It was a beautiful autumn afternoon in downtown Shanghai and I was meeting with David & Elodie to discuss a few things so I figured I would time it for a lunch with the whole gang of Sekkei Studio. After much debate, fierce words and verb threats that would make my mother blush, it was decided that amongst all the choices of Shanghai life, having traveled half way around the world from Canada or France: We would have Mcdonalds delivered to the office!
The great thing about lunch @ Sekkei Studio is the rooftop patio. Along with parking the bikes, smoking and watching the neighboring buildings go up, it means that we catch a few rays plus have an excuse to catch up on the day’s events. It was a matter of dusting off the table, grabbing all available chairs and squeezing in for the best position to munch down all available burgers, chicken nuggets and fries.
These are the moments that bring a team together. The value of a spontaneous lunch is exactly was it is, spontaneous. It was a busy day but a good meal. Keep up the good work guys!
Until Next Time and Remember……..you either like pickles on the burger or ya don’t!
December 4th, 2008 at 15:43
I think I have managed to do the full range of a lunch menu offering. I’ve had 5RMB rice with egg, 10RMB beef and noodles right up to some of the expat swanky lunch sets. Ahh, good ol lunch.
December 4th, 2008 at 20:25
Sweet !
The roof!…. the roof is on Fire ! at Sekkei Studio.
Can’t wait to be invited to come up there someday !
Enjoy guys, and keep the good work.
Greg
December 4th, 2008 at 22:28
Hey Guys,
Thanks for your comments. Awesome work OurManinSH.
And for your question Peter, the best meal, I would say the little Chinese near the work. Gong Bao Ji ding and Chao Fan.
The worst ever in China, a junk food bought on a Lawson. Fake tacos. Beuuurp ! Really bad !
Enjoy !
December 5th, 2008 at 8:14
My best/worst lunch on a busy day in Shanghai? Definitely KFC. Best because it meets expectations. Worst because it meets expectations!
For fast Chinese lunches on the go, I like read bean mantou (3.6 RMB), Four Dragon Seas fried dumplings (7 RMB), and of course beef noodles (8 RMB).
December 5th, 2008 at 8:32
Ok — Day 2 and we are off and running with a Free lunch at Pier 39 for anyone that can give us the best comment on the following topic:
“What is your best and/or worst busy day lunchtime experience”
We are putting a one week time line on this and will confer with an internationally renowned team of experts to come up with a winner…
December 5th, 2008 at 9:58
Heading south from Costa Rica to Panama a few weeks back to renew our 3-month visas, we stopped in Ciudad Neily where we saw what looked like a reasonable soda (Costa Rican cheap restaurant). We had already sat down when we realized our mistake - food at a hot table, so not fresh; cars and motorcycles blaring by; the kids ordered ‘naturales’ which are supposed to be beverages made of natural juices; the waitress came to the cooler near the front, grabbed two 4-liter plastic jugs of what looked like different colors of antifreeze, dumped some in each glass, and then took them back to the kitchen to top up with water. The drinks were so sweet the kids couldn’t drink them. Then the food - ah, the food. Don’t order fish and chicken at the same meal in a soda. The chicken is always ready, and the fish always has to be cooked to order, which means the rest of us had eaten what we could tolerate by the time Sheila’s fish had arrived.
This is one of only about 3 bad Tico meals we’ve had in over 4 months in Costa Rica. Just about every soda makes passable to pleasant to excellent food. But to find those great places you sometimes take a chance on what turns out to be a doozer.
Pura vida!
December 5th, 2008 at 10:10
What I didn’t mention was that the cook weight about 350 lbs and was covered in sweat - not terribly reassuring for a restaurant cook - you wonder how wholesome or healthy the food can be!
December 5th, 2008 at 11:09
My best lunch is definitely a sandwich for Costa Coffee or 36 degrees at the JW Marriott. Worst would be the guilin mifan place outside my apartment complex — 10 kuai guarantees you will have food poisioning and heart burn to boot.
J.
December 5th, 2008 at 11:22
well,my favorate food, of course in Beijing,Baguobuyi.this is a Sichuan food. the spicy is the character of the Chuan food. but this Chuan style is localizationed. no worry, the food perserved the original process and technology. there are 3 different kinds of spicy. less spicy, common spicy, and strong and heavy spicy(you can try it if you are ready). The common people can try the common spicy. it is no problem. the super human can try the strong and heavy spicy. it is easy for supermen. but you can become superman at once when you try it.and,
there will be a Chuan opera during the dinner.Bianlian 变脸
Bianlian 变脸 is Sichuan folk opera,or 川剧. Most of the people known the Chuan Opera because of the Bianlian show. Now,lots of actors and actoress who can Bianlian . Yeah, even the actoress. I bet you didnt see a femail actor who can changes her faces on the stage within 0.2 sceond. But you can enjoy the show in Baguobuyi restaurant ,and even you can ask for a close picture from her.
wanna try it? see details here: http://www.sinohotelreservation.com/winser/?p=458
December 5th, 2008 at 12:00
As a favour to “Our Man in Shanghai”, Social media hipster and author of Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the way Business talks with Customers gives us a great photo of a favorite lunch spot in New Hampshire, USA
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shelisrael/2930899430/in/set-72157607917975142/
December 5th, 2008 at 12:11
Worst? Well, one comes to mind…
Meeting another entrepreneur for the first time. I suggest we go for tonkatsu at little hidden gem, Katsuya, near his work. He ends up being late so we decide to just grab Burger King… I never go to Burger King. Hadn’t been there since my wife had pregnant cravings for french fries (”honey, are you there yet…,” “honey, can you make it two orders…,” “honey, are you there yet…”).
But I’m a good sport, so I go. It’s packed. We find a table. Get a couple of value meals. And start talking. Really interesting guy. Cool story. Big business decision he’s making about financing. So I’m really into it. I don’t realize that my lap top bag, that was at my feet, next to a wall, was no longer there…
Someone must’ve taken advantage of the noise and bustle and my inability to do more than one thing at a time. Had my laptop and cool Muji laptop bag stolen.
Went to the police station at Jing An Temple. They were really cool. Filed a report. Never heard from them again. Good thing I’d backed up pretty recently, but my poor little laptop and my notebook were gone forever.
Morale of the story: the whopper isn’t the only value item some people are looking for at BK… that or always eat ethnic… or transfats are bad for you…
December 5th, 2008 at 15:19
Did I have a burger in Shanghai? Hmm. Not all too sure. I knew we were treated to some pretty good food there, though.
My favorite burger? I can’t do Big Macs in China — it is a scientific puzzle just to get them to “stick together”. I do Double Cheeseburgers at McD and Extra-Tasty Crispy Burgers at KFC, which at the T3 KFC in Beijing Airport apparently takes forever and an ice age. (Biz isn’t that strong these days in sub-zero temps…)
Now that I’ve racked my brain about my burger favorites… I confess that I did have a burger at the Dashijie Line 8 Metro station in Shanghai. Good food.
December 5th, 2008 at 15:53
The website:
http://www.likealocal.cn/
is a great source of information about tasty and affordable Chinese cuisine, including lunchtime specials.
December 5th, 2008 at 22:43
2008 has been a year full of fantastic lunches; two stand out.
One was a lunch with staff members at the Villa Ganz inn in Guadalajara, Mexico. Hands down the best place I’ve ever stayed, the owner of the inn gathers all her staff together for lunch everyday. I ate an amazing meal of tortilla soup, sopes, and fresh homemade agua de limon, all with good company and laughter.
I also remember a not so impressive lunch at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where I was traveling on assignment in October. While the food was forgettable, the company of US military sharing their stories with me about life on the base were definitely not forgettable.
December 12th, 2008 at 13:30
Here is the translation from the above russian text:
Enormous thanks for the staggering ideas!!! I will follow [blogom], there is much entire interesting. But my [blog] about the science, I hope, also it will be pleased
Peter aka “Our Man in Shanghai”
December 15th, 2008 at 15:14
Worst lunch at first… ended pretty good.
I was close to Georgetown in Malaysia (Nth West). Looking for sth to eat in an early afternoon. We picked a food stand with some tables aside the street. Ordered some noodles and fried rice…
We then saw the waitress giving a call.
15-20 mins later… a motobike stopped across the street… The so-called chef arrived and went straight to the kitchen…
I believe he was on duty that day.
January 31st, 2009 at 15:44
Hello, I can’t understand how to add your blog ( blog.sekkeistudio.com ) in my rss reader
February 1st, 2009 at 16:40
Regarding the RSS feed, I fixed it yeasterday. You now can add it quickly and easily on this page: http://blog.sekkeistudio.com/feed
Cheers,
David