Yi Ren Guang
Citic Plaza
Nan Jing West Road
Shanghai, China
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I was wandering around Nan Jing West Road.. only window shopping since it’s where all the pricey stuff is. Shanghai is very polarised when it comes to retail goods – it’s either very very cheap, or very very expensive. Western brands, basically, come with a hefty price tag. Brands like Zara and Giordana (ie. low-to-mid end prices in other countries) are extremely expensive in Shanghai. And don’t even get me started on luxury goods…. You think they’re pricey in your country? Try buying them in China. It’s no wonder the Chinese tourists go a little nutty buying luxury goods once they’re overseas 😉 However, the China-made brands are fantastically priced and many are lovely. I’ve already bought a gorgeous red puffy jacket with a faux fur lining in the hood. It’s gorgeous and gets tons of compliments! It was only US$35 – and amazing price since it’s for a thick, well-made jacket and I bought it in a nice shopping mall.

Whilst I was window shopping, I got a craving for Japanese food. Haven’t had it in awhile and was craving for a serious helping of seafood. I found “Yi Ren Guang” – something about a person?? – on one of the top floors at Citic Plaza, which looked very clean and quite fancy, so decided to give it a whirl. I decided to be healthy and order salmon sashimi – a move I patted myself on the back later, because it was fantastic! Smooth, marbled pink slices.. incredibly fresh.. with a creamy rich flavour. Absolutely a star dish, I would go back there again solely for the sashimi!

The shio saba fish was good, but sadly was not outstanding. It had a nice slightly-salty flavour, and the skin was thin and crisp, but the meat itself was a little dry/tough. It wasn’t as absolutely moist and tender as it should have been, which was disappointing as otherwise it was flavoured and cooked so well. I’ve noticed that meat here tends to be drier and tougher in general. I’m not sure if it’s the cooking, or the meat, but in Australia the meat’s always so plump and juicy and… big! Here they scrimp on meat and it’s not as good.

For the price though, I can’t really complain. It was about $17 for the meal and that was in a nice dining restaurant in an expensive area. You’d easily pay twice the price outside of the country, so I’d still rate this place well. But next time, I’m just going to order plates and plates of sushi! 😉

Yi Ren Guang japanese restaurant

Pretty window grills, looking out into the shopping centre

Tidy interior

Hilarious non-matching teapot

Outstanding salmon sashimi!!

Shio saba fish, a very generous portion