LovePuXi

 Taco Bell in Shanghai! Its been so long since their last attempt at this market, with their ridiculous Taco Bell Grande. Back then a burrito cost 80 rmb and was drowning in cheese. It held an excellent location across from People’s Square on Nanjing Road and was staffed with little Señoritas wearing giant sombreros.

Flash forward to 2017, Taco bell (55 Century Ave, Lujiazui, Pudong) has rolled out what I call ‘Mini Grande’ – its not cheap as Taco Bell in North America (ie. 1.19 usd for a soft taco), but at about the same rate as Burger King in China (roughly 39 rmb for a burger), however with this location being their flagship, it is clean, welcoming and the staff are friendly and for the most part, helpful, especially Lili and Sunny. They also serve alcohol.

I opted for a volcano burrito which was decent – it was spicy and filled with chicken. I also obtained a beef Quesadilla, which was sloppy but tasty, the side was nachos, but it didn’t come with salsa or guacamole. The cup for free flow pop (and carbonated water) was only given after receiving the order, due to a mix up. The fact that the pickup numbering and puck system didn’t work, lead to a bit of chaos and eventually a staff member just brought the meal to my table. I noticed a man who was waiting for his meal, who arrived before me, never received his meal until I was almost done my own – and mostly due to him having to stand by the pickup countrer until they finished it for him. At the end of the meal, I went to find some guacamole, which they don’t sell as sides, but did offer for me to taste test. It was decent, but not creamy, due to the lack of ripeness in the avocados.

One surprise was the Cremia, which was on sale for 10rmb (regular price 28 rmb). I previously had one at KFC for 25 rmb which was unsatisfactory. This Cremia was tasty! The cone is still overly sweet, but it was served in a cup and melted slowly. Taco Bell made Cremia look good in Shanghai.

Due to a mix up, the staff took our receipt,  however, didn’t give it back. Thankfully I took a picture of it, and found that they have a survey site. Sadly, the survey site didn’t work due to some non-recoverable javascript issue. I noticed the business registration for this location was for KFC and not for Taco Bell. Side note: No washroom on site, but a washing station is available.