Paul Patisserie, Shanghai

The hired driver insisted on dropping us off at 新天地 even though we told him that we were there the day before! Oh well, so here we are again in 新天地 2 days in a row!

As it was tea time, I was tempted to try out Paul Patisserie. They decor looks charming and the cakes looked delicious and I hope it taste as good as it looks!

Oops, but again I was disappointed. The coffee was "ok", we just need the caffeine kick.

I ordered the Giant Chocolate Macaron and learnt a valuable lesson - never buy a GIANT macaron unless you know it taste damn good! It's a waste of calories on a stale, chewy thing that is posing as a macaron?!

I also ordered the Mille Feuille and it was again "ok lah".

Nothing mind blowing in this Patisserie, but it's a good place to see and be seen. We saw a couple who looked like Beck and Posh, and the lady was carrying a chihuhua a la Paris Hilton! If the lady had been stick thin, I would have sworn that she IS Posh herself! But I guess Posh will not go to a Patisserie and risk ruining her diet!

Xing Tian Di (新天地）

新天地 is the most over-rated place in Shanghai, but I was there every day during my short trip there. I guess it's the touristy kind of thing to do to go to 新天地 and have over-priced dinners there, buy over-priced tea leaves, and also wasted calories on over-priced pastries! Ha!

Fountain looked interesting as we were walking around searching for a nice place to have dinner and we settled ourselves in the al fresco section. And then I spotted "Singapore Laksa" on the menu! Something tells me that this is a Singaporean owned establishment - and I'm right. I'm sitting in one of Justin Quek's restaurant.

Not too excited about being in a Singapore "related" place while overseas, but I decided that I should be open and might just be pleasantly delighted.

I have a craving for beef, as I realised that it is virtually impossible to find beef on the menu of restaurants in China. So the Sirloin Steak was calling out to me from the menu. But despite paying > RMB400 for the steak, I think I can get better ones at Jack's Place for SGD30.

The beef is tough and a bit overdone, although the jus is nice and savoury, just how I like it. The fries are quite good, but I'm not a fan of fat fries - give me McDonald's skinnies anytime! :) I just don't think this beef is worth it's price!

We ordered a serve of the Clam Chowder as it was a chilly night and I wanted something hot and soupy. It was decent chowder and does not taste like canned soup. J wiped out the soup plus every bit of the bread bowl! He's a hungry man!

I decided to order a glass of Greenpoint NV Sparkling Wine. I had this in Preggo's the week before and it's quite delicious! I like the sweetness of the wine without it being too tart like most white wines are, and the bubbles helped to add a bit of glamorous for the night.

The highlight of the meal is the Mussels in White Wine Sauce. But I didn't get to take a pic of it because it was really dark by the time it arrived, and I couldn't take decent pics of it, and also one taste of the white wine sauce got me hooked and I just didn't bother with any photography! :)

The soup is so buttery and creamy and laced with white wine - it is like nothing I've tasted before. Is this how the white wine is supposed to taste like?

Yes, if I dare to say this....it is better than the mussels I had in Brussels Sprouts! Ooops....no offense to the Stroobant empire - I still support my favourite Belgian chef! :)

After this dinner, I went back to the hotel and did some research on Justin Quek's restaurants in Shanghai and learnt that he has a few more. But after the one hit and some misses in Fountain, I'm in no hurry to go and try his other restaurants within the vicinity of 新天地。

Zhou Zhuang (周庄）

Note: This event took place in May....yes, I know I'm way behind in my posts! Anyway, hope you still enjoy it!

周庄 is the highlight of my trip to Shanghai! The "Venice of the East" did not fail to deliver you with magnificent scenery and good food, although I just happened to stumble upon this water village while surfing the Internet.

It was a 1.5hours drive to the village outside Shanghai, and I slept through most of the way although I tried very hard to keep awake and take in the scenery :P

Here we are at 周庄! We hired a tricycle to go around town as it is apparently HUGE! I thought I could just walk around town!

This was where Tom Cruise filmed one of his Mission Impossible series, but I could not remember which one. It has one scene where he jumped from bridge to bridge, and these are the bridges along the river.

The tourists get around in boats, but the locals just walk!

I like the patterned cobblestone walkway....so charming! We had a delicious meal in one of the restaurant village. And the place is sooo clean, you could probably eat off it's floor! I'm so glad to be able to find a clean toilet in the village...ha!

Shrink wrapped cutlery! I like! I think this is a good idea, although may not be the most environmentally friendly?

The pig trotters is the signature dish here, and we just had to order it! And it was deliciously tender, juicy, moist, savoury, yums!

J ordered the fish, which I practically did not touch...cos it's full of tiny bones! Not going to risk getting a fish bone stuck in my throat on a holiday! And my "hero" actually polished off the whole fish himself!

The obligatory plate of greens. It was very salty as with all foods in China, but this one has added protein in the form of worms....which I didn't see until we nearly finish the plate of greens :(

And this bowl of chicken soup is probably the best soup I've ever had...if you can excuse the "goosebump" skin with some feathers still attached too it :( But seriously, the soup is delicious!

There was only another table occupied while we were lunching, and they are a group of Hong Kongers. After their meal, they also praised the chef for the delicious soup. They say you can't find this anywhere in Hong Kong, maybe because the chicken is really fresh. Yeah, it's probably slaughtered just before it's cooked? Oops...

We walked around until late in the afternoon before heading back to Shanghai town, and had the most expensive, but not necessarily the best meal of this holiday!