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[The Brunch List]: August 2016

Here's three solid options for breakfast / brunch this weekend. It's all about value this month.
Last updated: 2016-08-26
The Brunch List is our monthly column pinpointing great (and not so great) brunch spots around town. Everything below is all you need to know about where to get leisurely weekend eats.

Back on that brunch train...

1. Chartres Garden (Hongqiao)


[venue:13666]



Good for: Underrated food in a good environment, and for people with children.
Available: Daily, 11am-2.40pm
Price: Brunch sets for 88rmb or 118rmb

Chartres on Tianshan road is the sixth branch of the Shanghai F&B empire that nobody talks about. They spend zero RMB on marketing or advertising, but for about thirteen years, Chartres Garden has occupied one of the oldest and most historic corners in Xuhui district: Huashan Lu and Fuxing Lu. The empire now extends around that corner four venues deep, culminating in a Taiwanese beef noodle spot on the eastern end. The newest Changning district outpost has an updated décor a la Pottery Barn, but with mostly the same menu as the older Chartres.



For the most part, Chartres serves casual continental's greatest hits. Dishes range from Spanish paella to baked escargots to Thai chicken curry. The mistake most people make with Chartres is that they think it’s a semi-fancy place, when really, it should be approached casually. It's roughly Wagas pricing, but with higher quality food and service in a cushier environment. The Tianshan branch has a daily lunch set from 11am-2.40pm, with a garden salad or soup, an entrée, and a coffee, tea, or soda for 88rmb or 118rmb, depending on the entrée. For an extra 20rmb, you can get a perfectly serviceable steak cooked to order, and you can also order off the dinner menu during brunch.



For the parents out there, the staff are super accommodating with kids, and the 88rmb kids set menu has some room for customization (soup, salad, juice, main, sides and a desert). They know the little ones need to be fed first or they act up, so the kids food comes out fast.


A kid's meal for a king

So for roughly the price of one craft cocktail in this town, you are brunching pretty well at Chartres. It's easy enough to get a table on the weekends, and nobody here is judging if you polish off a bottle of rosé with your first meal of the day. Keep this one in your back pocket.

- Text and photos by Handoogies


2. Epices & Foie Gras


[venue:11708]



Good for: Classic French cuisine in a somewhat hidden spot.
Available: Sat-Sun, 11.30am-2.30pm
Price: Set for 218rmb, or a la carte

This tasteful little French bistro in the shadow of M1NT on Hankou Lu is enjoying a growing following of French foodies. If our brunch experience is any indicator, the buzz is deserved. In an area packed with high-rent but middling quality restaurants, Epices & Foie Gras is an inviting little oasis with friendly service and quality food.



They have an a la carte menu, but the better deal -- the one that everybody comes here for -- is the three-course set for 218rmb. You can start with one of their croissant dishes, lightly toasted sandwiches filled with savories, like ham and cheese or salmon with a yogurt and cucumber sauce. From there, you can try one of three egg dishes, like a salmon or prosciutto Bennie or an opulent omelet made with asparagus, foie, and black truffle.



They do an elegant take on that rustic French classic, paté de campagne. It's a slice of pork terrine, studded with pistachios and hunks of foie gras. This is the way to transition to one of their main courses, like a roasted boneless chicken thigh stuffed with mushrooms and shrimp, served with ratatouille-topped polenta and a creamy mustard sauce. For something a touch lighter, a white tuna steak with miso sauce and a white bean puree fits the bill. Finally, for dessert, it's a choice between two classics: chocolate mousse or crème brûlée. Go for the former.

These guys don't do any weekend free-flow deals, but that's fine. All-you-can-drink booze is usually just swill anyway. They do, however, carry a lot of reasonably priced wines by the bottle, with prices starting in mid-300's.

- Justin Fischer


3. Tepito


[venue:13111]



Good for: Fancier versions of Mexico City classics, and a classic Shanghai patio.
Available: Sat & Sun, 11am-3pm
Price: A la carte dishes from 48-95rmb; two hours of optional free-flow for 150rmb

When Tepito replaced Tex-Mex institution Cantina Agave earlier this year, some were livid about the upgrade to modern Mexican. "Where's my SALSA BAR?" "Why so fancy?" A minor war raged between Tepito and their neighbor Chicken & Egg in our user reviews section. Perhaps Tepito is slightly ahead of its time, but sometimes you gotta give people what they need, not just what they want. I too was among the skeptics, but after roughly fifteen visits -- sometimes with picky eaters from LA who rate their tacos, and on this occasion, with a friend from Mexico City who lit up when they saw menudo and esquites on the menu -- it's become clear that Tepito is another example of Shanghai stepping its game up in 2016.

The chef, Edgar Hernandez, comes from that megalopolis, but not from the actual neighborhood Tepito. That hood is possibly Mexico City's most dangerous, but it's also home to Chinese and Korean market vendors selling white T-shirts and bulk goods. Something like Qipu Lu, but with guns. The short brunch menu features some fancier versions of Mexican street fare, like chilaquiles verdes. In Mexico, they make that by frying up old tortillas with meat, creme, cheese, eggs, and salsa. Here they use tortilla chips, but it's still great.



Chilaquiles is a hangover food, and so is menudo, a breakfast soup made of tripe, chickpeas, and corn. Where else can you find that in Shanghai? And where else do you get this much queso fresco? Other crucial dishes are the enfrijoladas (breakfast enchiladas with chorizo, egg, pico de gallo, refried black beans, cheese, and cream) and the carnitas hash (on this article's cover).



The salsas are on point, as are the avocados used in the liberal portions of guac. The only miss was the eggs Benedict. Think it's a law that a Shanghai brunch menu has to have a Benedict. Also, while the decor evokes Mexico, swapping out the Akon, Bieber, and Pitbull for some Mexican morning talk radio, or just any Mexican music, would really tie the room together.

Some tips: If you care about day-drinking, they offer two hours of free flow for 150rmb. If not, they do have horchata. It's alright. Do try all the salsas. Take small bites of the long chilis; some are mild, some are deadly hot. If you're a food nerd, talk to Edgar. Before coming to Asia for the first time to cook here, he was culinary traveling around almost every state in Mexico. Nice dude. Don't get too sad when you see that esquites cost about 120 pesos here, instead of 15-20 pesos like in Mexico. Do plan on leaving full.

- Ian L

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Want more ideas for brunch? Check out The Brunch List archives or our Brunch Deals page.

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