Located on Changle Road inside an office building doesn’t sound attractive until you step in and take a glance to the bar full of homemade jars of Japanese pickles, teas, fruits and so on. Basically it takes me back to that comfort food that my grandma could make, full of love. This place is one of my favorite modern Japanese because you will absolutely find culinary dedication and fine flavors all over the menu and the dishes. The menu covers a wide range of Japanese cuisine in a very delicate way: from Japanese sandwiches, Japanese hotpot, katsu don, donburi, omurice, tempura, udon, soba, to a lot more options to dig in. We were two and we had a huge variety to share. The best, in my opinion, were the mackerel sandwich -so delicious that I could have a dozen easily-, the waygu beef curry udon –out of this world- and the fried chicken with a chilly sauce. Quiet vibe, friendly environment and decent prices will invite you to come back. If you are looking for a delicate meal and you really like Japanese food, then this is the place to visit for sure.

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Here’s the low-down on the latest action-

The Beef: This was probably my biggest gripe about the place – that it was located within an office building. I think a place like this could do even better if it opened late (past 10pm). Because it’s such an interesting place to eat, and it would want to come here for late night bites and flavored sochu. When we arrived by 8:30pm (on a Monday night, to be fair), the place was already felt desolate and empty. The décor was simple, modern, and clean but lacked a bit of warmth and light for a cold evening.

We plopped right down and hit the menu – a veteran Japanese food-eater like most people, I still was rather intrigued by the menu as I had no idea what to expect from the selection. Grilled sardine with mentaiko, cream stew salmon udon, duck soup soba, fried horse mackerel fish sandwich…(wait, were there 2 or 3 animals in that last one?) And the daring use of natto in several dishes. A risky move considering natto is probably one of the most pungent “disgusting delicacies” (as featured on a Forbes list) – it’s soybean fermented with a specific type of bacteria. Natto and cheese combo in a crepe-like sandwich (pictured) was flavorful, salty, stinky, and savory with just the right amount of unami. The udon noodles here were the best (starch) I’ve had in Shanghai, perfectly chewy and with the right amount of “elasticity”.  Highly recommend the seared salmon sashimi (also pictured), so refreshing and citrusy…our favorite dish by far with its combo of sprouts, garlic chips, sweet onions. This is definitely the dish I would come back for. And yes, I even continued to fantasize about it the next day.

The Gang: Small groups coming in for a bite, nothing too (or even remotely) rowdy.

The Motive: Definitely need to go back for the flavored sochu! They have 15+ homemade jars on display, infused with everything from fruits (pomelo, papaya, berries, pomegranate) to jujube, coffee, olives, cucumber, and more. And not bad at 50rmb/glass. How many flavors do I get to try before getting tipsy?

The Damage: 50% off udon on Mondays. Udons priced from 55-70rmb, dishes range from 25-65rmb. Avg. 150rmb/pax ex-alcohol.

The Down n’ Dirty: Glad I didn’t have to go into the deserted office building. Easily accessible, and like all Japanese toilets, very clean. No waterfall noises though.

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