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GOOD NEWS! Shanghai Spice will be back in January 2012. Sign up now to recieve an email of the next event. or read more here

What is Shanghai Spice?

Does any other city in the world have such a variety of food? Shanghai Spice is a club for people who want to try new restaurants in Shanghai. Shanghai has such a multitude of restaurants, and I’ve found that it’s much more fun discovering them with a large group of people. The meals normally have around 20 to 30 people in attendance this allows us to try many dishes on a restaurants menu.
We have been running since March 2008 and have over 400 members.

How does it work?

Each month I ask for suggestions from friends and members on restaurants they would like to try. These are often posted on the wall of the Facebook group. I then invite everyone through an online invitation system and people say yes or no its as easy as that. 

What type of food do we eat?

We are willing to try anything, being adventurous is part of the groups ethos. Although given the number of attendees, normally we will eat social kinds of food where dishes are shared between guests and then the bill is split equally among the guests. This means over the last year we have had a lot of Chinese food, including Dong Bei, Xin Jiang, Sichuan, Hunan are just a few of the Chinese food types we have tried.. but we have also done American, Japanese, Nepalize and others.

What kinds of restaurants do we go to?

Generally we try and go to low to mid priced restaurants, with costs normally averaging around 100 to 200 RMB per person, which usually includes a couple of beers. We have done more expensive meals such as all you can eat teppanyaki, but its rare we go to very high end restaurants. We are more about a relaxed atmosphere, and good value food. Although this may change a little with teh relaunch of Shanghai Spice in January 2012, as seats will be limited.

How can I join?

If you have a Facebook account please join our Facebook group. Just log into Facebook and in the search box in the top right type in Shanghai Spice and click the magnifying glass. We should appear in the search results list. Also please use the contact us form on this website and send me an email with your contact email address and I will add you to the group email list as we dont use Facebook so much anymore. 

When are the Shanghai Spice events?

We normally hold restaurant meals around once a month, depending if there are holidays or anything in the way. Although since the booking system got blocked in China its been a little tricky. The good news is ive found another booking system. So we should be starting again soon. We haven't picked a restaurant yet, so please feel free to suggest somewhere using the contact us link above. 

Once we have put up the restaurant on FB and i'll post something here too (normally a couple of weeks before the actual date), you can then register by replying to the automated invite you will get (probably through Pingg). To attend the event just click the "I will attend" button on the Pingg invite. We ask people to do this so that we can give a fairly accurate number to the restaurants. We normally meet on a Thursday or Friday night depending what kind of food (all you can eat / drink is better on a Friday :) )

Next Event Details...

When :   January 2012
Where :  You tell me :)
Food :    Coming Soon
All events are strictly invition only.
Contact Us through the link above to get on the invitation list.
Sorry, but we have to give the restaurants the number of guests, so you cant just show up.

Who comes to a Shanghai Spice Event?

We are a very mixed bunch and it often depends on the type of food. Normally its around 50% men and 50% women. 60% locals and 40% expats. If its non-chinese food then the number of chinese tends to drop down a little bit.

Need access to Facebook, You Tube & blogs?

We recommend you try Astrill just follow this link. Its pretty good.

Just for fun. Vote for your favorite Bar or restaurant in Shanghai.

Check out The Top 10 Place. They have Top 10 lists on everything you can think of. These two are quite appropriate.