We went to Paulaner's our second night in Shanghai. By now we were feeling just a little overwelmed by everything we'd seen, and we hadn't seen any touristy stuff yet. Here in Shanghai, it seems all food is divided into two catagories: Asian and Western. Even though Paulaner's is Western, it's still foreign to us Americans. It just seemed so funny to us--we're sitting in this German restaurant at this big, heavy table, drinking beer, and it almost seems all very European. Except when you look around, there's a whole bunch of Chinese people. It's weird enough we're eating German food, listening to a Filipino band, but to top it off all the Chinese servers are wearing German costumes with those big, wide, colorful suspenders! It was like a cultural assault. Anyway, I think it's something you have to experience to understand the insanity of it. Then at about 9pm the waiters all shed their suspenders and the place turned into some sort of disco! Anyway, I don't know much about German food. I always get the weiner schnitzel since it's the next best thing to an Iowa pork tenderloin. My husband and I like to go there, especially when they have occasional two-for-one dinners. Ex-pats like the place because I always see many of them there.
The above location is in the French Concession near Hengshan Lu. It is set way back in what looks like a mansion. There is also a location at Xintiandi. I know the Xintiandi one has some nice lunch specials.