We're seeing several of these new post-Xintiandi creative/commercial zones opening around Shanghai. Last year, the New Factories opened north-east of JingAn, then Novel Plaza in Xujiahui. A few others as well are now open and the latest is The Highstreet Loft, on Jianguo near Xiangyang Nan Lu.

After a soft-opening outdoor creative bazaar a few months ago, the spaces in The Loft are starting to fill up.

The core building interior is a four-story shopping mall, with a mix of mid-to-upscale fashion boutiques, art, and furniture shops--all with glass walls that are open and airy, fully revealing what's inside rather than trying to trick the window shopper. We like it. There's a lot of playfulness and variety, and the whole space feels inviting.

There's also a row of cafes with outdoor seating (although toxic smells from the unfinished construction still hang in the air), including yet another Wagas, a Chinese dessert café, and Manta bakery and café. Manta looks promising, with a selection of unique pies and pastries. The dining stars thus far, however, are Bonito, serving Spanish food, and Naam Thai, a modern Thai restaurant.

Spanish cuisine seems to be a budding trend in Shanghai, and Bonito could contend for top honors. While the menu includes a few pan-Mediterranean favorites, the focus is Spain, and the owners already have six restaurants in Barcelona under their belts. The design, fitting with the whole "Loft" project, is smart and modern, but not intimidating--stone and cement, and burgundy-toned furnishings.

The theme of smart modernity carries over onto the menu at Bonito. The tapas menu boasts about 20 items priced 20rmb-32rmb. They also offer potatos bravas--one of our favorite comfort dishes, and one we have yet to find a decent version of in Shanghai. These are done just the way we like them: slightly crispy, and covered in creamy aioli and pepper spice. There's also a selection of "Montaditos"--single serving tapas served atop bread slices. You'll have to order a few of these to fill up but when you see how affordable the wine list is, you won't mind. The wines generally run 100-200rmb per bottle (perhaps we all owe thanks to Enoteca for inspiring a cheap wine trend?) and there's a substantial selection.

If you're looking for more of a standard meal, entrees run 78rmb for a Barcelona Burger, to 168rmb for a paella-for-two, and there's a variety of meat and fish mains in between.

There's an outdoor seating area, plus a downstairs bar/lounge and quieter seating upstairs, which makes the restaurant versatile for either a date or a party posse.

As we said, we're also excited about Bonito's neighbor, Naam Thai. We've been disappointed with most Thai food we've had in Shanghai, and Naam has finally raised the bar, at least a bit. We're wary of the fusion dishes being pushed here, but the standards--papaya salad, Thai noodles, curries--are authentic and quite good. We hope they can keep it up. It's the attention to detail--cucumber-infused water, making the milk tea not-too-sweet, fresh limes on the tables, the rich cream in the curry--that can keep this place fresh. Not to mention the stellar design: light woods, lime greens, and a touch of Zen artistry.

Papaya salad (48rmb) with sticky rice (12rmb) was just as good as the one we had last week in Bangkok. It's important to define your spice level, although they should ask. A red curry with beef (68rmb) was surprisingly substantial and plate-licking good, although the accompanying roti (12rmb) was dry, flakey and small. The wine list is short but well-matched, and we'll excuse the prices (most bottles are over 300rmb) because most of the wines are organic, and that's cool.

A few notes for The Loft: we like your pretty design, but we also like bathrooms that have clear signs, tissue paper, and urinals that don't spray our pants as we walk up.

And what's up with the security screaming at us for taking a photo of the very pretty project you've blessed the city with?

Lead photo by Charlie Xia

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