British measures
I suppose like any large city, the pubs, restaurants and fast food places in Shanghai serve food from around the world. As well as all the usual chains that we see in every town in England (Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonalds), there are many other chains, and of course thousands of individually-owned restaurants. In the touristy areas, and the ex-pat paradise Hongqiao, there are many that serve generic ‘Western’ food. But as far as I know, there is only one completely British pub. It is called The British Bulldog and, out of curiosity, we went there last week.
It’s hard to know anymore what constitutes a ‘typical’ British pub, nowadays it’s probably a Charlie Chalk, built 3 years ago, with ‘antique’ fittings, mahogany seats, neon lights outside and a children’s play area that’s twice the size of the bar. Pubs with sawdust on the floor and old Fred in the corner nursing half a pint of mild have largely disappeared I think. But the British Bulldog did its best anyway. It was over two floors, with small tables downstairs for eating, and more tables upstairs, with pool table, darts board and table football. There was a huge screen on one wall showing football, and a stage on which ex-pat bands perform live on a Saturday night.
It wasn’t particularly busy the night we went, but there were enough people in there to give plenty of food for thought. As I have explained, where we live means I can go literally for days without seeing another Westerner – it’s only when I go to the main Carrefour at Hongqiao, or when we go to the tourist hotspots that I see any at all. And then they tend mainly to be American or Australian. So to go deliberately to a British pub…we went out of curiosity, but I wish I knew why the other people there had chosen it. The pub itself is in Xujiahui, which is not really a particularly touristy place, so I wouldn’t have thought people on holiday would go there.
There was a man, I didn’t hear him speak, so I don’t know what nationality he was, but I assume he was English. He was on his own, eating a large plate of Toad in the Hole, drinking a pint and reading a newspaper. There was another western man, having a meal with a heavily pregnant Chinese lady. She could have been born in England, or America, or she could simply have been Shanghainese, someone he met here? There were 3 Chinese girls, sitting round a table and sharing an omelette. There was another Chinese girl, sitting at the bar on her own, smoking (very unusual to see a Chinese girl smoking) – she had a tattoo on her forearm. I don’t know whether it was a real one or not. Tattoos again – very unusual here.
We had some food – on the menu was was obviously 'typical' British food, steak and kidney pie, mashed potato, chicken and chips, and so on – I had fish and chips, and very tasty it was too. The most telling thing for me though was D – I hadn’t really thought how used to Chinese-type meals (and portions) we’d become. He ordered Shepherd’s Pie (in England, one of his favourite meals) and pronounced it delicious. But half way through, he gave up – he simply couldn’t manage such a big stodgy meal any more.
It’s hard to know anymore what constitutes a ‘typical’ British pub, nowadays it’s probably a Charlie Chalk, built 3 years ago, with ‘antique’ fittings, mahogany seats, neon lights outside and a children’s play area that’s twice the size of the bar. Pubs with sawdust on the floor and old Fred in the corner nursing half a pint of mild have largely disappeared I think. But the British Bulldog did its best anyway. It was over two floors, with small tables downstairs for eating, and more tables upstairs, with pool table, darts board and table football. There was a huge screen on one wall showing football, and a stage on which ex-pat bands perform live on a Saturday night.
It wasn’t particularly busy the night we went, but there were enough people in there to give plenty of food for thought. As I have explained, where we live means I can go literally for days without seeing another Westerner – it’s only when I go to the main Carrefour at Hongqiao, or when we go to the tourist hotspots that I see any at all. And then they tend mainly to be American or Australian. So to go deliberately to a British pub…we went out of curiosity, but I wish I knew why the other people there had chosen it. The pub itself is in Xujiahui, which is not really a particularly touristy place, so I wouldn’t have thought people on holiday would go there.
There was a man, I didn’t hear him speak, so I don’t know what nationality he was, but I assume he was English. He was on his own, eating a large plate of Toad in the Hole, drinking a pint and reading a newspaper. There was another western man, having a meal with a heavily pregnant Chinese lady. She could have been born in England, or America, or she could simply have been Shanghainese, someone he met here? There were 3 Chinese girls, sitting round a table and sharing an omelette. There was another Chinese girl, sitting at the bar on her own, smoking (very unusual to see a Chinese girl smoking) – she had a tattoo on her forearm. I don’t know whether it was a real one or not. Tattoos again – very unusual here.
We had some food – on the menu was was obviously 'typical' British food, steak and kidney pie, mashed potato, chicken and chips, and so on – I had fish and chips, and very tasty it was too. The most telling thing for me though was D – I hadn’t really thought how used to Chinese-type meals (and portions) we’d become. He ordered Shepherd’s Pie (in England, one of his favourite meals) and pronounced it delicious. But half way through, he gave up – he simply couldn’t manage such a big stodgy meal any more.
posted by Linda at 12:10 PM
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