Atmosphere: I swear I've been shown apartments with this exact floor plan. Still, they make it work with the usual tricks: a simple color scheme of brown wood tones and eggshell white, cozy lighting, and chalkboards galore. The open kitchen does, however, make it painfully clear when the staff is just standing around instead of, say, making your food.

Food: My first experience with Egg couldn’t have been more perfect: stopping in during a sunny afternoon and being met with excellent service, a delicious Vietnamese egg coffee, and one of the best breakfast sandwiches I’ve ever had. While their Bloody Mary was a little chunky for my taste, and I still don’t agree with the fusion-y notion to make it with mala spice, I have to respect that it’s one of the very few Marys served properly spicy that one can find in the whole city.

My second visit was very different. Once my order had been finally put in (more on that in The Service), I have to assume my drinks were then rushed, because my Pumpkin Spice Latte was an overspiced mess that left nutmeg on my tongue long after finishing. My Bloody Mary luckily acted as palate cleanser, and salvaged some of the experience before I received the Biscuit Benedict, which was already cold by the time I was eating. Points in their favor: the scallion buttermilk biscuits made in-house were surprisingly decent, and ideal for mopping up the perfectly poached eggs (at least they got the eggs right). The ham is cut thick enough to give it a satisfying chew, and each benny comes with a generous portion of it.

Service: Despite being nearly empty, service was slow and then proceeded to forget my order, only remembering after 30 minutes to check back in. For something like this I don’t expect some sort of compensation, but the lack of even an apology was a little insulting. After eating, I ordered a black coffee (they were out of gin for the Cinammon Bun Rum which I was curious about) which I -again- waited 30 minutes for, until realizing once more the order hadn’t been put in so I just paid and left. I know dips in service are to be expected, we shouldn't expect restaurants to be 100% consistent all the time, blah blah blah, but being forgotten TWICE is pretty hard to forgive, no matter how good your breakfast sandwich was the one time.

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It’s a bit sad about Egg, because apparently they used to have a really good vegan bowl on the menu. They’ve rehashed it now, so it’s hard to order anything without their eponymous ji dan as a feature. You can get the avo toast without parmesan, and it’s pretty good, but it still feels like a lazy vegan option.

They are really good at eggs, though. We tried them in a dense and flaky shaobing with homemade sour plum ketchup, cheese and an undetectable (but advertised) tofu scallion mayo. We had one in a muffin with a slow-braised pork chop. Presumably, there was an eggy presence in the divine milk cereal and white chocolate cookie I ordered. You can even get a Vietnamese-style egg coffee, if the mood takes you, and order anything (possibly even the coffee) with an extra egg on top, cooked any way you flipping like, for 8rmb.

Honestly, there are some egg-free options. The avocado toast (minty!) isn’t egg-topped, and neither are the slow-braised “cloud beans” (hearty!). The coconut iced coffee doesn’t contain egg either, in case you were wondering. In total, for six people, we paid 490rmb – not-at-all-bad pricing for a not-at-all-bad brunch.

Egg is a bright but cozy neighbourhood brunch spot with a mix of classic and more interesting menu options. Prices are on point, and waiting times are fairly average. It’s worth a visit just for the cookies, but you should probably try at least one egg dish too.

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Cozy, small and charming. Egg on Xianyang road, is one of those brunch gems in Shanghai you can’t miss. A more than average brunch menu with a variety of homemade food and beverage choices.

The menu is small but precise. What I mean with this is that every dish in the menu is perfectly achieved and the ingredients carefully combinated. Toasts, sweets and traditional Chinese cuisine dishes like shaobing or panckackes that team up with bean jam, in a modern and western twist.
They serve homemade sodas and a coffee variety you won’t easily find around, like peppermint latte for example.

Had brunch with my partner in crime. First round, we shared a a bacon sandwich, which was unbelievable tasty: crispy bacon, house cured pork belly, spiced mayo and a sort of cucumber sauce that was delicious in an English muffin. It was so good that I order one more for the second round. Then of course the avocado toast that, in my opinion, is the best one in town, with peas, cucumber and Parmesan in a big big crunchy toast. We finished the meal with the pancakes that were a different version of what we are used to see but very interesting. A big applause to the passion fruit and ginger soda, so good and refreshing for this season! All this for 290 rmb.
Excellent service, good playlist, tranquil vibe, enough dish selection, truly tasty food and pocket friendly prices. Give it a try!

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