Zimbu's Review of Expat-Style Restaurants in Shanghai
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zimbu
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Joined: Oct 13, 2006
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Location: Stop poking my tail with your eye!
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 Posted:
Mar 26, 2008 - 12:37 AM |
 
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| Post subject: Zimbu's Review of Expat-Style Restaurants in Shanghai |
Here is my three cents about the various restaurants in Shanghai:
Blue Frog: My favorite. Reliable. Pretty good food across the board. OK prices. OK service. [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 3 of this thread.]
Malone's: My former number 1. Now slipping, and you should avoid the huge crush at lunchtime when the white collars drop by for RMB25 lunches.
Moon River Diner: Blackballed by me due to all of the problems, both small and large, over the last 3 months. Really a shame, but I supported them for weeks and weeks in spite of the looming disaster, until finally I could take no more. Bye! [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 1 of this thread.]
City Diner: I never liked this place and still don't. Although I go back once every three months out of curiousity and boredom with my regular places.
Element Fresh: Used to not like it but it is getting better and better since the Coke guy joined. I am semi-regular there over the last month or so.
New York Pizza: bad. dirty. terrible food. [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 1 of this thread, plus some cranky feedback from the owner and snappy responses by Zimbu are on Page 5.]
Ruzzi: Whatever happened to this place? I loved it when it first opened and went about 4 times per week, but then it went downhill fast. The food remained ok, but the service became a country bumpkin affair. Also, the place got a layer of grime over time.
Valley Gourmet Sandwich: Owner seemed like a nice guy but the whole thing was amateur from top to bottom.
Steak & Eggs: Was really looking forward to this one...then I went there. El Suckola. Why do owners like this insist on trying to do 85 menu items badly instead of 20 correctly?
Peppes Pizza on Xie He Road: Very professional chain, but the pizza is only so so and the service is less than that. They have tried to attract a local clientele over the last few months...with expected bad results.
Wei Qian Japanese Ramen (A Ji Sen): Was really hot on this place for a while, but the crammed together seating bugs me. Also, the wait staff seems to have just recently fallen off the back of a turnip truck. They still yell loudly to each other as if they are in neighboring rice fields instead of 10 feet away from each other. Also, take a look at they way they handle the supposedly clean eating utensils with their dirty hands. Yuck!
Papa John's: The first one on Hong Mei road was really bad, but surprisingly, they have fixed the problems at the other outlets. Not a bad choice for a semi-reliable pizza and semi-reliable service. That's saying a lot in Shanghai.
Burger King: What a disappointment. Still, it is crammed with westerners every day looking for their flame-broiled favorite. Now if they could just figure out how to train their staff, clean the restaurants, design their stores properly...they might have a hit on their hands.
Cold Stone: Not really a restaurant, but a fun ice cream place. Not sure why their ice cream is so "chewy", and probably do not want to know.
Starbucks: Got to love the consistency.
Punjabi Indian: The restaurant is grungy and service is bad. But take out is a viable alternative. The food is really good and affordable. The guy who answers the phone is slightly "IQ challenged", but that can be overcome...or just be flexible about what you actually eat when it arrives at your door. [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found further in this thread.]
Bukhara: Good Indian buffet on the weekends. Other times it is too expensive and service is bumbling at best. [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found further in this thread.]
Zapatas: The worst Mexican food in Asia. [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Pages 7 and 8 of this thread.]
Mexico Lindo: Tied for second worst Mexican food in Asia. [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 8 of this thread.]
Taco Popo: Tied for second worst Mexican food in Asia. [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 8 of this thread.]
That sandwich place over by Jing Ling Road (NY City Deli?): Really good sandwiches, but crappy location and the kitchen is less professionally equipped to be a restaurant than the trunk of my car. Prepare to get free ecoli with every other visit.
Wu Jing Tang: Not really western, but I like this Chinese noodle place alot. I go to the one in Raffles Mall, but they supposedly have 10 other outlets around Shanghai. Who knows where? The one in the mall near Zhong Shan Park looks really grungy. Nothing like the spotless one in Raffles.
Big Bamboo: Looks like a fun place to drink at night but the food is crapola. Seriously. Hire a professional food person to whip it into shape, and this could be a big winner. Rely on some clueless friends or little old ladies, and the future is dim.
California Pizza Kitchen: Not sure why this place seemed so premium in California when it first opened. It seems only slightly above Pizza Hut here in China. At least they refill Diet Cokes.
Pizza Hut: Soft mushy bread rolls, pineapple on your pizza, and starchy corn soup. This place has been localized to friggin' death. Great strategy now, and they are rolling in money because of it, but I wonder if there will be a backlash somewhere down the road when the Chinese finally figure out what crap this restaurant is? Hope so.
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf: You think their coffee drinks suck? Try their food. Hoover Suckmaster 5000. Not to mention the near childish nature of the bumbling service staff. Oh, they have wireless, so that's a plus.
Pasta Fresca: This place was overpriced from day one, and the service attitude is really sullen...why are they always so pissed? The food was great though. Then they raised the prices another 25% and I said "bye bye" to the sullen ladies of Pasta Fresca. [Fight to the Death between Pasti and Pasta Fresca can be found on Page 13 of this thread.]
Haya's Mediterrenean: No idea how to spell that word. This is the place on Hong Mei (and there's one on Da Gu Road also) which serve middle eastern/isreali stuff. Overall not bad. Price is ok too. Some items on the menu are great, and some are really bad. So choose wisely.
Also reviewed or discussed later in this thread:
iiiit! [Full review of this restaurant appears on page 12 of this thread]
Pasti [Fight to the Death between Pasti and Pasta Fresca can be found on Page 13 of this thread.]
Bohemia [Full review of this restaurant appears on page 12 of this thread]
Peter's Tex Mex [Full review of this restaurant appears on page 12 of this thread]
Cal Kitchen Burritos [Full review of this restaurant appears on page 9 of this thread]
Good Times Cafe [Full review of this restaurant appears on page 10 of this thread]
Bubba's Texas BBQ [Full review of this restaurant appears on page 11 of this thread]
Jimix [Full review of this restaurant appears on page 5 of this thread]
Wagas
Yong He Da Wang
Every Chinese Restaurant in Shanghai [More info on Page 1 of this thread]
Gourmet Cafe
Johnny Moo's [Full review of this restaurant and additional comments appear on page 5 of this thread]
Hooters [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 5 of this thread.]
T8 [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 5 of this thread.]
Sasha's [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 7 of this thread.]
Taco Bell Grande
Xiao Nan Guo [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 7 of this thread.]
Bellagio [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 7 of this thread.]
La Na Thai [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 5 of this thread.]
Jean George [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 5 of this thread.]
Las Tapas [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 5 of this thread.]
Va Bene [Additional comments on this restaurant can be found on Page 5 of this thread.]
...more will be added over time |
Last edited by zimbu on May 11, 2008 - 11:33 AM; edited 17 times in total |
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Swiss-James
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Joined: Jan 05, 2007
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Mar 26, 2008 - 08:14 AM |
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jzzzzzzz
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Mar 26, 2008 - 08:25 AM |
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Zimbu, you must cook at home pretty often. |
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Juan_Tamad
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Mar 26, 2008 - 09:07 AM |
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How would you rate Yonghe da wang? or my favorite hole in the wall xiao long bao joint? |
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zimbu
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Joined: Oct 13, 2006
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Mar 26, 2008 - 09:57 AM |
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Love the simple food at Yong He Da Wang...hate the complex bacteria. That place is really dirty and their sanitary habits are a complete joke...just enough to pass the government inspection, but clearly not correct in every other way. But things like xiao long bao, since they are heated in steam, should be ok. Just use disposable chopsticks.
By the way, I am really sick of seeing restaurant workers wearing face masks on their chins (i.e. they get tired of having it cover their mouthes and instead, in their 5000 year old wisdom, decide to position it on their chins instead). The Yong He kitchen staff does this a lot. This is another one of those things that I would like to institute the death penalty for. That's an entirely different post... |
Last edited by zimbu on Apr 08, 2008 - 02:14 PM; edited 1 time in total |
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8lrr8
Wonder Wit
Joined: Oct 14, 2004
Posts: 3720
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Mar 26, 2008 - 10:18 AM |
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by my count, u only give 4 restaurants a decent (or higher) rating. are there any other places that u frequent on a regular basis? can u give us your short list? |
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zimbu
Reacher
Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 244
Location: Stop poking my tail with your eye!
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Mar 26, 2008 - 10:26 AM |
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| 8lrr8 wrote: |
| by my count, u only give 4 restaurants a decent (or higher) rating. are there any other places that u frequent on a regular basis? can u give us your short list? |
Therein lies the problem... |
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8lrr8
Wonder Wit
Joined: Oct 14, 2004
Posts: 3720
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Mar 26, 2008 - 10:55 AM |
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| zimbu wrote: |
| Therein lies the problem... |
so u rarely visit places other than blue frog, malone's, element fresh, and papa john's? |
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yu888
Board Deity
Joined: Jan 25, 2003
Posts: 19241
Location: ZhongShanParkArea SH
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Mar 26, 2008 - 11:08 AM |
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interesting.
btw, Valley Gourmet closed ages ago
And Moon River had several mgmnt and govt issues recently that seemed to have finally cleared up. New manager at both Jing An and Pudong, closed an outlet in West Shanghai to concentrate on what they do well and trimmed the bad staff. Went by last week and seems "back to normal". Woudl recommend checking it out again. |
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The right to free speech does not grant you freedom from the repercussions of what you say. This and more on my Blog...Random Thoughts about Living in Shanghai...and more |
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still_here
Rocker
Joined: May 29, 2007
Posts: 680
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| Posted:
Mar 26, 2008 - 12:09 PM |
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Punjabi Indian: The restaurant is grungy and service is bad. But take out is a viable alternative. The food is really good and affordable. The guy who answers the phone is slightly "IQ challenged", but that can be overcome...or just be flexible about what you actually eat when it arrives at your door.
Went there yesterday after a long time. Wanted to share the experiance but didn't feel like starting a new thread for it doesn't deserve that much space 
Shitty service (the wait staff actually bad mouths if u complain), BAD food (kind of stale, like thay cooked it the previous night), WARM beer...... wtf does this place even exist. Am never going back. |
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still_here
Rocker
Joined: May 29, 2007
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Mar 26, 2008 - 12:11 PM |
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oh, and it was for the ~85 kuai buffet |
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zimbu
Reacher
Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 244
Location: Stop poking my tail with your eye!
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Mar 26, 2008 - 02:20 PM |
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| 8lrr8 wrote: |
| zimbu wrote: |
| Therein lies the problem... |
so u rarely visit places other than blue frog, malone's, element fresh, and papa john's? |
I guess...I often try to find other alternatives, hence the long list above, but as you can see from the results, I am usually disappointed.
My latest "try it out" target is the new place on Dagu road, called Good Times, next to Masala Art, the Indian place there. Will try it this week. |
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kumlong
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Posts: 999
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Mar 26, 2008 - 02:28 PM |
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i assume zimbu doesnt read any chinese |
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zimbu
Reacher
Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 244
Location: Stop poking my tail with your eye!
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Mar 26, 2008 - 02:29 PM |
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| yu888 wrote: |
interesting.
btw, Valley Gourmet closed ages ago
And Moon River had several mgmnt and govt issues recently that seemed to have finally cleared up. New manager at both Jing An and Pudong, closed an outlet in West Shanghai to concentrate on what they do well and trimmed the bad staff. Went by last week and seems "back to normal". Woudl recommend checking it out again. |
Actually, according to what I understand, the real problem was no cash...i.e. no money to pay the suppliers or the staff. The other stories about various training issues or government issues were just cover stories or convenient coincidences.
That's why they had such a huge turnover, got shut out of Brilliance Mall for a week or so for not paying rent (later reopened and then again closed permanently), and also lost several key food suppliers (notice that the Tabasco disappeared from most of the tables).
I personally witnessed suppliers in the Jing An store throwing a hissy fit trying to get paid. Also I know that many staff members were not paid their salary for several months. Some filed a complaint with the labor bureau while others waited to see what they could get. Not sure what happened in the end though.
Anyways, I stuck with them and went back over and over again despite all of the issues and also a clear drop in the quality of the food. Service was never very good, but somehow it managed to get worse. Finally, I said enough is enough and marked them permanently off my list. I feel bad about it since the owner Greg was a nice guy, but there are limits to my appreciation of nice guys. |
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zimbu
Reacher
Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 244
Location: Stop poking my tail with your eye!
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| Posted:
Mar 26, 2008 - 02:30 PM |
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| kumlong wrote: |
| i assume zimbu doesnt read any chinese |
为什么你这么想？ |
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kumlong
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Mar 26, 2008 - 02:37 PM |
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there are so many nice chinese restaurants in shanghai and u have to visit those restaurants that u mention. most of them are western menu that we would never really want to eat in |
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8lrr8
Wonder Wit
Joined: Oct 14, 2004
Posts: 3720
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Mar 26, 2008 - 02:42 PM |
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| zimbu wrote: |
| Actually, according to what I understand, the real problem was no cash...i.e. no money to pay the suppliers or the staff. The other stories about various training issues or government issues were just cover stories or convenient coincidences. |
wow, business that bad at the various moon river (except for possibly, their hongqiao branch) locations? what's the reason? |
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kumlong
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Mar 26, 2008 - 02:44 PM |
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boredengineer
SuperStar
Joined: Oct 17, 2007
Posts: 1344
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted:
Mar 26, 2008 - 02:45 PM |
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| kumlong wrote: |
| there are so many nice chinese restaurants in shanghai and u have to visit those restaurants that u mention. most of them are western menu that we would never really want to eat in |
Different people have different tastes. |
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boredengineer
SuperStar
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Posts: 1344
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Mar 26, 2008 - 02:47 PM |
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BTW, did u mean the "New York Style Pizza"? I always enjoyed having a slice there (only been to the Jing An location). |
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zimbu
Reacher
Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 244
Location: Stop poking my tail with your eye!
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Mar 26, 2008 - 02:54 PM |
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Nice Chinese restaurants? In my view, Chinese food is based on 5000 years of being dirt poor. Hence the shear delight of knawing on bones and sinew and tendons and big chunks of lardy fat...all of which should best be tossed in the garbage. For poor people in earlier times, this was a great feeling as it meant you could literally live for another week or so. For me, it is just gross.
Also the lack of any interesting spice in Chinese food really bores me to death. How many dishes are cooked with soy sauce and oyster sauce? ZZzzzzzzzzzzz....sorry, I dozed off just thinking about it. Give me some Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican, Indonesian, Philipine food any day of the week!
Also the wonderful fixation that Chinese cooks have with sauce thickeners really puts me off lots of their food. Again, this is the brainwashing from 5000 years of being poor...in the old days, thick sauce was rare and meant that there were really some bones or oil in the soup...i.e. a real luxury for starving people. Nowadays it is simulated with tons of starch, making the soup or sauce a disgusting thick, gelatinous glop...something out of one of the Alien movies is about right. In fact, I think I read somewhere that the special effects team from Alien 3 used Chinese food and sauces for most of the especially gross "alien pops out of someone's gut" scenes....I may be mistaken though.
Before everyone jumps in and yells at me, please think deeply about whether you yourself have been brainwashed by years of upbringing in a Chinese household. If you have been brainwashed successfully, you would never actually know it. In fact, you would deny that you are brainwashed and defend the quality/taste/texture of Chinese food to the death....hmmmm...I guess that proves it. You're brainwashed.
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zimbu
Reacher
Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 244
Location: Stop poking my tail with your eye!
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| Posted:
Mar 26, 2008 - 02:56 PM |
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| 8lrr8 wrote: |
| zimbu wrote: |
| Actually, according to what I understand, the real problem was no cash...i.e. no money to pay the suppliers or the staff. The other stories about various training issues or government issues were just cover stories or convenient coincidences. |
wow, business that bad at the various moon river (except for possibly, their hongqiao branch) locations? what's the reason? |
Expanded too fast. Those restaurant build-outs sucked up a ton of cash...and then when the customers did not pour in the front door...Presto! Cash flow problem. |
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kumlong
PopStar
Joined: Oct 18, 2007
Posts: 999
Location: puxi
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Mar 26, 2008 - 02:58 PM |
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why dont you just try those restaurants that i recommended. go with a open mind. i think they are not too bad.
also why are u in china if u hate the food so much? a bit strange for you to avoid eating chinese food if u are in china |
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zimbu
Reacher
Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 244
Location: Stop poking my tail with your eye!
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Mar 26, 2008 - 03:01 PM |
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| szwliew wrote: |
| BTW, did u mean the "New York Style Pizza"? I always enjoyed having a slice there (only been to the Jing An location). |
New York Style Pizza...Yeah, that's the one. The owner is "easy on the eyes" and seems to be at the Jing An outlet often. But the staff is untrained and the kitchen is really dirty. One time I saw them bringing in supplies threw the front door (I guess they don't have a back door) and the chef came out of the kitchen with a half-burned cigarette dangling from his mouth and proceeded to literally kick boxes of food supplies into the front door. His white outfit appeared the have been permanently dyed gray. Some other fellow smoker then manhandled the boxes up the stairs in a less kickish fashion.
The next pizza out of the kitchen probably had that nice authentic New York bus terminal smell of cigarettes and sweat....uhhh...no thanks. |
Last edited by zimbu on Apr 08, 2008 - 02:15 PM; edited 1 time in total |
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zimbu
Reacher
Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 244
Location: Stop poking my tail with your eye!
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| Posted:
Mar 26, 2008 - 03:03 PM |
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| kumlong wrote: |
why dont you just try those restaurants that i recommended. go with a open mind. i think they are not too bad.
also why are u in china if u hate the food so much? a bit strange for you to avoid eating chinese food if u are in china |
I come to China because this is where I work. I don't need to like the food or the local restaurants.
By the way, I have taken many Chinese guests to visit the USA and they literally piss on the western food there after about 3 days. |
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