Downtown on Nanjing West Rd near Tongren Rd, there is a venue some people refer to as "Little America." Even though McDonalds, KFC, and now Starbucks dot the city in all the key high-traffic areas, this area around the Portman Ritz Carlton and Shanghai Center gets special mention. A lot of foreign businesses, the Welcome Market, the American Chamber of Commerce and Western-style restaurants draw Westerners seeking a respite from Shanghai culture shock. As much we say we like Shanghai cuisine, as a Westerner we are more likely than not to seek out a cheeseburger or a pizza on occasion.

In the Shanghai center complex, there are couple of staples to the Western diet - BBQ at Tony Roma's or burgers and other American fare at the Hard Rock Cafe. If you collect Hard Rock T-shirts, I guess you must pay them a visit. While these places have reasonably well-prepared fare at very premium western price, you can do better.

If you have a hankering for BBQ ribs, pass Tony's and walk around the corner on Tongren Rd to Henry's. It is smaller, cozier, and tastier. Their set lunch special is terrific. Soup, salad, veggies, tea, ice cream and huge slab of tasty BBQ ribs for RMB 38. At Tony's you would pay over 100 and it would not be as good.

If you need a cheeseburger fix, do not waste your time on McDonalds or pay over $10 at the Hard Rock. Walk a couple blocks West on Nanjing to the Always Cafe and get a fairly tasty burger and fries there for $3. The food is fresh, well prepared, the menu is extensive and reasonable and they have obviously had experience with what Westerners are looking for. The other option close by for Western food is Malones. Well-prepared food, though a little pricey.

Pizza delivered is readily available at nearly the same price as most US places. We have tried a few. Yellow Submarine, Pizza Italia, and Melrose present a reasonable pizza, though no one has figured out how to do a decent sauce. Listings are in the free English maps around town.
If you are looking for a change from noodles and rice and want something tasty and different, Shanghai has many great restaurants. We recently visited a Sasha's, located on Hengshan Rd near Dongping Rd in one those beautiful old mansions. It was gourmet, tasty, and reasonable. I had a fresh house salad and delicately flavored fresh tuna steak. Margaret had a very tasty mango-smoked salmon salad and seafood pasta in a creamy sauce. With wine, dessert, and appetizers. We spent about RMB 700. They had an extensive wine list and it was easy to get a table.

On another night we visited the Spice Market. They have a range of SE Asian cuisine - Malaysian, Thai, and Indonesian. We sampled several seafood, meat and vegetarian dishes, all very tasty and fresh. The waiter was hard selling and the dance show a little tacky. This put a damper on what might have been a perfect dinner. All in all though, the food would bring me back.

Finally, if you can not get enough of Chinese, across the street from the Portman is Bi Feng Tang. Great dumplings and spicy noodles well prepared. I have been there several times for lunch and dinner. I always get the shrimp dumplings. Mei Yuancun on the corner of Xizang Rd and Yan'an Rd on the 2nd floor is also very good. Noodle soup and congee are available as staples. There little sidewalk table under the trees make you really feel like you are somewhere exotic. Prices are very reasonable for what you get.