Opened: Apr 14.

What: Third in this chain of cheap Japanese food, this one with a nice view of People’s Square from the big fifth floor windows.

Look: Semi-modern black, with lots of red lights. The view from the windows isn’t affected by the simple décor, fortunately.

Opened: July 8.
What: The second restaurant in Shanghai to turn off the lights and call it a concept. But unlike Black Café, here the servers wear night-vision goggles, the food is Chinese, and they serve hard liquor. They also have ahost of cheesy themes, such as giving you a block of clay to mold in the dark, and the only real blind dates in the city with Saturday night singles’ night.
Look: Pitch black, with an occasional red dot from the server’s headset. The small lit area has a couple of glitter-topped tables, and seems to have been decorated by a 12-year-old girl. Despite the name and our hopeful expectations, the walls are not made of whale ribs, and the entrance is not a giant mouth.
Food: Unexceptional Cantonese and Sichuan. Really, though, you didn’t come for the food.
People: We couldn’t see who they were, although we overheard their chatter.
Bill: The menus are set-only. Expect to pay between ¥125-175 per person.