ekscrunchy

I thought I might begin a thread on this subject to complement the one on Beijing dining. I just got a recommendation for a place named Chun on Jinxian Road..shall I add this to my list?

Other names I have so far include:
DTF
South Beauty
Jia Jia Tang Bao
Ye Shanghai

Good?

bkkmei

Not been to any you have there, but my fave resto in Shanghai is

Guyi
87 Fumin Road

It's not Shanghainese, but spicy Hunanese cuisine. It's excellent.

Hmh_504

DIMSUM
1. Bi Feng Tang across Ritz Carlton Portman

ASIAN DISHES WITH FRESHEST VEGGIES
2. Element Fresh in American Arcade beside Ritz Carlton Portman

T8 in Xintiandi

Brazil.

Maboonkrong Thai

OJudy

I will be at Fudan University for several weeks. In that area of Shanghai, what are some good inexpensive restaurants for daily lunches and dinners?

ekscrunchy

We are desperate here..need recommendations, please!

Shanghainese

You go to Shanghai to eat the local cuisine: Meilongzhen, Xiaonanguo, Lubolang, all delicious.

ekscrunchy

Yes, yes, the local cuisine only. And the ones I mentioned? Sorry for my ignorance..first time visitor to China, in case you could not tell!

Shanghainese

Sorry, haven't been to any.

ekscrunchy

Well if you have not been to them I am imagining that I should check out the ones you mentioned first!

Thanks, yet again, for your endless patience and your help!

ekscrunchy

Shanghainese, if you can stand another question from me (probably not the last), I have been noticing that there are privately run restaurants and state-run restaurants and some "critics" favor the former for service and soemtimes for food as well. Do you notice any difference?

Example: Lu Bo Lang is state run
Xiao Nan Guo is private

I realize I am overplanning..just curious..

Shanghainese

I haven't noticed the difference. Also I have a different palate, don't care for spicy foods.

bkkmei

Been to MeiLongZhen - the food was good, the surroundings interesting. Clientele mostly tourists.

Sorry can't recommend any other specifics, honestly I ate loads in Shanghai and it was all soooo delicious!

easytraveler

Local Shanghai cuisine tends to run towards the salty/braised/seafood

vs. "western" dishes which feature hot chilis

vs. "northern" which features flour-based, such as dumplings, noodles

vs. "southern", mostly Cantonese, which features seafood

Shanghai "dim sum" should be different from Cantonese "dim sum" - altho everyone has borrowed that great Shanghai dim sum dish, the "Little Dragon" dumplings which are supposed to be eaten whole so as not to lose the delicious juice. (It's technically, "Little Steaming Basket Bao" - but who's going to remember "Little Steaming Basket"? )

There's a place in Shanghai Old Town which caters to the locals and sells only Little Dragon Bao. There's a restaurant upstairs, but, the usual long lineup is downstairs. If you see a long line and see people slurping their baos, you've found the place. Best Little Dragon baos in Shanghai, IMHO.

Oh, yes, also in Old Town, there's a tea house over the lake/pond. Have some tea there and get a flavor of what "having tea" really meant in the old days. (Ignor the Starbucks - or is it a MacDonald's? - that has planted itself in the square).

Otherwise, follow Shanghainese's advice. She speaks fluent Shanghainese, as far as I know, which helps a lot! Hi, Shanghaiese!

One thing I've done in China is to ask the working people where they eat: the maid, the bellboy, etc. After several opinions, I have generally a good feel for what are good restaurants in the area. When my niece spent a summer studying in Beijing and we went to visit her, she took us to these holes-in-the-wall where we had incredibly tasty local cuisine at incredible prices. The locals always know the best places. Trust them.

Once when I was in one Chinese city (somewhere in the interior), the maid called in her cohorts, they all had a long confab and they recommended two restaurants. One we couldn't find and the other we did. Absolutely fantastic hot pot dinner! Don't ask me for the name!

Go ask a local! Bon Appetit!

twofortheroad

The Little Dragon Bao are usually called Xio Long Bao. Eat them whole and burn your mouth or take a bite and squirt soup on your clothes. How you eat them: Pick up with chop sticks and place in soup spoon, then bite off piece of top and simultaneously slurp in the soup. Dip in black vinegar and and place somme ginger atop and finish off--sometimes one bite if small, 2 bites if larger.

mvpl

I'll be there in less than 2 weeks and I can't wait. Visiting family who say the food in Shanghai is wonderful. We're going out to one fancy restaurant and the rest will probably be local, but in/near tourist areas, so any other suggestions would be great.
BTW soes anybody know how to print a thread without copying and pasting into a new document?
Also, will I be able to recharge my US camera battery or do I need a special plug and converter? Thank you all!

ekscrunchy

Thanks, all. Easy, great idea bout asking the maids. I don't speak any Chinese language, but can probably get my point across to someone! I can already see that the language problem is going to be an issue on the eating front.

I keep reading about that dumpling place; can you give us the name of it?

Also wondering about the voltage..

Also, what exactly is red-cooked? I know it is a braise, but with what? Isn't that a Shanghai method?

lxchiang

Yes, red-cooked (R-C) is a Shanghai special. R-C is always with a lot of soy sauce. R-C beaf is a very common Shanghai dish, so is r-c bean curd.

ekscrunchy

Thank you.

Shanghainese

ekscrunchy: The dumpling place IS Lubolang in Old Town, the lines are always long, go upstairs.

Easytraveler! When do we gtg again? We'll have to go to Yank Sing, altho cantonese, they go thte dumplings to taste shanghainese.

Shanghainese

Sory, I meant got the ......