The best steak in Shanghai
BEST OF SHANGHAI: ‘One man’s opinion’
I wasn’t expecting much from the Backyard Cafe, just a semi-normal sandwich within walking distance from the apartment. What I got was the best steak I’ve eaten in nearly three years in China. So tender, so tasty, so juicy … so ridiculously cheap. For just RMB 69, Backyard serves up a thick 220 gram beef tenderloin prepared on a proper outdoor grill. It comes topped with a black pepper sauce that provides just the right amount of spice and, as if that wasn’t enough, Backyard also throws in some spinach and potatoes, too. Still not enough? Add two ears of corn on the cob for 19 kuai. Yep, they’ve got that, too.
It was so perfect, I had to wonder — was this all a big joke? Was this some sort of Spanish Prisoner-esque ruse that ends with me returning to the restaurant the following day only to find that it’s really an abandoned warehouse and Steve Martin has run off with my life’s savings? (If so, the joke’s on you, Steve. I have no life’s savings. Ha!) Aware that Chinese television has been dabbling in reality, I started looking for hidden cameras, worried that I might be the unwitting subject of a new Shanghai TV production called The Make A Foreigner Think He Finally Gets A Good Steak In China And Then Visciously Rip His Heart Out And Dip It In That Brown Sauce His Ayi Drowns Everything In, Lycra Show. (It’s a working title.)
Not to say that I haven’t had good steaks in Shanghai. KABB is always reliable and T8 was mighty tasty … but about four times more expensive than the good ol’ Backyard. And, as the name suggests, you can sit outside at the Backyard. It’s tucked back behind La Fabrique in the Bridge 8 complex, out of earshot of the pulsing techno beats and rather peaceful. Bridge 8 houses offices, too — through windows I saw some poor souls typing away deep into a Saturday night.
Everything we tried was excellent and stylishly presented: the Caesar Salad (RMB 38), the Pasta Salad (RMB 39), the Frozen Yogurt with Raspberries (RMB 30). Add a 150 kuai bottle of decent wine, and life doesn’t get much better. A couple things worth noting: My steak had to be sent back twice before it was cooked medium-well like I ordered. It was a thick steak, and this is China. Deal. Also, don’t be scared if you don’t see half the items mentioned here on their menu. Most are on the blackboard out front and they assured us that they are always on the blackboard out front. Unless that was all part of the reallity show script.
Backyard Cafe, 8-10 Jianguo Zhong Lu, (by Sinan Lu). 建国中路8-10号（近思南路). Tel: 5468-0118.
This entry was cross-posted at Shanghaiist.
07.21.2005, 8:38 PM · Best of Shanghai, Food
3 Comments
Looks lovely!
i am so gonna make a beeline for this! been craving a good steak for months. Thanks!
Hi, just find your site by del.icio.us! It’s surprising and great for me to see the current Shanghai here! It’s my hometown, and I love this city soooooooo nuch!I am in Dallas right now, and your posts really make me homesick ^_^.