(shanghai.urbanatomy.com)
Updated: 2008-04-28 15:40

Housed in the basement of a European-style mansion, this warmly-lit restaurant offers a set dinner menu (tomato soup, feta salad, grilled ribeye steak, cheesecake and coffee, RMB 150) that seems a bargain.

And only the tough, poorly seasoned meat makes it slightly less so. That said, the decision to puree the feta cheese used in the salad only robs it of the very texture which constitutes its raison d'etre. The staff could also use a lesson in timing. We were served salad before soup, and the (albeit excellent) starter and additional main-steamed mussels in white wine (RMB 55) and grilled eggplant panini (RMB 38)-both arrived with the main course.

Nonetheless, the overall experience – with organic fair trade coffee to finish – evinced a chorus of approval from this particular table.

Effegie
Daily 11am-10pm.
433 Changle Lu, by Xiangyang Lu
54042273
Cost for two (excluding drinks): RMB 243