Five places where the meals are as good as the music
Restaurants and live music don’t have to be foes. Here are five venues that do both well
Many restaurants tend to overlook music for the food, while live performance venues give little thought to food over their music. That’s not the case here at these five places, where the emphasis falls equally between a sumptuous meal and superb tunes. Here’s where to go the next time you’re in the mood for both.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai
Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai is an off-shoot of the New York location, which is renowned for its jazz programs. They opened a branch in Shanghai at the start of 2018, and now you get internationally-acclaimed acts playing to audiences here. The food is provided by the adjoining Light & Salt Backstage restaurant, and you have meals such as roast lamb, oxtail fettuccine, and lobster bisque with your bebop. They also do a jazz brunch every Sunday (¥220 per person, not including food) where you can enjoy a performance with your eggs Benedict.
4/F, 139 East Nanjing Road / 南京东路139号4楼
Shake
Shake bills themselves as “Shanghai’s finest funk and soul supper club,” and it’s not a stretch. Head chef Gao Danyi recently won first place and ¥1 million on one of China’s biggest cooking shows, “Chef Nic,” and at Shake, she has created dishes such as honey cheese tofu, Thai beef carpaccio, and steamed rice soybean meat pie with sous vide egg. On Fridays and Saturdays, the venue serves a set menu based around one country’s cuisine — it’s currently Vietnam — that changes every month. Music-wise, they recently hired a new resident singer, Courtney Knott, who belts out classic funk and soul tunes together with a seven-piece band.
3/F, 46 South Maoming Road / 茂名南路46号3楼
The Pearl
The Pearl is a theater in Hongkou district that hosts everything from cabaret to comedy shows. While it’s a little far from the city center, you don’t have to fret about the food, with a full bar and restaurant onsite. Try dishes such as the beef cheek French dip, which they make by slow-cooking Uruguayan beef and serving with a dipping sauce, or the crowd-favorite bacon mac and cheese, which is made in house.
471 Zhapu Road / 乍浦路471号
Pistolera Mexican Cantina (Hengshan Road)
Pistolera’s menu span most of your favorite Mexican dishes: there are tacos, burritos, and nachos. Quesadillas, fajitas, and margaritas. Paired alongside them are live music acts six days a week: the band La Fiesta plays Latin beats and top 40 hits every Friday and Saturday from 8.30pm, while 17-year-old Leonardo Manuel Jr. Altura comes on solo from 7.30pm every Sunday to Wednesday.
838–2 Hengshan Road / 衡山路838–2号
House of Blues and Jazz
The House of Blues and Jazz has been around in Shanghai since 1995, and their current Bund location is their fourth incarnation. They have an elegant dining room that serves brasserie-style dishes such as antipasti, pastas, and steaks, while the musical line up features a rotating cast of international acts playing, what else, but jazz and blues.
60 Fuzhou Road / 福州路60号
