Food reviews - Shanghai, Uncategorized SHOKA 17 December 2009

Shoka
98 YanPing Lu (???98?)
Jing’an
Shanghai, China
PRICE: ????
RATING:

All concrete and wood accents, Shoka is understated and crisp, yet provides a lovely dining experience. We were there for a team dinner and all of us was impressed with the ambience, considering it was all you can eat and drink. Usually these places are messy and chaotic.. with people shouting away and offering more of a fast-food feel than dining. Shoka is just the opposite – it was quiet and looked like a regular restaurant, to the point where we asked “Is this the all you can eat and drink place? Or a normal restaurant?”.

The only downside was that there was 1 waitress looking after the whole restaurant. WHY??? What fool made that decision?! So obviously she was overworked and it also meant that food wasn’t delivered as quickly as it could’ve been. Perhaps a ploy so that you eat slower and so don’t order so much.. but still a little disappointing since it seemed sneaky. However, it wasn’t like there were huge delays so it wasn’t too bad.

The food MORE than made up for it. It was fantastic. Just like what you would get at a regular restaurant, and a far cry from the usual all-you-can-eat sub-quality food that I’ve had before. The Sashimi….. wow! Smooth and creamy, we ordered plate after plate after plate 😛 Basically every single dish was quality food, and absolutely delicious. The lamb chops were thick chunks and so tasty, the beef was creamy and tender, and the cod fish was cooked to perfection. Loved their crab and cheese and their sushi rolls and chilled soba and… well… EVERYTHING! I couldn’t pick a dish I didn’t like, and was so delighted we could just keep ordering and eating until we were stuffed full.

Their sake was also delicious. Not watered down (like many all-you-can-eat-and-drink places do) and gave a great kick – you choose between chilled or warm bottles. I also like their group tables that had recessed feet areas so it was like you were sitting on the ground. It’s a fantastic place to go with friends and at 188? pp, it’s VERY reasonable.

Shoka’s amazing food alone gets it a full 5 stars. The only reason I dropped it down to 4 stars was because of their lack of service staff to deliver the food quicker.

SAKE!