(For those of you not from Shanghai, Puxi - literally, west of the river - is where most of Shanghai’s shops, restaurants, bars, people, etc, are. Pudong is east of the river)

A few days ago, I was rejoicing at the opening of City Super in the basement of the IFC building in Lujiazui (which is directly connected to the Line 2 Lujiazui stop).

city‘super is a “Mega Lifestyle Specialty Store”

Move over, City Shop - your ridiculously high prices are so last month. Let me just say that with City Super only a 20 minute walk away, my life is complete.

Their incredible deli meat counter. On the other side and just as big is their cheese counter.

And then the burly security man told me to stop taking pictures.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. This is a western supermarket, so it’s not going to be cheap like the local 菜市場 or LianHua. Hailing all the way from Hong Kong, City Super is chock-full of imported goods, cookware, Moleskin stationary, and a takeaway buffet counter not unlike Whole Food’s. They have real boxed cereal for under 50 RMB, 15 RMB avocados, Frank’s Red Hot (seriously, life complete), cakes, breads, an entire section dedicated to spice and herb shakers for 25 RMB each, blah blah blah you get the picture. The best part about this is, nobody really knows about it yet, so it’s not crowded at all. And it’s in Pudong, but who really cares? It’s a 25 minute trip door-to-door from Jing’an’s Metro stop. 

This set of fresh salmon sushi will set you back 28 RMB. Check out their lunch boxes at the buffet counter for about 35-50 RMB.

On weekdays, the little restaurant attached to the City Super offers all-you-can-eat lunch for 88 RMB, or a la carte ordering on evenings for about 50-150 RMB per entree.

The half-opened inside of the IFC (International Finance Center). It smells nice.