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Now Open
Neighborhood bar Crocus has reopened after a year of heavy renovations under the hood, looking much the same. Met a pair of jolly fellows from Thailand there one time, couldn't tell if they were trying to molest me or pick my pocket, they were fairly inept at either. Welcome back, your table football and ginormous bar have been missed! Still serves up the same Italian fare + beer+ sports on a large screen from before. They're in sort-of-mostly-full-open (doors actually opened about a month ago), but the opening party'll be in the future.
Out with Old Crocus, in with New Crocus (they look the same
In a bit of a blast from the past, SmartShanghai's favorite place of all time Xinle Cafe has reopened after being empty for like a year. It's in "soft opening." Early accounts suggest they're doing a decent soft opening sirloin lunch deal for 68rmb. It's been a while, Xinle Cafe, welcome back, we hope you're not such a controversial experience this time. Wagas on Donghu Lu reopened as a Wagas. Tales of its rebranding were pure, irresponsible speculation. Absurdly popular Very-Important-Cake-Shop Lady M has opened a new shop in Xintiandi where it will no doubt cause havoc and devastation as well-dressed ladies knee each other in the kidneys for confectionary. FishEye Cafe on Changle Lu opened up. It's a nice little cafe doing, y'know, cafe stuff, but their big thing is that they have this machine called a Poursteady. In the words of someone in the office, it's "a faucet that moves a little." Basically it's supposed to be a mechanically perfect pour-over, which ensures a steady, even stream of hot water over the ground. Science has created the perfect coffee, going for less than 30rmb. Our early reports suggest it's pretty damn good, yo. Hail coffee science.Casualty List
Truck Stop Grill up in Hongkou's Hall of the Moon closed down. Real shame that. Pretty good food, not a great location. Though some venues can move into malls and survive, even thrive, this was not one of those cases. Check out our OTR of that place here.
Fare the well, MAC truck, we hardly knew ye
Bistro Burger's closed for the rest of the year. Renovation, almost certainly not "renovation." Expect them to reopen around Chinese New Year.The Word Around Town
Cabra is going to be 45 Degrees post Kelley Lee take-over. We said it'll be a "neighborhood beer bar with some food offerings" rotating craft beers, beertails, nitro coffee, the works," before we sort of got off track. Montreal deli Tock's has announced it's going to be launching a new location called Tock's Express on Caobao Lu. Think sandwich delivery, basically an outpost of their main location near the Bund. It'll be open in the near future, with a second Express on its way after that. Tock's coming for you. Mentioned last week that Shanghai Republik is turning into something else. That something else is SAO, which they describe as Modern Asian cuisine. Opening party is this Saturday. What used to be D'Lish is now a place called Gwen's Jiang which is basically the same people, same thing; wholesome, lunchable vegetarian food, with more emphasis on delivery and take-out.The Happenings
Menus, Deals, Parties, Whatever Cafe Del Volcan's opened up a new spot on Wuding Lu, just underneath 45 Degrees, doing an espresso-based, take-out focused thing there. For the rest of the weekend, you can grab yourself 50% off on all coffee. Maybe try out their Gluhwehinhwehr how the hell do you spell"Mulled Wine" coffee, too, it's pretty good. Last, but not least, The Nest, a landmark in Shanghai interior design and probably one of the nicest bar lounges in the city, is turning three years old, and throwing a party that starts off with a 1rmb oysters deal (there are conditions involved). Pour one out for those guys, congrats on three years looking classy.
