Gourmet Cafe Lunch -Jing'An, Shanghai

For lunch on Thursday November 11th, I walked down to the Jing'An area of Shanghai and ate at my favorite burger place, Gourmet Cafe.  It was a beautiful day so I was able to take advantage of their outdoor seating, unfortunately this means that service goes down the tube because they pay very little attention to you when you sit outside.

I ordered a mint lemonade, an Unbrielievable Burger, and garlic fries.  I didn't need the fries, but kinda wanted to check them out as I hadn't had them before.  I really like the mint lemonade because they don't sweeten it at all, and bring you a side of simple syrup for you to sweeten it yourself.  I choose not to sweeten it because I think it's pretty great as is, it's kind of like really lemony water, which I think is quite refreshing.

Yum, lemonade:

The burger, as usual was awesome!  Brie cheese on a perfectly seasoned patty, with tomato, and caramelized onions with a sun-dried tomato sauce.  It was kind of mess and I ended up eating it with a knife and fork, but it was still delicious.  The garlic fries were a little disappointing, mostly because I'm pretty sure they weren't garlic fries at all, and were just fries with crushed bacon on top.  Don't get me wrong, I like crushed bacon as much as the next person, but I had really wanted garlic fries.  Oh well, there's always next time.  All the burgers come with a small side salad that reminds me of grass and four leaf clovers, but the dressing is nice, it's kind of mustardy.

My awesome burger:

My not garlic fries:

I was disappointed with the service, like I said, sitting outside kills their service.  I moved all my empty dishes to the side of me while I read my book in hopes that they'd come out and clear everything and I could ask for another lemonade and the check, but it didn't happen.  I ended up packing up my things and walking into the counter to pay for my food.

The service is crap, but the food is delicious.  It is a little on the steep side, but these are gourmet burgers and they are delicious so it's totally worth it.  And if you like beer, they have an excellent beer selection.

:)M