(smartshanghai.com)
Updated: 2007-11-27 09:58

The Jingan area north of Nanjing Lu is fast becoming a hip location for new apartment complexes, boutiques, stores, delis and restaurants. For some time now most of Shanghai's "hipness" has been contained within the ring road highway hemming in the French Concession, and, as several failed restaurateurs can tell you, it's been difficult for new venues to draw people up past Nanjing Lu.

The city's urban planners have been seeking to change this however, looking to develop other areas of town with mixed success. As a result, several far-flung areas in Shanghai have been turned into little, diet Xintaindis with flashy names supposedly signifying their modern and contemporary edge: the New Factories, Bridge 8, Red Town and now, Loft 98 north of Jingan Temple at Yanping Lu and Xinzha Lu. Loft 98 used to be a non-descript Chinese restaurant, a non-descript hair salon, a non-descript bakery, a non-descript women's clothing store and a cigarettes store, but has undergone radical remodeling to launch as a collection of new restaurants, trendy, creative office spaces and shops catering to the burgeoning expat community in the area. In addition to the famous expat apartment complex "San He Hua Yuan," this area of Jingan has seen an increased expat population over the past three years due to its comparatively low apartment rental prices, its relatively central location and its proximity to the subway. Basically, if you're only going to be in Shanghai for a year to drink and teach English, it's a pretty good area to live in. The only downside was that you used to end up having to be taking a lot of cabs south to eat at proper restaurants once you got sick of Gong Bao Ji Ding.

And so, Cantine has quietly opened its doors on Yanping Lu and is one of three new enterprises in Loft 98 by Gilles (erstwhile of Pegasus, Babyface & VIP Room fame). His offerings in the new complex are three small and quaint venues, all neighbouring each other: Cantine is a simple bistro with French twists, "Shoka" is a sashimi, sushi and saki bar, and "Delish" is a gourmet deli.

At a glance Cantine comes across as tastefully designed without making a huge deal of it. It's comfortable without being pretentious, but not comfortable enough that you'd want to linger about all day long in the place. With no other visuals or idiosyncratic design elements, the color scheme of the place is the central focus -warm, volcanic orange on the bar and banquettes offset by white walls and black furniture. Simplicity is the very obvious aesthetic here, so go with a date and they'll be happy that you'll end up giving them all your attention. Well, at least until the food comes out.

The menu is fairly simple as the name and decor suggests. Cantine offers standard bistro fair with a few modern French twists and a couple of international dishes, including "spanakopita," which is a Greek spinach pie, incidentally, and not an OutKast album. Having only been there twice, I was only able to try out two dishes. Both were made with fresh crunchy baguettes with fresh ingredients and were satisfactory to that all-important ratio when dining in Shanghai: Price to Quantity of Food. The standout for me was the Carribean Avacado Prawn Salad (around 45rmb).

Overall, at around 60-100rmb per person, it's not going to break the bank and is a good option if you're after western-style, quality sandwiches and salads. The service is also very attentive, which was nice to see, particularly at a newly-opened venue. Despite living and dining in Shanghai for several years now, I am still surprised when I encounter service that isn't, and nothing ruins a meal like having to wait around for the next course, throw your hands around to get another drink or chase down the staff to get the bill. Thankfully, at Cantine I wasn't forced to do any of these.

In the end, I would think this would be enough to get the neighbourhood expats to put down their Sherpas guides and come down out of their apartment buildings for a meal. Cantine offers stress-free, cheapish Western dining in Jingan - a feat not accomplished since Burger King.

Cantine
Tel: 021-5175 9829
Address: 98 Yanping Lu near Xinzha Lu