It's been one year since the final sweep and shutdown of much of the city's former favourite drinking spot, the famous (infamous?) Yongkang Lu between Xiangyang Lu and Jiashan Lu in Shanghai's Former French Concession. The booze-soaked road suffered many losses – Cafe de Stagiares, The Rooster, Revolucion, El Luchador, Magpie, Sailor's Fish & Chips, Dean's Bottle Shop, Zapfler and more. A few of the old spots have gotten to stick around, like Pain Chaud, The Blarney Stone and Café del Volcán, but since then, there's been surge of incoming replacement cafés, bakeries and little eateries that have given it a 360 turnaround from raucous and rowdy to clean and charming.
So what's there now that makes it worth a visit? Well, loads of stuff – here's a little tour of what's new on Yongkang Lu 2.0.
Strangas Dessert Boutique
Following a great success with his bakery in Copenhagen, Greek-born pastry chef Nikolaos Strangas opened this 'dessert boutique' on Yongkang Lu with all sorts of inventive creations plus classic pastries, macarons and more. The cinnamon, raspberry, chocolate and apple cinnamon danish rolls are a divine treat, and the staff are super friendly.
Strangas 51 Yongkang Lu.
Tea Funny
This stunningly designed modern teashop isn't forsaking the past, but rather, reinventing for the future. Tea Funny’s offerings are playful and imaginative, with things to please both rebel tea drinkers and purists alike. Go for CappuTEAno set (48RMB), a full-bodied South African tea blend with rich coffee notes, served cappuccino style with foamed milk on top, and the tea inside a fresh baked, chocolate-lined cookie cup is a must.
Tea Funny 46 Yongkang Lu.
Spoooon!
In line with the longstanding Western obsession with DIY frozen yogurt shops, Spoooon! offers up frozen yogurt with a selection of toppings to complete your treat. But what you'll really love is that the shop does more than the dessert variety – you can choose frozen, regular or Greek yogurt as your base, all house-made.
Spoooon! 59 Yongkang Lu.
el Luchito
Mexican restaurant from the Camel Group, opened after the closing of their taco joint and YKL staple El Luchador, offering most of the same bites as the old with a few new additions.
El Luchito 45 Yongkang Lu.
Big Bagel
Little bagel shop with a small range of bagel flavours and a selection of bagelwiches. The bagels are not bad, but real talk, they can't really compare to Spread the Bagel or Boom Boom – but the garlic cream cheese is pretty great.
Big Bagel 27 Yongkang Lu.
Sweet Wonderland
Coffee and dessert shop offering Wonderland-esque cakes and other cute desserts that rotate month by month and according to season. The team also offers custom cakes available by order.
Sweet Wonderland 39 Yongkang Lu.
Glare Gelato
Sleek and shiny shop offering house-made gelato. Try flavours like pistachio, dragonfruit, mixed nuts and more.
Glare Gelato 75 Yongkang Lu.
Love Drink
Cutesy drink shop with sweet and whimsical teas, flavoured milks, fruity drinks and and other sweet milk tea shop-style beverages. Think sugary meringue toppings, colourful patterns straws, and unicorns, clouds and rainbows.
Love Drink 70 Yongkang Lu.
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