Midterm season is upon me, and my hunt for the perfect café is on. Luckily, Shanghai seems to have been influenced heavily by its French colonizers, and has a bustling café culture. There are cafés everywhere, not just downtown in the European Quarters. Interestingly, a lot of these cafes try to mimic European style cafes, with croissants and cheesecake.
But, instead of like other “Western” restaurants that try to serve Italian or French food, the baked goods in the cafés are absolutely delicious. Shanghai has absolutely amazing cheesecake, it’s light and fluffier than the cheesecake found in the States. However, all of these cafes have a great Chinese twist, they sell intricate teas that cannot be found anywhere else on the planet. A big trend in China now is fruit teas, teas that are made from a mix of dried fruit and flowers. They are served in clear pots, and are not only sweet and wonderful tasting, but also look fascinating.
Because midterms at Fudan University are a lot like finals at GW (where everything is in one week), I have recently spent a lot of time in cafés. Here are a few of my favorite:
Pain Chaud. Pain Chaud is interesting because it’s part of a restaurant complex that includes a bar and an Italian restaurant. Despite the fact that was created specifically to target international students at Fudan, the café has really great croissants. It’s also located in the middle of a street that I would call “old China”, where trash, peddlars, dust and crumbling buildings dominate. So, this café is an interesting mix, but close to my apartment and a good place to work with good pastry and free lemon water.
Momi. Momi is a Japanese café located on a beautifully decorated road called Daxue road. Momi is a super cool little joint, it has a bookstore on the 1st floor that sells cute little trinkets, pens, notebooks, journals, and postcards and a café on the 2cd floor. As in all Japanese zen style, the furniture is light and there are tables close to the floor where you sit only on pillows. It’s a great relaxing environment, especially at night, for the super stressed student.
Kanes. Kanes is the most interesting mix of a café I have ever been to. First, the food sucks and is overpriced. Second, the tea is traditional Chinese tea and is amazing. Third, they sell Baskin Robins. Fourth, it is decorated like an Italian palace, with a high ceiling, golden colors, large paintings, and low lighting. It seems the owners of this café got the ambiance right, without getting the food right.
The only problem with Shanghai’s cafés is, like the rest of China, there are too many people, especially on the weekend. Hanging out in a café with family or friends for a couple hours to eat dessert and drink tea is a popular activity here on the weekends, and if you get to most cafés after lunch, you won’t be able to find anywhere to sit. People also take their wedding photos at cafés. Every time I’m at Momi on a Sunday, there is a couple doing their wedding shoot downstairs in the bookstore.
Ultimately, the café culture in Shanghai is really a true symbol of the internationalization of the city. There are Chinese tea houses, Japanese cafes, French bakeries, all sorts of atmospheres from all over the world.