Who IS Cobra Lily?  That’s what I asked myself as I found the restaurant while browsing through Shanghai food blogs.  A short walk from my apartment was a beautiful neighborhood, a perfect place for a date, I took a mental note.  As I sat down and took the menu given to me, it was completely in Chinese and the waiter spoke very quickly to me.   I kindly explained my Chinese was terrible but attempted anyway.  He took pity on me and showed me the English section of the menu.

I began my dinner with a delightful cocktail.  I think it was called Tokyo Lights, it had a lemon grass infused gin with keffir lime leaves, matcha, and egg whites.  A little whisk was included to beat with in case it lost any froth.  The flavors blended well and was a great start to the night.

My first dish was a beef tar tar.  The “correct” way to eat it was to mix it all up, put some of the mixture on to a perfectly crisp chip, and eat it in one bite with a shot from the sake glass.   The surprise was that it wasn’t actually warm sake but beef pho broth, seasoned with star anise.  I say correct because the waiter delighted in telling me I was eating it wrong at first and mimed the proper way to eat it.

Next were the Dragon Beans in fiery sauce.  I’ve come to realize that my tolerance for spicy food is quite high, because they weren’t spicy at all,  very savory with a good crunch.  A great place and I look forward to going back.