A lonely diner walking along a quiet street after a long day at work in a busy metropolis looking for a meal to warm his tummy and his heart in a cold, winter night. This is a typical scene in the TV series and my state in this cold November night.
Shin’ya Shokudō 深夜食堂 is a Japanese manga series that has been made into a television series in Japan and China, with similar themes adapted in multiple cultures. It features a chef that can cook many homemade favourites that soothed the souls of many hungry and lonely city dwellers.
Since then, the term has been used to represent all the midnight diners that are popping up in the metropolis cities of Asia, but most of these are not like the original manga. Like this chain called 哥哥の深夜食堂 (“Brother’s Midnight Diner”) in Shanghai, it is an izakaya at best.
The shop is not big and decorated in Japanese izakaya style. The receptionist was quite enthusiastic and sat by the window. The three of us sat across the window. There are quite a lot of dishes on the paper menu, including sushi, sashimi, one-piece, staple food, fried food, grilled food, and drinks. The clerk gave me a small notebook to tell me to write the order by hand.
While the grilling was competent, the selection was not extensive. The selection of chicken parts consisted only of the common stuff. I was quite disappointed that they don’t even have the chicken bottoms (bonjiri).
The gyuton (cow tongue) however was surprising good. So was the negitori (chicken thigh with leek), enough salt and pepper, nicely grilled with bits of crispiness on the exterior of the chicken thigh..
The menu is quite varied like a Japanese supermarket food court, you can get what usually will be on a set lunch menu like grilled mackerel next to the grilled vegetables.
Everything tasted like processed food and heated just before serving. I can only concluded they used fixed formula with strict SOP to maintain the standard across all the stores. It did fill my stomach but not my soul.
Gege Shenye Dining Hall (Youyou Zhongxindian) 哥哥の深夜食堂（又又中心店）
No.1525, Dingxi Road, Changning, Shanghai China
Visited Nov 2025
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