By Megan Shank (City Weekend)
Updated: 2006-09-12 11:50

If you can find the place and, once there, endure the overly zealous waitstaff who ask you within seconds after being seated for your phone number and address and instruct you on the proper use of the butter knife, you might find the its dinner sets worth the sojourn.

Choose from steak to ribs to lamb chops to surf 'n' turf mains, add free access to the salad bar, unlimited baskets of hot bread, a soup and a coffee paired with dessert at the end of the meal, and you've got Chef's Kitchen's formula-one that will surely appeal to big eaters stranded in Hongqiao.Although nothing extraordinary, the food satisfies on a basic level.

Adopting Shanghai's new faddish style of blue and white table cloths and clean lines, the decor strives for a Mediterranean ambiance. With so few customers, there is a rather breezy feel.

Chef's Kitchen 
Location: 1387 Wuzhong Lu, near Hongjing Lu
Tel: 021-34314771
Perfect For: Budget eaters stranded in Hongqiao