The 10 hottest restaurants and bars in Shanghai this month

The Magnolia Room

Last year, Mack Ross brought us Tour, one of our favourite bars of 2016, and now he's got another innovative watering hole with more snack-paired cocktails to discover. Located underneath Tour itself, enter this small, intimate space via a discreet sliding door and descend to find a scratch-and-win lottery-style card menu that boasts a chance at several prizes – a shot of Jameson, a grilled cheese, a bottle of Chivas 18 and others. There are many highlights, but you'll find love with the PBS; a smooth, sweet and salty blend of Blanco tequila, peanut butter, lime and a bit of sugar finished off with a spicy kick of Sriracha.

The Chop Chop Club

Paul Pairet's third Shanghai dining venue has arrived. Housed inside of UNÏCO at Three on the Bund, The Chop Chop Club is a carvery with a rotating menu of meat, fish and fowl that come out in 15-minute intervals. The food might be enough to attract you, but it's the ordering that sets CCC apart, and each time you go you can expect a different array of offerings. Roll in with a small crew so you can try all the meats you desire, and be sure to make a reservation in advance.

Sober Company

From Shingo Gokan of Speak Low comes this massive-in-concept, intimate-in-space new venture. On the corner of Yandang Lu and Nanchang Lu, the space includes three main parts: Sober Café, with breakfast until 4pm, swanky flavours of soft-serve and coffee drinks; Sober Kitchen, a restaurant doing unique modern takes on Chinese dishes; and Sober Society, a bar focused on digestif cocktails and brown spirits. Try all three parts.

Bombay Bistro

This sleek new Yongfu Lu eatery offers modern takes on Indian classics. Head there for the butter chicken, whose layers of spice and smoke will leave you scraping the last bits from the bowl, packing a punch with that deep charcoal flavour that only emerges in meats roasted in a tandoori oven. Stylish atmosphere, stellar soundtrack and conscientiously prepared dishes. 

Homeslice Pizza

Lately, Shanghai has been all about the slices. We're psyched that Nat Alexander's stripped-back pizza parlour is one of the first venues to open in the nascent Found 158 complex on Julu Lu, where he's slinging slices for around 25RMB a pop. It's hard to pick a favourite, but ours might just be white pizza with parmesan cream and dollops of ricotta. Plus, you can get a good Negroni there too. What's not to like? 

Poke Poke

There’s a new contender in the world of raw fish and rice, and their game is on point. This little nook near the corner of Changle Lu and Xiangyang Lu has bowls built upon the base ingredients of ‘authentic’ Hawaiian poke: fish, salt, native seaweed and chopped nuts. We love the strong sesame flavour of the saucy Original, for which you choose salmon, tuna, Argentina prawn, or get them all (62/80RMB); plus avocado, nori and shiny pearls of salmon roe. 

Full venue details here.

Second Moment

Joe's Pizza

Pita

Ultraviolet

This is one for the bucket list – Paul Pairet's renowned multi-sensory dining concept just earned the number eight spot in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. Reservations are open three months in advance and the seats get swooped up almost immediately... snag a rezzy if you can!