Bambino
Chef Lucky Lasagna’s neighborhood trattoria, Bambino, That’s Shanghai 2022 Food & Drink Awards Casual Italian Restaurant of the Year winner, just launched their summer menu and – no shocker here – it’s delizioso.
We’re already cancelling all future dinner plans and moving them straight into the Bambino kitchen.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
Lucky’s larger-than-life personality continues to shine through in every dish he puts on the table, beginning with the Tuna Tonnato (RMB80), thick slabs of marinated and seared high-grade tuna atop a silky veal sauce – brightened by the summery addition of lemon and sour cream.
Capers, panure seasoned bread crumbs, fresh marjoram and basil oil add layers of complexity in both flavor and texture, a major step up from the customary vitello tonnato.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
We suggest scooping up any and all excess veal spread with an order of Lucky’s take on Focaccia (RMB12), served with herbed olive oil for dipping, one that changes daily with his mood.
From peppery rosemary and basil to fiery chilis and pink peppercorns, and – most recently – lemon with sundried tomatoes, we eagerly await the day that he bottles the leftovers to sell so we can take them home.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
A remake of the already beloved Gino Panino (RMB98) – the pride of Italian paninis – sees piquant Nduja sausage topped with cured Coppa ham, rocket, eggplant pickles and stracciatella – pulled shreds of mozzarella soaked in heavy cream – the choicest part of the “Queen of Italian Cheeses.”
But the upgrade comes in the form of pizza bianca bread, as it’s called in Rome. Similar to Florentine schiacciata, it's a thinner focaccia made with potato for added fluff, and malt powder for a shatteringly crisp crust.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
The dish worth rearranging your schedule is the Spaghetti alla Chitarra (RMB88). Elastic, handmade egg and olive oil pasta “alla chitarra” are the base of this dish – a square-shaped noodle made by pressing the pasta dough through a wooden box with metal strings similar in appearance to a guitar, hence the name chitarra, Italian for guitar.
Their expertly authentic shape is only achieved because Lucky’s family shipped the chitarra to him straight from Rome.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
Adorned with aglio e olio-poached prawns – but with butter instead of oil – briny capers, black olives and anchovies, plus a nip of chili and grated lemon skin, the summery parsley sauce brings the whole ambrosial bite together.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
Using Norwegian cod, Chef Lucky dries and salts the fish himself, preserving it so the flesh firms and the flavor intensifies. That cod is then stuffed inside a corrugated coating as the Crocchette (RMB58/2 pieces), liberally dribbled with a lemon pesto mayo and a heap of pickled red onions.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
More cod – this time sous vide and finished in the oven – is presented in the form of the Cod Arrancanato (RMB98), a Christmas dish of cod cooked in crumbs popular in the small Italian town of Basilicalata.
Plump purple and golden raisins are juxtaposed against sundried tomatoes, toasted walnuts, pesto lemon aioli and wilted lemon spinach – a dish that satisfies all five senses and all five tastes.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
Smoked paprika and lemon-marinated sous chicken breast is encased in a parmesan, almond and herb crust as the Chicken Cotoletta (RMB82), served below a fresh herb and green olive salad, finished with a gasp of citrus.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
The textbook Rocco Panna Cotta (RMB72) is all about bulbous scoops of custardy vanilla bean panna cotta sprinkled with crunchy nuts, housemade salted caramel, fresh fruits and a rotating selection of sorbet – a luscious culmination to a foodgasmic meal.
Bambino, 600 Shanxi Bei Lu, by Xinzha Lu 陕西北路600号，近新闸路.
The Cannery
The Cannery celebrated seven years of existence at the end of May, no easy feat with a Shanghai F&B consumer base obsessed with seeking out the newly launched and novel.
Their secret? Keeping it fresh with killer weekly deals; an ever-evolving drinks menu; and downright delicious grub that consistently delivers on all fronts.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
After hearing about their revamped Taco Tuesday menu – courtesy of Chef Andrew Moo (Yaya’s, Le Daily) – we swung through and *spoiler alert* our verdict is muy excellente.
From 5pm until close, all tacos go for just RMB28 a pop, with a roster of margaritas at RMB68-78 a glass – you’d be straight up loco to not take advantage.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
First launched at this year’s Taco Extravaganza, the Teriyaki Hamachi taco showcases a pan-fried chunk of yellowtail marinated in the usual suspects of a tare sauce – mirin, soy, sake, garlic and ginger – stacked on a made in-house tortilla shell.
There’s a shiso, mint and seaweed salad, a sprinkle of ponzu, a shmear of wasabi mayo, and a dusting of furikake seasoning and tenkasu crispies, all plated up with calamansi wedges and pickled ginger.
While this Japan-meets-Mexico flavor combination may clash with the philosophies of many esteemed taco-a-holics, we are all for throwing the rulebook in the trash in exchange for more specials in this same vein.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
Slow-cooked confit duck is the star of the show in the Duck Carnitas, piled high with homemade queso fresco, firepit salsa roja, a zippy salsa verde and a generous toss of cilantro and raw onions.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
Other tried-and-true favorites that have been around for a while (and for good reason) have received a facelift – like the tempura-esque battered Baja Fish taco encased by creamy coleslaw and pico de gallo salsa on a flour tortilla…
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
… and the Smoked Beef Brisket, that requires no introduction – an unfettered meaty matchup of fat ribbon-laced rump nestled inside a homemade masa shell, scattered with slaw, fresh cilantro, and a lashing of hot chili sauce that so pleasingly catches in the pleats of the brisket’s folds.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
A few new tacos are in the works to look forward to into summer – think stewed beef tripe, soft-shell crab and roasted cauliflower.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
And because no good Taco Tuesday exists without a margarita in hand, The Cannery offers six – from the wood-smoked Jerome’s Smokin’ Margarita (RMB78) to the lip-searing lantern chili-infused Chili Margarita (RMB78) to the Brooklyn Lager buzzed Lagerita (RMB78) to the clarified milk and cocoa butter fat-washed M&M Punch (RMB78).
You’re doing a disservice to Tuesdays throughout the history of time if you don’t leave tipsy.
Image by Sophie Steiner/That's
And for all the beer nerds out there, June 1 saw the beginning of a legendary collaboration between (the now closed) Beer Barrel owner Erik Liang Lu and The Cannery.
After sadly shutting its doors last October, Shanghai's top craft beer bar has now posted up shop inside The Cannery, installing 28 new taps that flow with some of the world's best and rarest kegged craft brews, plus a walk-in bottle room offering a selection of bottled beers you are guaranteed not to find anywhere else in the city.
If you didn't know already, Erik Liang Lu is a BFD in the global craft beer community, and by aligning his brand with The Cannery – the two-time winner of the Drink Magazine Bar Award for China's Restaurant Bar of the Year – it will become even more of a libation haven destination than ever before.
The Cannery, 1107 Yuyuan Lu, by Jiangsu Lu 愚园路1107号, 近江苏路.
[Cover image by Sophie Steiner/That's]
0 User Comments