my latest shanghai tips
 

Hello, all. Once again, I'm spending the majority of my time in SH (lots of work in Zhejiang and Jiangsu). Although, I still think Beijing is a better place on the whole, I can't deny that this city has its merrits. With that, I'd like to offer my latest take on the place.

First of all, even if you are only here for a few days, it might make sense to invest y300 in an Enjoy Shanghai card, simply because it works most (that's right "most") of the restaurants and bars that you'll end up going.

For example, last night we had planned dinner at De Marco and drinks at Mesa Manifesto. Prior to heading out, I broke out my book and discovered that there were coupons for a free bottle of wine up to y200 at De Marco and 50% off at Mesa. Since our party at Mesa consisted of 25 people, our bill came to y3000 less 50%. So our net savings on the night was y1700 (we would have bought a bottle of wine at De Marco anyway). Aside from those two places, the card has some really cool benefits, such as a free drink every time you walk into Rouge. If any of you don't want your books after you leave town, PM me and I'll buy them from you.

Second, one of my friends has been raving about the Martini Happy Hour at the JW for some time now. I never before took him too seriously because I thought the idea of free flowing martinis between 5:30 and 7:30 was a bad one. But, we tried it tonight and I have to say it was a worth while experience.

Third, we've been hosting an HK restauranteer that is looking to open a bistro in SH and have taken him around to as many high-end places as we could fit in his schedule and ordered a boat-load of stuff. His conclusion was that all (Jean Gorges, T8, Shikumen Bistro, Laris, Shintori, etc) were a big waste of money. He was impressed by De Marco because of its insanely low price point, but also called them out for using Chinese beef (understandable) and instant pudding. My take away from his visit was to avoid those fancy places whenever possible.

Lastly, I went shopping today and have to say that the center of town (walk down Donghu Lu and head east on Changle Lu or else head south on Shanxi Lu) is as good as ever. I picked up a bunch of (presumably fake, but high quality) Paul Smith shirts at my favorite shirt store and discovered a lot of boutiques that sell stuff that I couldn't get anywhere else (including a T-shirt store on Changle Lu west of Chengdu Lu that sold some really original stuff).

Thanks, gonna be there for a few nights in about 3-4 weeks. Where do you get this "Enjoy Shanghai" card, can I buy it at the Hyatt (where I'll be staying again)? How long is it valid for?

TMK, you can buy it most places that accept it and they also have a web site. It expires next April and I assume the price will drop at the 6-month mark and probably again at the 9-month mark.

Also, I have a "Club at the Hyatt" card, which locks in half price meals for parties of 2 (1, 3, and 4 don't work out quite as well) that I'd be happy to lend to you or anyone else. Unlike the Enjoy Shanghai card, it is not cheap, so I can't recommend it here, but I do have one that I don't use fully (I think the restaurants in the Beijing Hyatt are sub-par, even at half price). PM me if you want it.

PS -- Upon further thinking, the Hyatt card may warrant the investment if you actually want to stay there because it includes one or two free nights. The Portman also offers the same deal.

We had a pretty good meal in the modern/Peking duck Chinese restaurant on the lobby floor at the Beijing GH last time, but maybe it was because the RC hostess booked us into a private room and got the charge waived as a kind of guilt offering for earlier mistreatment.

Other than that dinner, I tend not to eat at the Hyatts in China even if I am staying there -- except for chowing down for free in the Regency Club!

My best discovery near the Beijing GH is the moderately priced 24/7 Hong-Kong style restaurant "Be There Or Be Square" in the basement of the shopping center. Decent food and always open. Stupid name, though.

In my experience De Marco's really depends on which one you go to and if "he" (I am assuming De Marco) is there. I've had some good and some bad experiences.

The cards at the Hyatt and the Portman are great deals for anyone spending a fair amount of time in town and needing to entertain at upscale hotel restaurants. It also used to help with getting tables at the club on top of the Hyatt which I understand is probably not so hard to do anymore.... The card at the Hilton though is not a good deal IMO.

In general I've been happy with the food at the GH in Shanghai, with a couple notable exceptions.

That would be Bu Jian Bu San. Name is not so stupid if you spoke Mandarin...

moondog, how much does this Hyatt card cost and where do you get it? It's good nationwide? china only or including HKG?

i am heading there on Sat so would also be interested in this card. Cheers,

Fduvall

You can get the Hyatt Club Card either in HKG or in Taiwan or just in China. I've got mine in Beijing and they charged me CNY 1600. But at the same time they gave me a bunch of vouchers which were worth definately more than CNY 1600, like 2x CNY 500 food voucher, red wine voucher, free room upgrades for weekends etc.

For my understanding it's a big difference where you apply for the card. Like in Shanghai they just simply offer you 2x CNY 500 vouchers valid for most of the restaurant at GH Shanghai and 5x CNY 100 vouchers for some bars they have. So it's not really that easy to figure out which GH is offering what kind of benefits unless you ask them all directly.

Personally I think this card is a big benefit if you often enjoy a meal of 2 person. The system works like this: regardless how many ppl are sitting on the table, one gets a free meal, but beverages will never get discounted.

The GH in Shanghai used to offer multiple levels (and may still do). I think there was one for around 3,000 RMB that included comp nights in suites at the Shanghai GH, Beijing GH, the Xian Hyatt and I think one other one. We also got passes for the spa and a bunch of certificates for their bars which were only good Sun-Thur. I believe the card does get cover charges waved though.

To confirm bchl, the math of the discount is basically discount equals 1/n where n is the number of diners. And does NOT apply to beverage or service fee.
1 diner – 10%
2 diners- 50%
3 diners – 33%
4 diners – 25%
5 diners – 20%
6 to 50 diners – 15%

The Taiwan Hyatt has some info on their home page about all of the benefits: http://taipei.grand.hyatt.com.tw/taigh_zht/club.html

The Portman card was a bit more expensive but included free nights on the exec floor with the discount on dining being nearly the same and I think there were some complimentary high teas thrown in as well. Personally I prefer the restaurants at the Portman anyway – and I don’t have to cross over into Pudong.....

There is one reason the Portman card is superior as far as I'm concerned: BRUNCH. Sure, I might have gotten food poisoning from their oysters earlier this year (to their credit, they paid for my medical bills and tossed me some cool perks the next time I dined there), but it's still the best brunch in town and one of the best in the world.

i wasn't sure from your post whether you wanted to buy my hyatt card or simply get an enjoy card. if the former, pm me and i will try to kuaidi it over there.

Moondog - I will be at a conference at the Pudong Shangri-la, so probably no use for the Hyatt card this time...thanks for the offer, though.

I probably should buy the Enjoy Shanghai card.

fduvall

And to add more thoughts:

-As recently as last year, I recommended That's Shanghai as a source for info and useful articles. Now, with the ownership shake-up, I am forced to completely withdraw that rec, as a matter of pride. Many, if not most, of the articles are written by people that prefer to talk about themselves rather than offer useful info. FWIW, That's Beijing -- the only That's publication that survived last year's scandal in tact -- is still pretty solid. Stick with City Weekend for Shanghai advice.

-I've really been milking my Enjoy card as of late. Sure, it points me towards restaurants I wouldn't otherwise know about, but I've discovered some great places as a result and have saved a ton of money (much more that the Hyatt card, which cost 10x).

-We went to Laris again on Friday night, spent y1000 per person, and still walked away hungry. If you're going to spend that kind of cash, go to Suntory. Edited to add: I shouldn't plug Suntory too hard, even if it's in an FTer's building. I usually only go there for lunch. The best Japanese in town is the place in the Ruijin office building. It's also not cheap.

-The new Baby Face is good (I make this rec with reluctance because of the crappy service).

-VIP is always packed, but don't plan on conversing at all if you go there. Incredibly loud music pervades.

-Lux, the new addition to Park 97, is tacky.

-Don't stay near the Bund unless you're Starwood obsessed. There is so much more to see/do elsewhere.

Restaurant Recomendations?
 

I'm heading back to Shanghai next week and I'm looking for restaurant recomendations.

Have any recommendations that will fall in the 150-250RMB range per person?

Only three come to mind off the top of my head (of course, there are many, many more):

Azul
Bali Laguna
Sasha's

You might want to look at this old thread to help shape your thinking:
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthrea...ai+restaurants

And here's a link to the Enjoy web site:
http://www.enjoyshanghai.com/default_2005.asp

If you sort by "dining" in the menu on the right side of the page, you can check out the coupon offers by clicking on the restaurant names.

I'll be there all next week myself (arriving Sunday afternoon from ICN) so drop me a line if you want to hook up.