It was a rainy, cold, miserable, lazy Sunday and my husband and I agreed that we just really fancied a toasted sandwich. So I eagerly jumped on Chinese food delivery APP, ele.me, and began searching. My husband, being British, was not at all convinced we would find anywhere in downtown Nanjing making real cheese toasties, you know, like the ones we get back home. Nevertheless, he agreed to give it a go.
It did not take long before we discovered Shortcrust. Our curiosity piqued, we took a look inside; not only were we delighted to see, not one, but three toasted sandwich options, the bakery also offers quiche and pies too!
Suspecting it to be too good to be true, we gave it a sample anyway, gingerly selecting a bacon and cheese toastie, a chicken toastie and a beef pie. Approximately 20 minutes after we paid, there was a knock at our door and our delivery had arrived.
Still piping hot, we dug into our very guilty toasties. The chicken; my order, was lovingly, slightly spiced and came with melted cheese. But uh oh, my husband’s face spelt disappointment. The bakery had messed up his order, sending a mushroom toastie instead; mushroom being his most despised food.
After a quick swap and a call to the bakery, a replacement toastie was immediately sent out to our house, delivered not by an APP driver but by the owner himself. Not only did he replace the mushroom disappointment with our originally intended bacon and cheese (which was delicious), but we were given two 25 percent off discount cards as well; top customer service.
One bite into the pie and I was back home, sitting by the sea with my feet dangling over the edge, dribbling tomato sauce down my hands; it was that spot on. Undoubtedly homemade, the shortcrust was divinely fatty and fresh and its insides had clearly been stewed in a lovely gravy.
While the pie was a 10 out of 10, the toastie needs some work, on account of far too much oil/butter used on the outside; it was also too crispy and the restaurant’s choice of sweet bread let it down.
Yet, if it is freshly-delivered, lazy Sunday pies that does it for you, then you cannot go wrong with Shortcrust.
Toasties (￥24)
- Mushroom cheese
- Chicken cheese
- Bacon cheese
Quiches (￥11.5)
- Creamy mushroom & egg
- Bacon cheese & egg
- Asparagus cheese & egg
- Shrimp, green onion & egg
Pies (￥24)
- White cream chicken & Beijing onion
- Cumin beef & red kidney bean
- Black pepper beef mushroom & vegetables
Wash them all down with a chocolate & caramel milkshake (￥22.5).
Shortcrust is located at 1-122 Ninghai Lu 宁海路122号-1 Tel: 13913826088.
