Shanghai's best winter drinks(1)
These six hot shots are guaranteed to warm your bones in Shanghai's infamously damp winter
So-called scientific research claims that the warming effects of alcohol are illusory, and the legendary St. Bernard dog bringing brandy to stranded Alpine skiers was a misguided enabler.
But local denizens know there’s only one sure way to warm up from the inside in Shanghai's damp winter, and the following watering holes will make certain you get the better of Mr. Frost this season.
1. Hot yellow wine
Where: Dongbei Four Seasons Dumpling King (东北四季饺子王)
Price: RMB 38
What you’re drinking: Warm huangjiu (yellow wine)
If anybody knows how to beat the cold, it’s the folk from northeast China -- the dongbeiren. Parts of the region jut into Russia north of Vladivostok.
While the Dongbei chain is better known for serving up steaming dumplings and donkey meat charcuterie, when the weather gets cold they will happily heat up a bottle of huangjiu and pour it out of an old teapot to wash down their heavy fare.
It's a Chinese tradition to drink warm yellow wine in winter in order to get rid of internal coldness. Shanghai drinkers are more familiar with the rice and wheat-brewed Shaoxing yellow wine while northern-style yellow wine is usually maize-based.
Dongbei Four Seasons Dumpling King (Huaihai Zhong Lu chain), 1791 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Wanping Lu 淮海中路1791号, 近宛平路, +86 21 6433 0349, 10:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
2. Love Coffee
Where: Madrid Cafeteria y Bar
Price: RMB 45
What you’re drinking: Coffee, Kahlua, whipped cream, and sprinkles
Full of Iberian kitsch and with an aquarium that runs the width of the premises (including under the ground-floor tables), Madrid Café is no trendy nightspot. But it is a charming venue for a lighthearted intimate encounter.
Madrid offers a rather typical range of boozy coffees of various provenances (Irish, French, Mexican and so forth), but the Love Coffee may be the only drink in Shanghai which comes with candy sprinkles on top.
Madrid Cafeteria y Bar, 146 Maoming Nan Lu, near Fuxing Zhong Lu 茂名南路146号, 近复兴中路, +86 21 6472 1531, Monday-Friday: 3 p.m.-1 a.m.; Saturday-Sunday: 1 p.m.-1 a.m.
