Steve and I took advantage of the amazing international city we called home through our once-a-week date nights! Every Wednesday was devoted to exploring a new twist or turn of the city, which usually included some sort of edible treat or meal :). The only rules to our date nights were that we alternated which one of us planned it, and we weren't allowed to "talk shop," (although that sometimes happened anyway...the side effects of co-leading a ministry :). We found that even though our explorations took us deep into the city and didn't return us home until sometimes quite late on a school night, we were often much more refreshed and energized coming back on the subway than we were on our way there.
To give you a glimpse into what Shanghai has to offer (or, better yet, to give you a list of places to go when you are there), here is a small compilation of our date nights.
To give you a glimpse into what Shanghai has to offer (or, better yet, to give you a list of places to go when you are there), here is a small compilation of our date nights.
Xi Bei Restaurant
The Xi Bei restaurant is actually one of the only dates we had in PuDong...but the food is so distinct and amazing that we had to sacrifice one night of explorations in the city to go there. "Xi" means "west," and "bei" means "north," which means that we were eating the delicious bread and honey, yogurt, and spicy hand-pulled pasta of Northwestern Chinese cuisine. Most people go to Xi Bei for their amazing pork, which we didn't partake in, so if we ever visit Shanghai again, we would definitely go hit up this restaurant again!
The Brew
The Brew is in Kerry Parkside, which is also in PuDong. We like the Brew because we like their cider :) (and pizza, Steve would like to add)
221B Baker Street
The Sherlock Holmes cafe was one of our FAVORITE date nights so far. As major fans of the Holmes stories, we absolutely enjoyed visiting this Holmy cafe :) Steve and I have been reading the Complete Novels and Stories of Sherlock Holmes this year, as well as enjoying the BBC Sherlock show, so this little gem was definitely appreciated by us :)
Whisk
Whisk is a famous dessert place in Puxi. It's known for it's chocolate treats, but, Steve being Steve, we were able to discover another amazing item on the menu: grilled vegetable pizza! I recommend the Upside Down thing and the Mexican Hot Chocolate :
Magnum Bar Bar
Classic date night! Dinner and a movie, AND a surprise Magnum Bar Bar! We went out to Xintiandi, which is a neighborhood with old Chinese architecture that has been transformed into more of a modern, European feel. We were thrilled to see that a Magnum ice cream bar had been set up in the courtyard, so we decided to have a little dessert before dinner :) BEST DECISION EVER! Maybe best ice cream bar ever as well! We were able to choose our toppings, choose which chocolate our ice cream was dipped in, and we even were able to choose a second chocolate drizzle on top. Amazing.
Afterwards we had some yummy Italian food and saw The Amazing Spiderman 2, such a fun date!
House of Roosevelt
We went to the House of Roosevelt for Steve's birthday date, and we went there in style! I had Uber taxi service come pick us up and drive us to the Bund, where we went to Wednesday Winesday. We did some wine tasting in the giant cellar, and then headed up to the roof to split a dinner as the sun set and the city lights over the river turned on. It was quite fancy and fun!
The Teddy Bear Restaurant
From Teddy Roosevelt to Teddy Bears! Steve took me to my favorite place in Shanghai: the alleyways of Tianzifeng! We love exploring all the trinket shops and photo galleries...not to mention all the quirky little restuarants! The Teddy Bear Restaurant serves Thai food, which, we discovered, is Thai/Chinese, (aka NOT authentic). The fun teddy bear atmosphere made up for it though, as did the TCBY and pineapple cakes we stumbled upon afterwards on the way back to the subway :)
Tock's
New York-style pastrami sandwhiches + a walk along the river to the Bund Bull, a little taste of NYC :)
Superbrand and Spoutworks
And now one of our favorite things to do: head down to Lujiazui for Sproutworks and a movie at Superbrand mall! There were much closer movie theaters to us, but we always tried to get our film fix downtown, since it made us feel like we were really living in Shanghai. The IMAX theater was also a bonus! Sproutworks is one of our favorite non-Chinese restaurants in Shanghai....delicious helpings of yummy, healthy, ethnic-y food, and paninis!