October picks are in. This month we bring you two new brunches at Tomatito and the Apartment, French bistro fare at Chelsea & Co., and a brunch buffet binge at Café Liang. ***

Tomatito

The newest eatery in Spanish chef Willy Trullas Moreno’s “Fun F&B Group”, Tomatito, just joined its predecessors el Willy and Elefante in the Shanghai brunch game. Tomatito’s angle is that it’s a more traditional, home-style tapas bar, so its brunch menu reflects that focus on heartiness and simplicity. That means eggs. Eggs and potatoes. For 98rmb, you get a combination plate with two eggs sunny side-up, a salad, French fries (regular or spicy) and a dessert. In mains, you can choose from grilled steak with garlic, roasted chicken, grilled cuttlefish, lamb ribs, vegetarian stew or Cuban rice with sausages and plantains. Note, that last one doesn’t come with the fries. We visited on the first weekend that Tomatito rolled out its new brunch menu, so that might account for the spotty service and long wait for our order. Eggs, excellent. Fries, nicely hot and crisp. Salad, basic but fine. Steak. Well. We made all kinds of unholy sounds with our knives and forks trying to get it down to chewable pieces. Maybe skip the steak and stick with the chicken or the Cuban rice—those are solid and straightforward, albeit a bit vanilla. When we went, the place was filled with young, trendy couples and groups of baby-faced hipsters—the kind of people who care about being on top of the dining scene. So if cool factor and good boozing (regular cocktail menu runs during brunch, about 40-50rmb per drink) take precedent over food that wows you, then Tomatito’s filling brunch does just fine. Sat & Sun: 12.30-3.30pm For a full brunch listing, click here

Chelsea & Co.

This recently opened bistro at the confluence of Yueyang and Fenyang Lu surprised us. These guys do a pretty satisfying brunch. It's a set menu with two and three-course options (168 and 188rmb, respectively). Menu offerings are mostly rustic French dishes. For starters, they do soups, such as white bean with pancetta and sage or clam and mussel chowder with saffron and sweet corn. There are salads, like a classic Lonnaise with chicken livers, poached egg and lardons. Their Waldorf salad with apples, walnuts, and mixed greens is worth ordering. They also serve more standard brunch fare like egg Benedict; pancakes topped with a choice of berry compote, maple syrup, or nutella; or two eggs any style with bacon, potatoes, etc. Mains are hearty, stick-to-your-ribs eats like steak and eggs, slow-cooked pork belly with roasted sweet potatoes, lamb parmentier (basically French shepherd's pie), or duck confit (pictured above). Desserts range from familiar classics, like profiteroles to something a bit more unusual in these parts, like apple, rhubarb and lavender meringue. If you're planning on getting a little day drunk, the bar has a decent selection of high gravity beers and cocktails. Kick in 40rmb, and they'll pour you a glass of bubbly. For guests bringing the rugrats in tow, they've got separate menu for them as well, featuring pancakes, scrambled eggs and more. Sat & Sun: 10.30am-3pm For a full brunch listing click here

The Apartment

The Apartment has recruited a new chef named Gavin McAleer. He's overhauled the menu and brought back brunch too. For 128rmb you get a choice of two courses. Starters range from silver dollar pancakes to breakfast tacos, with a few healthier options thrown in, like fresh fruit or a yogurt and almond parfait. Second course options are more substantial dishes like chilaquiles, a Mexican hangover remedy of tortilla chips smothered in salsa, cheese and poached eggs, or poached eggs with mornay sauce and a bunch of accompaniments like bacon, sausage, or roast tomatoes. For the more lunch-inclined, they do a burger as well. In addition to your two courses, they throw in a basket of breakfast pastry and a choice of coffee or tea. You can also choose from a list of sides, like an English muffin, grits, bacon, sausage, etc. Add an extra 388rmb, and you'll get all the Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label you can drink. Or you can drink a more affordable 188rmb "sparkling wine" option. It's an affordable option, and you will walk out full. And with this beautiful weather we've been enjoying the rooftop terrace also scores points in its favor. The only drawback: they tend to understaff during the day shift—there was only one server for the entire floor on our visit—so you might need to exercise a little patience when it comes to service. Sat & Sun: 11.30am–4pm For a full brunch listing click here

Café Liang & Mezzanine

Café Liang in the Jing’an Shangri-La does a weekend brunch with all the hotel buffet standards: cold seafood spread, cheeses and charcuterie, teeny single-serving French desserts, hot food stations with line cooks who look like they’ve lost the light in their eyes. While there are some Western options, the food at Café Liang seems to have a pan-Asian focus. Choices in the hot food stations include tom yum shrimp soup, Peking duck, roasted pork belly, grilled Indonesian chicken, satay beef skewers and curried lamb stew. There’s even a dedicated sushi and sashimi station. The pasta and salad bars have live cooking (and tossing?) stations so that you can take your pick of toppings and sauces and get a dish made in front of you. We tried gnocchi with cream sauce, garlic, bacon and asparagus, plus a sesame dressing salad with crushed hazelnuts. When we asked for fish roe on top of a pesto and fresh mozzarella salad, our cook smiled through his dismay and complied. The damage for all of this—358rmb per person, plus a 15 percent service charge. There’s also an option to add free-flow drinks: soft drinks at 48rmb, juices at 58rmb, beer at 88rmb and wines at 108rmb. It’s not the Shangri-La’s best offering by a long shot, but judging from the crowd that was there when we went, it seems to be a safe choice for people who are entertaining for business. Sat & Sun: 11.30am-3pm For a full brunch listing, click here