Anting location is much more ambient. This place looks okay in the evening but not daytime.

Went here for the listed brunch deal and it's actually more expensive then the listing. Call before hand to check.

Sunday Brunch = staff are still sleeping. The food is very homecooked style. Good value for money if you get what you order.

Good for morning after hangovers with friends when you don't care so much about where you are.

I've been to Cotton's in Xinhua lu a few times, living quite close and I have to say, it's become one of my favourites, especially in this area ! The place is gorgeous, the garden is a little bit of peace, quiet and green in the middle of Shanghai, and the house is just what we're used to with Cotton: well decorated, warm and super cosy.

Sure, the service is not top, but it's way better than many places I've been to, and maybe it's because they now know me, but I've never had a problem not being served quickly.

As for the food and drinks; they just changed their menu and while my favourites are still on (lamb chops and pad thai), they added some really good ribs and other things. I do like their food... it's home cooking and being away from the family, it feels good once in a while.
We also had a BBQ there organised for a bunch of people, and that was really good !

I also usually go for Sunday brunch in the garden: the plates are huge, the price is really low for what you get and bottomless drink... it's all I really need ! Good book to chill for the rest of the afternoon... especially now that the warmth is back.

Nah, I don't agree with that first review. Maybe it was a bad day, and maybe the kitchen was swamped, it happens, but generally, I have a good experience when I'm there... atmosphere is amazing !

I just read the other review about a bad brunch...and I'm very surprised. I had to write this. I go for Brunch at Cotton's very often. They're right up the road from me. They deliver what they try to be. They're not M on the Bund and they don't charge you those prices. It's a big brunch for a good price with free flow drinks... the garden is amazing.. the service is nothing great...but it's fine.

I enjoy this place... I usually go for Friday happy hour..and Sunday Brunch.

Anyway.. I don't expect much from servers in SH...I've been here 3 years. I know the balance of what I want to spend and what I expect.

I dig this place. Try it.

I thought Sunday brunch was supposed to be an enjoyable, relaxing experience, especially when you've had a late night out the Saturday before. Well, that's not the case at Cotton's. At least not for me, my wife and our visiting friend.

We arrived at Cotton's around 1pm and the weather was great. We asked to sit outside but there was only a small table available. That wasn't a problem, after all, we hadn't made a reservation. The three of us sat on the small table for two and I promptly asked our waitress to please move us to a larger table as soon as it became available.

We ordered the vegetable sticks as an appetizer cause we were starving and we knew that would come quick. I got the French breakfast and the ladies went for two salads.

Then the whole thing started to go bad.

My bottomless coffee was nasty. Cold and weak. It might as well be Earl Grey tea! And after repeatedly asking the waitress for our appetizer, it finally arrived almost 30 minutes after we ordered it! For a dish that is basically raw carrots and celery cut into sticks, the long wait was extremely annoying.

Suddenly a larger table became available near us. We moved over and sat down, only to be approached by a French lady who told me she had been waiting for that table. I called the waitress so she could let the lady know that we had been waiting for longer for a larger table to become available, but the waitress didn't want anything to do with it and simply walked away, leaving me to argue with the impolite French woman. She brought her entire group of friends over to our table to pressure us and eventually, deciding it wasn't worth arguing with the French resistance, we moved back to the small table. It was almost 2pm at this point, more than 40 minutes after we ordered our food.

As we were about to get up and leave without eating, our food arrived. My French breakfast was very disappointing, I was looking fwd to eating some French Toasts, but they were so dry and tasteless that I only had half of one. My wife's salad was ok but after a few bites she realized it came with the wrong dressing.

We were all grumpy and annoying and wanted to leave Cotton's as quick as possible so we could forget about that horrible start to day. However Cotton's staff made sure we had one more thing to complain about. It took them 3 waiters and 15 minutes to produce the bill. Does Cotton also make their receipt paper fresh on site? After paying and waiting another 5 minutes for the change, I had to go inside and get from the girl on the till so we could run out of there.

It's such a shame to have a bad experience at that place, because their patio is actually quite nice, the food isn't bad and the price is pretty good. However I couldn't help but notice that almost every table that Sunday had to complain about their food taking too long or something missing in their dishes. I know it's very hard to find competent staff here in Shanghai, but that's no excuse for such a badly managed place.