Japanese cuisine in Shanghai is highly developed, with over 2,600 restaurants in this category listed on review platforms, and many of the top-rated establishments fall into this category as well. It turns out that simple dishes made with excellent ingredients can easily delight the palate, offering a far more pleasant experience than heavy seasonings or greasy flavors. It’s a satisfying meal without any guilt.

Among Japanese restaurants in Shanghai, quite a few have an average per-person cost exceeding 1,000 RMB, which is clearly beyond the budget of most diners… This probably explains why Shuten has become so popular: an average spend of 300–500 RMB, high-quality ingredients, plus a nice atmosphere and good service. Since I had just been to Shuten recently and couldn’t get a last-minute reservation anyway, I decided to try another place. After browsing around, this restaurant seemed promising, so I gave it a shot. Located on the 7th floor of Takashimaya Department Store, it also offers private rooms. The minimum spend for these rooms is calculated per person at 400 RMB each, so the two-person private room was truly tiny—about one-third to one-quarter the size of Shuten’s private rooms. Inside, there’s basically just enough space for two people, with almost no room left on either side. Once you close the door, it feels like being in jail~~~ But still, it’s better than sitting at a regular table for two in the main dining area. The staff can sometimes be too busy to respond promptly when called, but once they do attend to you, the service is quite good.

As for the food, my last visit to Shuten wasn’t nearly as impressive as previous visits. At first, I thought maybe I’d eaten there so often that I’d become harder to please, but it turned out that Shuten’s sashimi quality really had declined. This restaurant brought back the same sense of surprise and satisfaction I felt during my very first visit to Shuten.

The salmon is also thickly sliced—a generous portion that’s very satisfying.

The botan shrimp were fairly large too. The heads could only be used for soup or grilled; we chose grilled.

The grilled shrimp heads weren’t nearly as good as Shuten’s fried ones. Even after grilling, the shells remained inedible, whereas frying makes them crispy all the way through and entirely edible.

The large Norwegian scallops were out of stock, leaving only the smaller Hokkaido scallops—but even those were still quite big, sweet, and delicious.

Sea Snail

Avocado Shrimp Hand Roll—not as tasty as Shuten’s version.

Grilled Black Cod—tasted good, though slightly bland.

In summary, the ingredients here surpass Shuten’s, the cooking standards are roughly on par, and the service is comparable. For small groups, the ambiance falls significantly short of Shuten’s, but the private rooms accommodating 6–8 people offer a much nicer setting, complete with floor-to-ceiling windows. Prices are generally similar, so if you’re looking for a great place to eat, this is definitely a solid choice~~

Photos in this post taken with SONY NEX-5R + 35mm f/1.8, post-processed in Lightroom.

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Japanese Cuisine