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Area: This, the second Gourmet Cafe, is in Shanghai Center. That's the expansive complex on Nanjing Xi Lu that you know because of (recently re-located to the basement), the , and the . The whole shebang is just west of Xikang Lu between the main drag's string of three malls and Jing'an Temple, across from the Sino-Soviet Friendship Convention Center Hall of Ten Thousand Exhibitions. It's Jing'an's granddaddy of expat-ism, and if you were facing it from Nanjing Xi Lu, with Paul, Element Fresh, and on your right, Gourmet Cafe would be on your left, over there with Tony Roma's, California Pizza Kitchen, and HSBC. If you're looking closely, you might see that Gourmet Cafe is the only non-corporate place in the whole complex. That's pluck right there.

What It Is: Gourmet Cafe is less of a cafe than a persistent attempt to turn everything in the world into a hamburger. Or, now, a milkshake. This is the second location (first, ) and if you've had their burgers, you know the deal: 150 grams of ground Australian beef and a million variations. There are a few differences with this, the swanker location. To start, there's a selection of imported steaks, the cousin of the burger -- ribeye, tenderloin, sirloin. There are salads, and, in keeping with the joint's theme of riffing on a single food item, there's a brand-new family of milkshakes: plain Jane chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry, but also an array of specialty shakes like The Cinnamon Dream (homemade apple strudel and vanilla ice cream -- as a shake), The Camaro (chocolate ice cream, Oreos, caramel syrup, chocolate syrup), and the Caramanup (caramel syrup, banana, vanilla ice cream), plus spiked shakes like the Kahlua, Bailey's, Illy espresso and chocolate ice cream number dubbed the Illy Vanilly, and "thickies" -- smoothies made thick by the addition of oats and other healthy things.

There's also a nice selection of beers -- a bunch of Belgians, Australians, Americans, a scattering of int'l stuff, and Vedett on draft. Total, there's something like thirty beers, plus a wine list and a bunch of solid cocktails using premium spirits at the decidedly un-premium price of 50rmb.

Besides the evening menu -- that's where the steaks and a bunch of NYC-steakhouse-style a la carte sides are -- and the full beer list, the menus at both locations are the same. But they just swapped out about twenty percent of the burgers and threw some new ones in there: English Patent, a breakfast-y number with a poached egg, bacon, hollandaise, and a side of potatoes; Feel The Sauce, with "sweet and gooey" home-made apple sauce, crumbled bleu cheese, and bacon; the Superbad Chili Monster, topped with a smoked chiptole and habanero chutney, melted cheddar, and tequila sour cream; Crouching Thaiger, a chicken burger in Thai dress, with lemongrass and pepper chutney; Colonel 'Jon, another chicken number, marinated in Dijon-honey dressing, and covered in spinach, bacon, cheddar, and sun-dried tomato relish; and a pair of new "alternative burgers" (it's not all heavy beef burgers) that take fresh tuna and avocado or a Mediterranean lamb dish as their starting point.

Atmosphere: Light as a French fry. The star of the new spot is a terrace that abuts Nanjing Xi Lu and looks on to that Sino-Soviet Friendship Exhibition Hall. Inside, it's an orange, cream, and polished wood swirl surrounded by big glass windows framing the interior of Shanghai Center.

Damage: For the prime location, not as bad as you'd think. It's not McDonalds, but, then again, it's not McDonalds, you know? Burgers start around 50rmb and go up from there, depending on how fancy the toppings on your patty are, and all of the steaks -- 300 grams, imported -- go for 198rmb, which is a steal. Sides for those steaks, and it's a la carte, like a NYC-steakhouse, start in the twenties and go up to 48rmb for the good stuff, like fingerling potatoes with sour cream and lardons. So, let's call a steak, all in, with the sauce and the side, 225rmb.

Milkshakes go 30-35rmb, and cocktails are around 50rmb. If you're just having lunch, and not paying attention to the promotions they've got going on, it's probably going to set you back about 100rmb, with something to drink. Maybe a Brooklyn Lager.

There's all kinds of deals, here, though, if you're looking for them: weekday lunch sets that start at 48rmb; two-fer-one on the house beers on weekdays between 6 and 8pm; three house beers and three mini burgers for 98rmb on Fridays from 5-10pm; a burger brunch that comes with the monster English Patent burger (it's a double pun) and a smoothie, plus a cup of coffee, for 128rmb, and a few more I forget. Ask about 'em.

Who's going: The Jing'an Workforce, either for lunch, an after-dinner drink, or a casual dinner. Everyone looking for a good burger. Some of the thousands of residents of The Shanghai Center who can't eat another pumpkin soup. People who eat out on weekdays. People who wake up on Sunday afternoon with a newfound appreciation of just how much a burger with cheese, bacon, a poached egg, and hollandaise can do for them.