A private restaurant you don't want to miss in Shanghai……
Life can be ordinary and a boring everyday routine, just like a bowl of plain rice, which can lead to hopelessness but a hint of butter and a few drops of soy sauce can make the rice may completely change that hopelessness. The light beginning to the ending, the slow simmering and sipping are just perfectly fine. To put it simply, adding that little extra can change that simple food in to something extraordinary so can your simple life.
The taste of night is light. People use food to remember/cherish the old times or experience something completely new.
Have you ever watched Shinya Shokudō?
When the alarm clock rings at midnight, a canteen in the corner of the city opens. On the menu there is only the pork set, but you can actually order whatever you desire. This is the management strategy of the restaurant owner (acted by Kaoru Kobayashi). Many customers come for the unique style of the canteen and the flavor they really miss. They drink sake, have dishes they love, talk about exciting things they experienced or just be alone after a long working day. Surrounded by the appetizing smell of food, the peacefulness of the night and warmness of the canteen, stories filled with human touch come out. In this canteen, joys and sorrows of life echo with the taste of sour, sweet, bitter and hot of food.
Have you ever admired at having a canteen opening at midnight? “It’s wonderful to have such nice cuisines in a nice restaurant at this very moment.”
Actually, Shanghai has this kind of Japanese canteen opening at midnight as well. However, the owners of these canteens are more willing to sell their passion for cuisines instead of selling food. The canteens are generally in the old lanes in Shanghai, with no names and no doorplates, and diners are all frequent customers. OKAERI is a half-Izakaya like this, but it’s ran by two enthusiastic guys from Taiwan.
Holden, an enthusiastic Libra, popular with both males and females, is responsible for public relation.
Dennis would rather talk with fish than socialise with people. He is a typical Capricorn, slow to warm up, and is in charge of making drinks and cooking, so he is jokingly known as “The housekeeper”.
Why you named the restaurant OKAERI, and what’s your motivation to open the Shinya Shokudō?
OKAERI means going back home in Japanese. I hope this place can be a restaurant that gives customers a heartfelt warmness, but not just simply a place to eat. Customers may come here again after having dinner for once, just like going back home and having dishes cooked by mom. So we don’t do the business along the street. We picked the old lane in French concession in Shanghai, without the name and doorplate. Our customers are all friends we’ve known for years. They follow the directions and picture and then find this place. Although the figure of the restaurant resemble an izakaya, the food we serve is mostly authentic Taiwanese dishes. We only use the freshest ingredients to get that unique taste.
Customized table: this kind of table is what we use to eat meals with our family when we were little.
the taste of the food is the soul of a restaurant. The chef’s personal preference influences the character of dishes to a great extent. As the chef and bartender of OKAERI, Dennis, could you tell me how do you position your dishes?
Just as I mentioned earlier, I would rather talk with fish than socialise with others, because I love simple and pure things. As for food, I also like primary colors and flavours of food instead of the gaudy style. The first destination of my trip is always the local fresh market, for ingredients sold at local markets are approach most to the source and eating habits of locals.
Many people know very little about Taiwanese cuisine. It seems that there are only “oyster omelette” and “squid ball” in their minds, and what on earth is authentic Taiwanese cuisine?
These are both Taiwanese snacks. Except the famous Hakka cuisine, our local people often go to the seaside food stalls, offering various kinds of fried vegetables, meats and seafood.
Miss Martinez came to OKAERI this time and tasted several courses of homemade dishes. After a long conversation, the two restaurant owners joined in as well.
Everyone has the flavor and get used to it. Here you can always find the dish that suits your palate. As you enter this restaurant, all the vanity and prosperity on the outside disappears. All you should do is, have a great meal and make a long conversation with friends and family. Food can comfort people’s heart, and that has actually been taken for granted before.
It is a midnight canteen full of Charm and true life stories of people from all walks of life. Maybe the stories are not yet complete, and there may not be beginnings or endings, but the plots are the main point. You can order several homemade dishes and fine wine, and chat about sweets and bitters of life with other diners in OKAERI. Such a warm restaurant, would you like to come?
No.18, Lane 232 , South Shaanxi Road
