APRIL 21, 2009
As the weather improves in Shanghai, so goes my disposition. Our compound is truly lovely this time of year. All the trees are leafed out, many decorative fruit trees are in full bloom of white and pale pink, the azaleas have popped out in bright fuchsia, the green lawn is being mowed now(smells like summer), and even the birds are singing. Just being able to spend more and more time outside is a relief in spite of the air quality which isn't always as fresh as we'd prefer. But the temps are into the 70's and even hit 80 a couple of times.
We have recently taken custody of Ralph, the canine companion of our Aussie friends, Mike and Ali. Ali has traveled to Australia for her son's wedding and will be gone until the end of May. Mike works long hours and is often out of town. Ralph needs a bit more attention than a normal healthy dog. Ralph, you may recall, is an elderly poodle/terrier mix with numerous health problems (bad heart, cataracts in the eyes, hard of hearing, strong bad breath due to poor teeth) which require a bit more TLC than what would be normal. But he's good company for me during the day, and the added walks in our lovely gardens is improving the outlook of us both (me and Ralph, that is ..... and surely Randy is happier that he's coming home to a smiling spouse). Ali does not return to Shanghai until the end of May so we may have Ralph for quite a while other than a weekend trip to Xi'an that we have scheduled for weekend after next (hopefully Mike can take him home for a few days at that point as I really HATE the idea of Ralph in a kennel here .... he needs a "doggy" nursing home really).
Randy and I have resumed our usual culinary adventures within the last few weeks. On Easter, we had a lovely brunch at a large German restaurant called Paulaner with five other expats. It reminded us an awful lot of home with it's Bavarian design and architecture, the Chinese waitresses outfitted in dirndls. Paulaner had a beautiful buffet set up for the Easter crowd including a little pint-sized buffet for the children which was attended by the Easter Bunny and Minnie Mouse (flown in special from Disney World just for the occasion). It was a hot sunny day which saw the seven of us starting out at a picnic table outside in a lovely garden. Eventually though, the three bald men among us started getting burned domes so we moved inside to avoid further discomfort. Closer to the food anyway which I have to say was outstanding and plentiful. And the beer was half off all day which went a considerable way towards cooling us sufficiently.
We spent the remainder of our Easter holiday strolling the streets of the French Concession (which is the main location of Paulaner) enjoying the nice weather. We stopped at an open air tavern for drinks, and eventually landed at a new bar on the Hong Mei Lu pedestrian street called JJ's where Randy and Alan played a few rounds of billiards. Our Easter was topped off by massages at Dragonfly. After having very full tummies, numerous steins of beer, and a lovely relaxing massage, we were ready to fall into bed .... sufficiently sated and sedated!!
This past Friday, Randy and I were discussing our usual TGIF excursion to a restaurant, and contemplated our options. He reminded me that we hadn't yet tried Le Midi, a recently opened French restaurant which is owned by the former manager of Cafe Montmartre, one of our favorites. It is also located at the Hong Mei Lu pedestrian street (there must be 40 or 50 restaurants on this street of various ethnicity ..... and mostly excellent too) so we decided to give it a go. Le Midi is a very lovely French establishment and the owner did an excellent job of replicating a Parisian cafe in style and ambiance (well, he SHOULD .... he's quite French!!). The walls were painted a lovely bird's egg blue, the upholstery and bar were rich shades of dark reds and plums, the white linens and silver framed mirror reflected the flickering candles and the gleam of the (unfortunately fake) fireplace. Even the soothing string and accordion music transported us to Gay Paree while the excellent wait staff attended beautifully to our every desire.
We started with a "melt in your mouth" Foie Gras mousse which could be eaten with a spoon or spread on the fresh bread placed on the table as a starter. We split a salad of goat cheese and walnuts on a lovely bed of red and green lettuce leaves. Randy had salmon in parchment and I ordered chicken with garlic and olives .... both excellent!! All of this was of course accompanied by an exquisite chardonnay. Dessert was a baked apple with ice cream for Randy, and chocolate mousse for me ... wonderful!! Le Midi was just a tad pricier than we expected but also rose to the challenge of the prices. Someplace great for a special evening.
After dinner at Le Midi, we decided upon a nightcap at JJ's again. I'm sure Randall thought he might engage in a bit of pool but the table was quite busy that evening. Randy ordered a beer and I ordered a White Russian, somewhat risky as often these fancier drinks provide a challenge for the Chinese baristas. I was correct to worry. They had gotten the Kahlua and vodka over ice just fine which just about half filled the glass. But the top half of the glass was filled with whipped heavy cream. Randy and I looked at each other and laughed .... yes, always an adventure here!! Well, I stirred it up as best I could and it tasted pretty good really, other than the fact that the drink had big globs of cream floating on it which refused to dissolve in spite of vigorous stirring. Well, it WAS appropriate as a dessert drink, I guess.
Our friends Larry & Therese had heaped praise on a newer, upscale Mexican restaurant they'd frequented recently called Maya. So with Therese's assistance, we made arrangements for nine of us for Saturday evening. Maya is also located in the French Concession, actually tucked away inside the grounds of a lovely expat compound (I think it's called the Shanghai Grand Plaza). The cobblestone walkways of the area reminded me quite a bit of something European. Maya is on the second floor of the building it occupies. The atmosphere and design were very Latin in nature and was truly creative with the use of candles and lots of colorful tiles. We were seated at a large oval table and immediately served pitchers of sangria and margaritas along with excellent (and spicy) guacamole to whet our appetites.
Maya has quite an extensive menu of appetizers, designer tacos, ceviches, and main dishes ... so much so that most of us had a really hard time trying to decide, and much discussion was needed before decisions could be made. Obviously, this led to adequate consumption of libation in the meantime. Larry & Therese proclaimed the fish tacos to be "out of this world" but fish was only one out of nine varieties of taco which could be ordered individually or in "mix & match" sets of three. There were tacos of beef, pork, chicken, fish, beef tongue, bean, and a few that I cannot remember. Some folks ordered a taco appetizer, and then sets of three for their main meal. Also there was quite a list of ceviches on the menu ..... snapper, shrimp, crab, squid, talapia, among others. Each was prepared with a different fruit and/or herb combination which made it hard to decide.
I chose the snapper with mango and cilantro ceviche and a chicken mole (spicy chocolate sauce) for my main entree ..... both exceptionally yummy and quite spicy. Randy got the three tacos which were as good as described. Dessert was a coconut flan (served in a half coconut) with an almond cookie. I was full, happy, and just the slightest bit tipsy from the ever-flowing sangria which seemed to magically fill my glass all evening. Other than the fact that it was quite noisy for conversation (which I attribute to the fact that the kitchen is open to the dining area making for a very efficient process but also contributing greatly to the noise factor), the service was excellent and the food delicious!! Another successful culinary experience!
Being as the weekend seemed to be devoted to eating (and the fact that we missed Sunday breakfast due to maintenance men coming to our apartment to repair the aforementioned leaky toilet), we decided to take our lunch on Sunday at a place on Hong Mei Lu called Johnny Moo's, a classic American style diner. I hope my doctor doesn't read this blog because he'll flip when he hears we had burgers, fries, and milk shakes ..... definitely NOT on my cholesterol lowering diet!!! All in all, it was an excellent treat. The bun was toasted just a little beyond gently but other than that, it was a much desired taste of home for us.
We continued down the road to City Shop to pick up the ingredients for a small pizza party we'd planned for later in the day. Our Chinese friends, Wind & Nicole, were coming over for a lesson in American pizza assembly. Wind had visited Michigan for some training while an ADS employee and had a taste of American pizza which he found to his liking. Pizza is readily available in Shanghai but is usually disappointing ... at least to those of us pining for American pizza. The sauce is normally nonexistent here or more on the order of tomato soup which makes for a rather bland pizza. You may remember me talking about the first pizza we ordered here .... two pieces each with one item instead of the items being spread over the entire pie. Funny!
Wind & Nicole showed up with a bottle of rice wine to contribute to the party, and we'd already chopped ham, onion, red pepper, mushrooms, and pineapple to assemble four pizzas, two large and two small. Randy and I have discovered a Mediterranean bakery that has something very close to pizza crusts in two sizes. They are still rather "doughy" so they withstand the baking to make very nice pizza. Sauce and mozzarella cheese can be obtained at the City Shop, and the rack that goes inside our combo oven (microwave and convection) is handy for baking two pies simultaneously.
We let Wind & Nicole assemble the pizzas while we supervised, poured drinks, and put on some music. While the pizzas baked, we discussed the particulars of Nicole's pregnancy. Wind & Nicole are expecting their first child in June, just a few weeks away, and had just spent the day at the hospital where an ultra sound was performed, and pre-arrangements were made for the big arrival.
While we consumed pizza and rice wine (Nicole stuck to Sprite), we chatted about Wind & Nicole's contribution to our cultural exchange. We will meet again soon so that they can teach us how to make Chinese dumplings, something we love and order often in restaurants, but haven't learned to make for ourselves yet. Also, there are still a few Chinese vegetables which have piqued our interest but for which there doesn't seem to be an American equivalent. So Wind & Nicole are going to tutor us about some of these indigenous Chinese vegetables. We had to laugh though because whenever we ask them how to prepare these vegetables, the answer is always the same .... clean (or peel) them, cut them up, and fry them in oil. Wind said, "Always same three steps ... clean, cut, fry!" I think we can remember that.
I've been trying to be more diligent (and enduring) on the treadmill in the gym lately (and my doctor WILL approve of this) as eating seems to be our activity of choice lately. Well, as I've mentioned previously, we have SO many excellent places from which to choose and we'd hate to miss ANY of them!! We may try a Chinese seafood place that is a short walk from our compound with Wind & Nicole soon. It has 15 or 20 aquariums outside on the sidewalk just outside the front door where you can pick out your main course before you even enter the dining area ..... sure to be another amazing gastronomic adventure!! I'll be sure to bring you up to speed on that.
Bon appetit, for now!
We have recently taken custody of Ralph, the canine companion of our Aussie friends, Mike and Ali. Ali has traveled to Australia for her son's wedding and will be gone until the end of May. Mike works long hours and is often out of town. Ralph needs a bit more attention than a normal healthy dog. Ralph, you may recall, is an elderly poodle/terrier mix with numerous health problems (bad heart, cataracts in the eyes, hard of hearing, strong bad breath due to poor teeth) which require a bit more TLC than what would be normal. But he's good company for me during the day, and the added walks in our lovely gardens is improving the outlook of us both (me and Ralph, that is ..... and surely Randy is happier that he's coming home to a smiling spouse). Ali does not return to Shanghai until the end of May so we may have Ralph for quite a while other than a weekend trip to Xi'an that we have scheduled for weekend after next (hopefully Mike can take him home for a few days at that point as I really HATE the idea of Ralph in a kennel here .... he needs a "doggy" nursing home really).
Randy and I have resumed our usual culinary adventures within the last few weeks. On Easter, we had a lovely brunch at a large German restaurant called Paulaner with five other expats. It reminded us an awful lot of home with it's Bavarian design and architecture, the Chinese waitresses outfitted in dirndls. Paulaner had a beautiful buffet set up for the Easter crowd including a little pint-sized buffet for the children which was attended by the Easter Bunny and Minnie Mouse (flown in special from Disney World just for the occasion). It was a hot sunny day which saw the seven of us starting out at a picnic table outside in a lovely garden. Eventually though, the three bald men among us started getting burned domes so we moved inside to avoid further discomfort. Closer to the food anyway which I have to say was outstanding and plentiful. And the beer was half off all day which went a considerable way towards cooling us sufficiently.
We spent the remainder of our Easter holiday strolling the streets of the French Concession (which is the main location of Paulaner) enjoying the nice weather. We stopped at an open air tavern for drinks, and eventually landed at a new bar on the Hong Mei Lu pedestrian street called JJ's where Randy and Alan played a few rounds of billiards. Our Easter was topped off by massages at Dragonfly. After having very full tummies, numerous steins of beer, and a lovely relaxing massage, we were ready to fall into bed .... sufficiently sated and sedated!!
This past Friday, Randy and I were discussing our usual TGIF excursion to a restaurant, and contemplated our options. He reminded me that we hadn't yet tried Le Midi, a recently opened French restaurant which is owned by the former manager of Cafe Montmartre, one of our favorites. It is also located at the Hong Mei Lu pedestrian street (there must be 40 or 50 restaurants on this street of various ethnicity ..... and mostly excellent too) so we decided to give it a go. Le Midi is a very lovely French establishment and the owner did an excellent job of replicating a Parisian cafe in style and ambiance (well, he SHOULD .... he's quite French!!). The walls were painted a lovely bird's egg blue, the upholstery and bar were rich shades of dark reds and plums, the white linens and silver framed mirror reflected the flickering candles and the gleam of the (unfortunately fake) fireplace. Even the soothing string and accordion music transported us to Gay Paree while the excellent wait staff attended beautifully to our every desire.
We started with a "melt in your mouth" Foie Gras mousse which could be eaten with a spoon or spread on the fresh bread placed on the table as a starter. We split a salad of goat cheese and walnuts on a lovely bed of red and green lettuce leaves. Randy had salmon in parchment and I ordered chicken with garlic and olives .... both excellent!! All of this was of course accompanied by an exquisite chardonnay. Dessert was a baked apple with ice cream for Randy, and chocolate mousse for me ... wonderful!! Le Midi was just a tad pricier than we expected but also rose to the challenge of the prices. Someplace great for a special evening.
After dinner at Le Midi, we decided upon a nightcap at JJ's again. I'm sure Randall thought he might engage in a bit of pool but the table was quite busy that evening. Randy ordered a beer and I ordered a White Russian, somewhat risky as often these fancier drinks provide a challenge for the Chinese baristas. I was correct to worry. They had gotten the Kahlua and vodka over ice just fine which just about half filled the glass. But the top half of the glass was filled with whipped heavy cream. Randy and I looked at each other and laughed .... yes, always an adventure here!! Well, I stirred it up as best I could and it tasted pretty good really, other than the fact that the drink had big globs of cream floating on it which refused to dissolve in spite of vigorous stirring. Well, it WAS appropriate as a dessert drink, I guess.
Our friends Larry & Therese had heaped praise on a newer, upscale Mexican restaurant they'd frequented recently called Maya. So with Therese's assistance, we made arrangements for nine of us for Saturday evening. Maya is also located in the French Concession, actually tucked away inside the grounds of a lovely expat compound (I think it's called the Shanghai Grand Plaza). The cobblestone walkways of the area reminded me quite a bit of something European. Maya is on the second floor of the building it occupies. The atmosphere and design were very Latin in nature and was truly creative with the use of candles and lots of colorful tiles. We were seated at a large oval table and immediately served pitchers of sangria and margaritas along with excellent (and spicy) guacamole to whet our appetites.
Maya has quite an extensive menu of appetizers, designer tacos, ceviches, and main dishes ... so much so that most of us had a really hard time trying to decide, and much discussion was needed before decisions could be made. Obviously, this led to adequate consumption of libation in the meantime. Larry & Therese proclaimed the fish tacos to be "out of this world" but fish was only one out of nine varieties of taco which could be ordered individually or in "mix & match" sets of three. There were tacos of beef, pork, chicken, fish, beef tongue, bean, and a few that I cannot remember. Some folks ordered a taco appetizer, and then sets of three for their main meal. Also there was quite a list of ceviches on the menu ..... snapper, shrimp, crab, squid, talapia, among others. Each was prepared with a different fruit and/or herb combination which made it hard to decide.
I chose the snapper with mango and cilantro ceviche and a chicken mole (spicy chocolate sauce) for my main entree ..... both exceptionally yummy and quite spicy. Randy got the three tacos which were as good as described. Dessert was a coconut flan (served in a half coconut) with an almond cookie. I was full, happy, and just the slightest bit tipsy from the ever-flowing sangria which seemed to magically fill my glass all evening. Other than the fact that it was quite noisy for conversation (which I attribute to the fact that the kitchen is open to the dining area making for a very efficient process but also contributing greatly to the noise factor), the service was excellent and the food delicious!! Another successful culinary experience!
Being as the weekend seemed to be devoted to eating (and the fact that we missed Sunday breakfast due to maintenance men coming to our apartment to repair the aforementioned leaky toilet), we decided to take our lunch on Sunday at a place on Hong Mei Lu called Johnny Moo's, a classic American style diner. I hope my doctor doesn't read this blog because he'll flip when he hears we had burgers, fries, and milk shakes ..... definitely NOT on my cholesterol lowering diet!!! All in all, it was an excellent treat. The bun was toasted just a little beyond gently but other than that, it was a much desired taste of home for us.
We continued down the road to City Shop to pick up the ingredients for a small pizza party we'd planned for later in the day. Our Chinese friends, Wind & Nicole, were coming over for a lesson in American pizza assembly. Wind had visited Michigan for some training while an ADS employee and had a taste of American pizza which he found to his liking. Pizza is readily available in Shanghai but is usually disappointing ... at least to those of us pining for American pizza. The sauce is normally nonexistent here or more on the order of tomato soup which makes for a rather bland pizza. You may remember me talking about the first pizza we ordered here .... two pieces each with one item instead of the items being spread over the entire pie. Funny!
Wind & Nicole showed up with a bottle of rice wine to contribute to the party, and we'd already chopped ham, onion, red pepper, mushrooms, and pineapple to assemble four pizzas, two large and two small. Randy and I have discovered a Mediterranean bakery that has something very close to pizza crusts in two sizes. They are still rather "doughy" so they withstand the baking to make very nice pizza. Sauce and mozzarella cheese can be obtained at the City Shop, and the rack that goes inside our combo oven (microwave and convection) is handy for baking two pies simultaneously.
We let Wind & Nicole assemble the pizzas while we supervised, poured drinks, and put on some music. While the pizzas baked, we discussed the particulars of Nicole's pregnancy. Wind & Nicole are expecting their first child in June, just a few weeks away, and had just spent the day at the hospital where an ultra sound was performed, and pre-arrangements were made for the big arrival.
While we consumed pizza and rice wine (Nicole stuck to Sprite), we chatted about Wind & Nicole's contribution to our cultural exchange. We will meet again soon so that they can teach us how to make Chinese dumplings, something we love and order often in restaurants, but haven't learned to make for ourselves yet. Also, there are still a few Chinese vegetables which have piqued our interest but for which there doesn't seem to be an American equivalent. So Wind & Nicole are going to tutor us about some of these indigenous Chinese vegetables. We had to laugh though because whenever we ask them how to prepare these vegetables, the answer is always the same .... clean (or peel) them, cut them up, and fry them in oil. Wind said, "Always same three steps ... clean, cut, fry!" I think we can remember that.
I've been trying to be more diligent (and enduring) on the treadmill in the gym lately (and my doctor WILL approve of this) as eating seems to be our activity of choice lately. Well, as I've mentioned previously, we have SO many excellent places from which to choose and we'd hate to miss ANY of them!! We may try a Chinese seafood place that is a short walk from our compound with Wind & Nicole soon. It has 15 or 20 aquariums outside on the sidewalk just outside the front door where you can pick out your main course before you even enter the dining area ..... sure to be another amazing gastronomic adventure!! I'll be sure to bring you up to speed on that.
Bon appetit, for now!
posted by Roxanne Gillett at
7:48 PM
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