take a look at some of the pictures taken when they journeyed in China:

 Pictures courtesy of Mercedes Benz

Mercedes Benz (and Fan Bing Bing) at the Shanghai Motor Show

Fan Bing Bing and Li Bing Bing seems to be everywhere in China media nowadays.

Fan Bing Bing is even at the Shanghai Motor show!

Mercedes A Class Concept at the Shanghai Motorshow 2011

Photos courtesy of Daimler.

Laura Fygi in Shanghai, 26 May 2011

One of my favorite jazz performers is coming to Shanghai!

Grab you tickets!

Chinese Interiors - A Robert van der Hilst Solo Exhibition brought to you by m97 Gallery

The AMG Driving Academy launches in China

Mercedes-AMG is extending its portfolio: the AMG Driving Academy will now also offer tailor-made racetrack training for its Chinese sports car fans. The kick-off event will be held from 19 to 24 November 2010 on the Shanghai International Circuit. Around 150 AMG customers and enthusiasts have already signed up for the Asia premiere.

One-and-a-half-day BASIC training courses will be held from 19 to 22 November 2010. Participants will assimilate in professional surroundings the know-how required for their first laps at the limit. The two-and-a-half-day ADVANCED training course will start straight afterwards from 22 to 24 November 2010; this course focuses on honing driving skills and promoting a sporty driving style – key areas covered include cornering, the ideal line as well as the braking point. An SLS AMG, SL 63 AMG, a C 63 AMG with Performance Package Plus and an SLK 55 AMG will be on the starting line as training vehicles. Three racetrack training courses are initially planned in China for 2011, with participants given the opportunity to take an SLS AMG or C 63 AMG for a spin.

 "China is also a fast-growing market for AMG. And not only are our AMG high-performance vehicles in ever greater demand, but our Chinese customers are also increasingly asking for racetrack training courses. I am proud that we can now also offer Chinese AMG fans a unique product and brand experience with the AMG Driving Academy", says Ola Källenius, CEO of Mercedes-AMG GmbH.

World Expo 2010 Epilogue - Food !