[Shanghai] Liquid Laundry (Brunch)
Liquid Laundry | theliquidlaundry.com | Dianping
Address: 淮海中路1028号嘉华坊2楼(近东湖路) – Floor 2, K Wah, 1028 Huaihai Zhong Lu near Donghu Lu (徐汇区 Xuhui District)
Date visited: 2015.03 for brunch
Price: RMB¥150-250 per person
What to get:
– Tequila Bloody Mary
– Legit cream scone
– Bacon cornbread
– Smoked pork neck
– MCBretzle sliders
– BBQ brisket eggs benedict
– Korean fried chicken sandwich
Of all the meals and drinks I have had at Liquid Laundry, I think they do their brunch the best. I literally went to brunch at Liquid Laundry four weekends in a row so this is a culmination of my favorites here (and there are a lot). If you want to eat everything in this post, you better bring your extended family or come back multiple times. Also, this is heavy stuff so be prepared to crawl back into the bed whence you came.
P.S. This place is absolutely packed on weekends. Make a reservation!
Sangre de Maria (RMB¥65) with jalapeño infused tequila, tomato juice, Worchestershire sauce, black pepper
In the wise words of my friend, if there is an entire page dedicated to one thing on a menu, you get it. LL has an entire page on the drinks menu dedicated to various renditions of Bloody Marys. My favorite is the tequila Bloody Mary — spicy and how I like my drinks.
Legit cream scone (RMB¥25) with real clotted cream and jam
Recommend: yes
This is a raisin scone and I actually don’t like raisins so what I do is pick out all the raisins while I eat it. It is a pain but the fact is, the batter (moist and slightly sweet) is so good I don’t mind doing this. Like its name says, the clotted cream is actually legit — none of that fake cream junk.
Buttermilk biscuits (RMB¥22) with honey and butter
Recommend: if you like biscuits
I am not a biscuits person so this is not for me but there always seems to be someone at the table who is.
Warm bacon-guajillo cornbread (RMB¥48) with maple butter
Recommend: yes
Adding bacon to anything is a great idea. Savory bacon mixed with sweet corn bread and maple butter is a fine example of this great idea.
Smoked pork neck (RMB¥98) with corn grits, poached egg, green tomato jam
Recommend: yes
This is one of those dishes where you break the egg, mix everything up and eat the mess. I thought the grits would taste bland (as they always do) but this was actually very moist and almost tasted like grains of rice.
MCBretzle sliders (RMB¥88 for three) griddled ginger sage pork sausage on pretzel buns with scrambled eggs and cheese sauce
Recommend: yes
Breakfast in a petite burger. Quite literally a perfect marriage of breakfast and lunch, don’t you think?
Eggs Benedict (RMB¥78) with smoked BBQ beef brisket
Recommend: yes
When I brunch, I look for places that serve a good eggs benedict. I am not big on classic English breakfasts because let’s be real, I can fry an egg and heat up sausages in a pan, too. This is why I judge places by their eggs benedict — something I can’t cook (yet).
LL puts a BBQ twist on its eggs benedict with fatty brisket doused in barbecue sauce. I think every runny egg I have had here so far has been perfectly poached (including the one in the pork neck dish above). I think that is worth noting because I consider one of the biggest disappointments in life to be when you cut into an egg and the yolk is solid… or when bacon is not crispy.
Korean fried chicken sandwich (RMB¥98) with sriracha aioli, pickled daikon and okra
Recommend: yes
My absolute favorite item at Liquid Laundry is the KFC (Korean fried chicken), which is served during both weekday lunch and weekend brunch. Mildly spicy and juicy fried chicken with sriracha aioli make a perfect combination. Take a bite and discover sprinkles of fried ramen noodles that add an extra layer of crunch to the already crispy fried chicken.
This is usually served last when I am just about full from everything else and regretting ordering the world so as much as I would like to, I have never been able to eat an entire sandwich by myself. One day.
