Eating in Shanghai

We tried a few of the restaurants recommended by fellow Fodorites and travellers: South Beauty (In Yan'An Xi Lu); Sashas (Italian Restaurant), Zen (dim sum in XinTienDi), Southern Barbarians (grilled spicy food, it has a Flickr page with photos and prices of some of their menu items) and 1221 (Shanghai cuisine). They are all good restaurants but none really stands out for me. We wanted to try Shanghai Uncle at the Bund Center (Westin Hotel), but they had a wedding banquet that night, so we opted for 1221. South Beauty had stunning d¨¦cor and great service, and Sashas is housed in a beautiful European mansion, formerly a Soong family residence, great for outdoor dining in their garden/patio).

The food that moved me the most are those served in the hole-in-the-wall eateries. When you spend less than 10-20 rmb per person for a meal/lunch, you should, like one reviewer says, just shutup and enjoy the food. For taste alone, their food ranks higher in my poll than many of the fancy haunts.

- None of them have English menu, so you will have to be brave enough to ask or point to what others are eating and order the same things. Go before 11:30 am or after 1 pm, and the staff may be more inclined to attend to you if you don't speak Chinese, because most don't speak English. The food is cheap so they make money by volume, and they will not have time during busy lunch hours to explain the menu even if they want to.

- For all of these restaurants you will have to order at the front desk FIRST. There is always a menu on the wall behind the cashier. Pay for your order and then look for a place to sit. Again, be prepared to share a table as they are usually crowded.

- Jia Jia Tang Bao (638, South Henan Road by Wenmiao Road). They make only XiaoLongBao (Small Basket Dumpling): pork, chicken, crab meat. We ordered: Chicken and pork XLB (10 rmb for a basket of 12). Many opinions on how to eat them properly. Mine: wait till they are cool enough to put the whole dumpling in your mouth, bite slightly to break the skin and let the juice run out and tingle your palate, and bite into the meat and enjoy.

- Xiao Yang's (54 Wujiang Road, 1 block south of Nanjing Xi Lu, just west of Shimen Yi (No1) Lu). Also serve Chungking Hot and Sour Soup but it's most famous for their ShengJiangBao. They are potstickers: ¡°large¡± XiaoLongBao which are crunchily charred on the bottom, yet soft and savory on the top, and full of tasty pork and dribble-down-your-chin juiciness. As they are too big to put the whole thing in your mouth, you will have to bite off the top a bit, and suck out the juice before devouring the rest. They have 2 shops a few doors apart. One sells take-out only, and the other (usually with a long lineup), sells both take-out and eat-in. We ordered: ShengJiangBao (set of 4 buns for 4 rmb).

- Wan Shou Zhai (123 ShanYang Lu, between Si Da Lu and Ji Xiang Lu, Near Duolun Lu. Shan Yang Lu is in Hongkou District, where Sichuan Bei/North Lu makes a 90 degree west bend and becomes Tong Xin Lu). They are famous for their Hun Tun (Wonton), especially the Three-Fresh (San Xian Xun Tun) in soup, and their Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings. About 10-12 rmb per bowl of 6-8 Hun Tuns. Yum!!!

- Chun (Spring): 124 Jinxian Lu; phone +86 21 6256 0301
A tiny restaurant with only 4 tables so reservation is a must. I called about a month in advance after reading about this restaurant on the internet but the owner said it was too early, so with my broken Mandarin I called again just before I left Canada (about 5 days ahead) and managed to secure a table for 4. She also wanted me to re-confirm at noon the day of the reservation. It is like a small private kitchen because there is no menu, and the amicable proprietress just brings out whatever local Shanghainese food she decides to make for that day. We had river shrimp, crab, steamed fish, house soup ¡­ about 7-8 dishes in total. Great food and atmosphere. We don't drink and the bill for 4 came up to be about 400 rmb.
- One of our greatest find, along with these small eateries, is the Portugese Tart. (O.K. they are not Shanghai food). The best ones are actually made fresh by a pastry chain called Surprise. They have an outlet in the underground tunnel crossing Xizang Zhong/Central Lu (by the People/Renmin Square) between the New World Shopping Mall and the Shanghai Number 1 Department Store. But we tried the outlet just 3 doors east of the Shanghai No 1 Department Store, on Nanjing Dong/East Lu: The Shanghai Taikang Food Company is a store which has many small food outlets inside, like a food court. Once you go in, turn left and follow the wall and you will come across the Surprise outlet. There are 2 places selling the tarts, but the ones made by Surprise tastes 10 times better than the other one. If you like the Chinese egg tarts in dim sum, these are similar except that the custards are made of coconut milk and egg yolk. One should forget about counting calories when the warm custard slides down your throat and when you chew on the incredibly flaky pastry shell. They are different from what one finds in dim sum sometimes, called Yeh Tart (Coconut Tart) which I find too sweet. Cost: ~3 rmb for a small Portuguese Tart.

Lastly, I also read about a few newer restaurants in Shanghai which I have not seen mentioned much in this forum: they all have websites which only work sporadically. I have not tried these places but thought somebody may and can report back here!

One is the Hugo Shanghai, address #4, Lane 289 Weihai Lu. It is a Dutch-French restaurant owned by a Dutch-Chinese. The other one, Fu1039, is housed in a beautiful 1930 mansion and serves classic Shanghai food. The last one is the Black Caf¨¦, modeled after the Dan Le Noir in Paris. In the dark zone of the restaurant, food is served in the dark so if you want you can eat with your hands and genuinely taste the food instead of being distracted by the surroundings.