maybe i should stop eating. but with new restaurants and new eating experiences popping up all over shanghai weekly, it’s difficult not to get on that new restaurant trying out habit.
so when i heard that shanghai serial restauranteur eduardo vargas had opened up bistro burger, it wasn’t too long before i was able to talk some friends into heading over and trying it out.
located on changle lu near what is turning into the new gourmet ghetto or at least nice casual dining ghetto (with cantina agave, bao luo and tsui wah all nearby) bistro burger is centrally located and was a great spot for dinner after drinks at belgian beer bar kai ba.
resembling an upscale american bar attached to a steakhouse (our dining companion said “i feel like i’m in chicago right now), the restaurant was nicely comfortable and plastered with those photos that you can buy on taikang lu of shanghai. personally i would like the photos a lot more if presented in a vacuum, but the fact that they’re available in about 40% of the shops on taikang lu makes me like them less.
we all opted for various burgers – but the sides! they have fried pickles! and tater tots! and the shanghaiist recommended chili cheese fries. fried pickles were served (properly) with ranch. everything was well executed, but to be frank, none of the sides were amazing. still, i see myself downing a few more servings of tater tots before the year is over.
so what about the burger? well, i can’t really objectively say if i like american beef more than australian beef because american beef is better. whether it is in someway better is for someone else to figure out, but i know i liked the beef here (and it’s 100% usda american – i don’t remember if it was prime or choice or select, but usda for sure) a LOT better than any other burger i’ve had around town – and i’m a huge fan of kelley’s burger at boxing cat brewery, as well as will’s burger’s at gourmet cafe – not even mentioning the burgers at beijing’s let’s burger. i dunno, maybe it’s because i grew up eating american beef, but right now, i have the give the title of best burger in china to the ones at bistro burger.
i would’ve taken a photo of the burger before hand, but i was just too hungry.
i know that’s a strong statement, but it was a tasty tasty hamburger, and i have yet another way to add to my triglyceride count.
bistro burger
291 fumin road near changle road
(actually the the restaurant is located on changle road – about 30 meters east of the fumin/changle intersection)
burgers: 65 rmb
sides: 20-30 rmb
free milkshakes if you go before october 31 (with the purchase of a burger)
Have you got high triglycerides too? cool! we should start some like, club, or something, we could meet at Starbucks every week!
I’m not sure Starbucks is the right place for us with poor diets.
Dairy Queen then?
MILK SHAKES. I just had a really good milkshake at New York Style pizza at Taikang Lu today.. mmm delish. The cheapo asian in me is definitely stopping by this joint asap to enjoy a free milkshake haha!
PS. Went to hof yesterday too, thanks for the rec!
@dingle – Maybe Yang’s Fried Dumplings. It’s Chinese food. Chinese food is healthy, right?
@Jill – I don’t know that Bistro Burger (or any of Vargas’ restaurants to be sure) would be good for the cheap Asian crowd. Also a word of warning – the three of us had very different reactions to the milkshake. I thought it tasted like a malted. A mediocre malted. Kyle thought it was fine. Andrew thought it tasted like a urinal cake. So, your milage may vary.
Still cant find a decent milk shake in shanghai.
Its been my quest since I got here…
and the holy grail eludes me…
thanks for the email regarding my ICS post…
and GO BEARS! Stanfurd Sucks
JS – Try Faith’s Diner out on Hongmei Lu Pedestrian Street OR Munchies on Wuding Lu (the peanut butter/chocolate milkshake is phenomenal)