Teddy Bear Thai–Honest to Goodness Real Place

In my trip to Shanghai last weekend my friend asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner. Shanghai has so many options I was overwhelmed.
“How about Thai?” he suggested. Sounds good to me.
“How about Teddy Bear Thai,” he said. Sounds very good to me.
Yes, a teddy bear themed Thai restaurant. Such a thing not only exists, but exists in China of all places. Those of you who have known me a long time now that I LOVED teddy bears when I was a kid. I had a teddy bear companion, named Teddy, through my formative years and if this restaurant was in America it would be the location of every childhood birthday party ever.
Teddy Bear Thai is located in the tianzifang neighborhood in Shanghai, a protected traditional neighborhood of winding alleys and traditional stonework buildings called shikumen or “stone door” buildings. It has been restored to be a winding maze of tiny arts and crafts stores, coffee shops and restaurants. One of those restaurants happens to be Teddy Bear Thai.
You know when you have arrived, as a giant picture window of oversized teddy bears greet you. Everything is themed in this place, the chairs, the plates, even some of the food (desserts mainly). As in most places in tianzifang, the shops are small, so instead of being one large floor, Teddy Bear Thai was 3 small levels with balcony tables, small nooks and a cozy atmosphere.

Of course, true to their name, Teddy Bear Thai served Thai food, and while it was totally good, and I had no complaints, the decor far outshines the food to where I almost didn’t notice what I was eating. We were having too much fun running up and down the stairs looking at all the bears. Even the bathroom had some teddy themed stuff (thankfully no plush bear though.)

I’ve been to some strange restaurants in my time in China (think duck tongues and chicken blood) but I’ve never been to one quite like this. Even after more than three years, China still manages to surprise me.