After garnering hundreds of posts from celebrities and fans over the past year, diners in Shanghai can finally enjoy Kiki noodles and Kiki tea.

In 1991, the first Kiki restaurant was founded in Taipei, specializing in combining Taiwan flavors and cooking techniques with Sichuan cuisine. Last March, the first Kiki Noodle Bar opened in Taipei, and six months later, Kiki Tea opened in Hong Kong.

Finally, in June, people on the Chinese mainland were able to get their first taste of the popular food phenomenon when Kiki Noodle Bar and Kiki Tea opened in Hong Kong Plaza, in the heart of Shanghai. Three new noodle dishes were specially created by Hong Kong chef Howard Cai and Japanese two Michelin-starred chef Mitsuru Konishi to celebrate the opening.

"We are presenting Taiwan-style Sichuan cuisine at Kiki, which is less spicy and less oily, and does not have such a strong flavor," says Huang Honghong, manager of Shanghai Kiki Noodle Bar.

"And we turn traditional Sichuan dishes into snacks which can be easily enjoyed by one person."

All the noodles are made in their factory in Taiwan, and require exposure to the sun for 48 hours as part of the manufacturing process.

Mitsuru Konishi's creation of noodles mixed with de-boned chicken and sesame sauce is the most popular dish, and incorporates both his French and Japanese culinary backgrounds.

The noodles are boiled for more than 5 minutes, a bit longer than soup noodles, and allowed to cool naturally before being mixed with the special sesame sauce. Both the chicken and the flavors transform on the palate from a sour taste to numbing spiciness, before leaving a fragrant aftertaste. Slices of shallot and purple perilla are added to lend a fresh taste to the noodles.

Howard Cai's dishes focus on seafood, such as crab meat and roe mixed noodles, and sea cucumber noodles with abalone sauce, which are also favored by Shanghai diners.

The crab meat and roe are also served with vinegar and crab roe oil, both of which add more flavor to the noodles, as does the thick abalone sauce.

Kiki's yangchun noodles also gives a plain soup noodle a Taiwan-style twist by using pig bone soup and adding stewed, minced pork.

Then there's the "fly-head noodles". It may sound scary, but it's actually noodles mixed with flecks of black beans, chopped chives, diced chilies and minced pork. These strong flavors come together to create a rather moreish dish.

According to Huang, Kiki Tea is a good pairing for noodles, with each cup of tea carefully handmade by the staff.

"All the tea leaves are from Taiwan and the tea has no added flavorings or preservatives," says Huang.

Wax gourd tea with cream mousse and Sichuan pepper flavored bubbles is a signature tipple, since the Sichuan pepper seasoning - freshly made every day - adds an intriguing mouth-numbing quality that's unlike any regular drink and the silky cream cheese foam on top is a perfect blend of quality and texture.

The decor of the restaurant has traces of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, with paintings of trees on the wall and a mini stone landscape in the middle of the large square tables.

"The decoration makes diners feel like there are in the regions south of the Yangtze River, and we hope that diners can come to eat alone without feeling awkward, but instead enjoy a warm and comfortable meal," says Huang.