No Frills, All Flavour: 7 Laid-Back Eateries We Love

Although fine dining will always have an audience in Shanghai, lately, the focus in F&B has shifted towards high-quality, creative, and casual experiences.

Forsaking formality and prioritising personality, quirky venues with strong culinary identities are thriving.

JINGAN DISTRICT

01 Limo Limo

📍 328 Huashan Road, Jing’an

🕚 Tue - Sun, 11 AM – 9 PM

After growing up together in Italy, three childhood friends returned to China, driven by a longing to reconnect with their Wenzhou roots.

The trio have opened their first restaurant together specialising in what they know best: traditional handmade pasta.

Limo Limo stays true to authentic Italian culinary traditions, making fresh handmade pasta daily. The pasta selection includes conchiglie (shaped like seashells), gigli (shaped like lillies), tagliatelle (thin ribbons), and pappardelle (wide ribbons).

All sauces, from the tomato basil sauce to the more laborious ragù spun from meat and tomatoes, are made from scratch, ensuring that each dish harbours pure, high-quality flavours.

You can also purchase fresh handmade pasta and the restaurant’s homemade sauces for convenient meals at home.

Although new, Limo Limo already feels like a cosy, neighborhood haunt with its fresh, minimalist décor, open kitchen, and laid-back, self-service model.

At this casual, carefree eatery, customers choose their seats, pick their pastas at the counter, and pile their metal trays high with eats and sips.

02 Bizy Boy

📍 Building 10, 546 Yuyuan Road, Jing’an

🕚 Mon - Sun, 11 AM - 4 PM

A self-fulfilling prophecy of a name, Bizy Boy by renowned bakery Basdban and chef Jeremy (of Mavis and Netta fame) has been packed to the brim since opening.

Walking in almost guarantees chance encounters with food bloggers and influencers.

Like Basdban, the restaurant’s design is ‘industrial chic’ with playful pops of colour. The casual dining spot focuses on simple but standout pastas and sandwiches. Speaking of...

More ‘loaded’ than Scrooge McDuck, the most popular sandwich here has fillings that practically spill out onto your plate.

We’re talking about the pastrami with juicy beef brisket and crisp sauerkraut — both homemade. Melted cheese completes the experience. If you’re craving this one, make sure to arrive early, as it tends to sell out quickly.

ORDER THIS:

🥪 Pastrami sandwich

🥪 Eggplant schnitzel and hummus sandwich

🍝 Spicy pan-seared scallops pasta

03 Table a Deli

📍L1-04, Building 4, Inner Street, PAC Shopping Center, Jing’an

🕚 Tue - Sun, 6 - 10 PM

A bakery that contributed to the ciabatta craze in Shanghai, Bake No Title has opened a sister store named Table a Deli in the trendy PAC Shopping Mall.

Roomier than it seems from the outside, this eatery abides by Scandinavian-inspired minimalism, and boasts a relaxed and comfortable dining atmosphere.

Much like the pastrami sandwich at Bizy Boy, the Brunost or Norwegian brown cheese on sourdough has become the unofficial signature of Table a Deli. Giving off a distinct sheep’s milk aroma, the caramelised brown cheese lightly melts into the bread while holding its own.

But Table a deli isn’t just about baked goods; in the evening, it transforms into a cosy bistro offering Italian-French country-style dishes. Spun using fresh seasonal ingredients, the rustic dishes go well with the restaurant’s curated selection of wines.

ORDER THIS:

🥘 Charcoal-grilled seafood risotto

🍗 Lemon butter chicken

🦐 Roasted Arctic sweet shrimp

04 Waro Rowa

📍 Room 102, Building 4, 457 Shaanxi North Road, Jing’an

🕚 Tue - Sun, 11:30 AM – 3 PM | 5:30 – 8:30 PM

Waro Rowa knows how to sauce like a boss (say it with sass).

Housed within the the former residence of Ho Tung, Hong Kong’s richest man in the 1920s, this self-described “gourmet meat sauce kitchen” can be found right next door to Zup Pizza Bar on Shaanxi North Road.

Containing a 50-50 blend of Australian Wagyu and Angus beef, the lip-smacking signature ‘sauce’ (or stew?) is served with your choice of buckwheat noodles or rice — you can’t go wrong either way.

There’s also a Guizhou ‘hot pot’ chock full of pickled cabbage and that good gut bacteria.

The cherry on top of the sundae here are the dollops of homemade sour cream, so you get tanginess as well as richness.

ORDER THIS:

🍛 Signature Angus beef meat sauce

🥘 Guizhou sour tomato

🌈 Meat sauce platter (four in one!)

HUANGPU DISTRICT

05 Pho Vie Thin

📍 120 Jinxian Road, Huangpu

🕚 Fri + Sat, 10:30 AM - 11:30 PM | Sun - Thu, 10:30 AM - 10:30 PM

Vietnamese pho is a religion in its own right, but not every fan is aware that there are two main styles:

Southern pho (served in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh) is typically served with a variety of vegetables and herbs, including Thai basil, bean sprouts, cilantro, and green onions, and has a rich and slightly sweet broth.

On the other hand, Northern pho (hailing from Hanoi) comes in clear, layered broth served with spring onions and lime. Adding a splash of vinegar is not a crime, and pairing your bowl with youtiao or fried dough sticks is even encouraged.

Founded by Nguyen Trong Thin in 1979, Pho Thin 13 Lo Duc is a well-known pho specialist in Hanoi, Northern Vietnam. For 45 years, the eatery has focused on a single dish: beef pho.

Upholding high standards of quality, Pho Thin has expanded internationally, opening branches in Tokyo, Bali, and Melbourne. Interestingly, the first branch in Shanghai or China for that matter operates under a slightly different name: Pho Vie Thin.

Two types of bones — beef and pork — as well as vegetables and spices are simmered over a low heat for 18 hours every day, resulting in a rich, amber-coloured broth.

Furthermore, the fresh beef is not simply boiled, but stir-fried in a hot pan prior so it gets a nice sear.

There is only one dish here, but you can opt to add a soft-boiled egg — and fried dough sticks for textural contrast.

ORDER THIS:

🍜 Beef pho

06 Jellooo

📍 Xintiandi, 19, Lane 181, Taicang Road, Huangpu

🕚 Mon - Sun, 11 AM - 11 PM