#danielaeats: japanese in shanghai

I know, not another Jap experience. But this I have to share because it's one of my most favourite Jap experiences to date! Surprisingly, it was in Shangai, China. On the night of our last shoot day, our Chinese friend Ted wanted to treat us out to a good dinner. My friends and I were craving Jap so he took us to the best Jap place he knew in Shanghai. It turned out to be closed by the time we got there, so instead he took us to another one, outside of the mall in a more hidden, unexpected place. 

Truth is, I don't know the name of the place, and of several other places I went to in Shanghai because everything was in Chinese and barely anyone spoke English (really, I don't know how we would've survived without Ted). It was a bit hard going around without having prepared translated words in Chinese characters on our phones so that we could simply show it to people and they would lead us the right away.

This second place, according to Ted, was "not as good" as the first one we were suppose to eat in, but still was good Jap. It looked like a sports bar turned Japanese resto because of all the Japanese signs and lantern designs. People there were mostly having drinks and watching The Beatles being projected on a white screen.

Grilled Brie cheese. SINFUL. We had two orders of this because it was freakin amazing! The star of our meal.

Ted did the honour of ordering. He requested for some of his favourite dishes in that restaurant, and soon enough it became our favourites too. We had extra orders of fresh Salmon Sashimi, Gyoza, some soup, different meats on sticks, vegetables, and a few other Japanese dishes that we've never tried before. We were even served some cocktails which we all shared just to get a taste. Interesting flavours, some fruity with a bit of alcohol. But I still got my Yamazaki.

And we were happily stuffed. Extra stuffed because the meal was a heavy one with all that cheese and mashed potato. It was all too good that we made sure to have a bite of everything we were served. The fish was fresh and came in big slices, the meat was perfectly cooked and seasoned just right so as not to overpower any of the other dishes, and the serving sizes were good for sharing. The winner of that meal though was the grilled Brie cheese on a stick. It was so sinful yet so delicious, with the natural goodness of Brie cheese, slightly warmed on the grill leaving hints of flavour from it. YUMMY. To think this wasn't the best Jap restaurant made me extra curious about the restaurant we were really suppose to eat in!

I have yet to try real authentic Japanese food from Japan, but I have to say this is one of the best Jap experiences I've had (except of course for that Matsusaka beef from Mecha Uma, that one's incomparable). This August I'll be heading there actually, and i'm finally going to get a taste of legit Jap food from Japanese heaven!

Until next time #danielaeats!