Friday, April 13, 2012

Shanghai Brewery
This microbrewery (apparently the second if you read their website) is located in the French Concession area on the corner of Dongping and Hengshan Roads.Theres an outside patio area leading toward the front doors and a more sheltered outside terrace running down the side of the building overlooking the street and pavement.Inside you can see lots of brass associated with the microbrewery and some restored polished timber floors.
There are six kinds of fresh beer brewed onsite such as Peoples Pilsener,North Star IPA Black Eyed  Bear Stout and a Peach brew I didn't fancy.Just check which ones are available before ordering.They do a special sampling deal as well.
The two photos above and below show two of the local brews.The service was friendly and efficient.We were even prompted to wait on ordering until the happy hour started ensuring we got a better deal on the drinks.As well as beer,the usual spirits and cocktails are available.
 The photo below shows the Mexican nachos on the menu which also features Mexican and German offerings including sausages as well as fajitas.The nacho dish also included freshly made salsa and an adequate number of olives.Not really memorable but reasonable in terms of price and size.
 The last shot shows a mojito cocktail.Lots of chunky lime sections and mint leaves.Only a minor point but the mint taste would have been enhanced if the mint leaves had been crushed more to bring out their flavour.I'd stick with the beers in the future.
In summary their local beers make a refreshing change and are worth checking out while the food is reasonable by Shanghai standards in terms of size and price.The service is professional and above the usual 'meh' levels.Well worth another visit to check the beers I missed.You can find details of the location and menu etc on their website.

Friday, April 06, 2012

A few more shots of Christchurch

 I've included this shot of the Amuri Courts building as I noted someone had done a search on it but I hadn't included a photo.This was taken across the street near the remains of the old Provincial Government building.At the time there were workmen and a large excavator busy demolishing the building.
 This photo shows the facade of the Mckenzie and Willis building heavily braced.The area is fenced off as High Street was badly affected.In fact the one prominent building that remains is the old Post Office building that houses Alice in Wonderland the video store.Nearby Poplar Lane has been virtually levelled.
 A shot of the Crowne Plaza Hotel awaiting demolition.Apparently there are two types of demolition-'dirty' where the buildings are deemed too unsafe and are pulled down and 'clean' where the buildings are systematically taken down and materials etc are saved or recycled.Not sure which type this is but the presence of a small excavator in an upper floor suggests a clean demolition.
Final shot today shows the road into Sumner.Theres a line of shipping containers stacked two high along the foreshore road.The containers are there to provide a buffer should there be any further collapse of the hill behind them.You can make out the abandoned homes on the skyline balanced on the edge of the cliff.The amount of debris-both stone,boulders and housing materials is already building up and can be seen behind the containers.Some of the containers have been painted or sport colorful covers.Its a daunting prospect driving down that road with the containers towering above the cars.