Cheap Eats in Shanghai

One of the true hallmarks of a food mecca is the availability of excellent eateries at bargain basement prices. Tokyo has its Yakitori joints, Hong Kong has its Fish Ball stalls and Athens has its Gyros stands. While Shanghai is already internationally famous for its mouth-watering Soup Dumplings, there exists a much wider plethora of outstanding peasant dishes awaiting adventurous minds and empty stomachs.

With only two-and-a-half days in Shanghai and thousands of restaurants to choose from, we consulted the locals and visited 5 reasonably cheap eateries for the most representative Shanghainese dishes. If you’re looking for cheap and authentic eats in Central Shanghai on a tight travel budget, the following places are regarded by its citizens as some of the best informal eateries serving nothing but genuine Shanghainese cuisine, at RMB 20 to 50 (CAD$3 to $8) per person as of 2013.


Food Review: LANTING RESTAURANT (Shanghai)
Address: 107 Songshan Road, Luwan District, Shanghai
Hours: 11:00-21:30
Website/Map: Map from Google
Directions: Take the metro to South Huangpi Road station and take Exit 2 onto Huaihai Zhonglu. Walk east for about 100m and turn right onto Songshan Road. Lanting is about 1.5 blocks down the street on the left hand side. See the picture of the storefront below.


This tiny mom-and-pop operation, located within easy walking distance from the excellent shopping at Xintiandi, is about as authentically Shanghainese as it gets. There are 2 chefs, 6 little square tables, and a perennial line-up with patrons sitting outside on wobbly plastic chairs in a queue. Wait times can be extremely long (ie. 2 hours), temper can flare and fights occasionally break out between patrons, or even between a patron and the owner on the night of our visit!

Okay ... it's really not that rough. Just remember to show up sharply at 17:00 to get your table (or a slip of paper indicating your position in line), and enjoy the spontaneous entertainment of the scuffling locals. Hey ... at least they’re passionate about food!



Jokes aside, the 6 tables at Lanting Restaurant are undoubtedly among Shanghai’s most sought-after seats. While acclaimed restaurants such as Fu 1088 do accept reservations weeks in advance, working-class Lanting has always operated on the premise of first-come-first-serve, seven days a week. We arrived at 17:30 to finally receive our table at 18:45, and those who arrived at 18:45 would likely never receive a table by closing time. Patrons from all over Shanghai come here for the same reason: outstanding home-cooking that taste even better than mom’s, at very reasonable prices that even blue-collar dad can afford.



Once seated, there’s ONE magical dish that everyone orders, an old-fashioned Shanghainese favorite with the unappetizingly-sounding name of Ji Gu Jiang, or Chicken Bones in Sauce. It’s a dark, syrupy concoction of chopped chicken drumsticks, braised in a thick, gluey glaze consisting of dark soy sauce, the region’s indigenous yellow wine, and an insane amount of rock sugar. For any Shanghainese native over the age of 30, the taste must evoke childhood memories of how grandma used to make it -- intoxicatingly sweet, savory, and seriously addictive. After the chicken is all finished, the left-over sauce then goes perfectly on top of plain rice, all for the cheap price of RMB 28 (CAD$4.4).



Lanting also boasts two wildly popular deep-fried dishes, one made with boneless pork strips and the other with boneless fish fillets. Our Deep-Fried Yellow Croaker Fish in Batter (Miantuo Huangyu) was yet another local peasant favorite, though it’s more commonly made with the cheaper Small Yellow Croakers where entire fish, heads and fins and all, are battered then deep-fried to a crisp in the oil wok. Here the fish are deboned, deep-fried and served with a dip of local brown grain vinegar, which in principle isn’t unlike its internationally-popular English counterpart served with malt vinegar, but given an exotic oriental twist here.

It was by this time of the night when tempers came to a boil outside the restaurant, as many queuing patrons had already stood for 2 hours. Now, our table happened to be located next to the entrance. One young Mandarin-speaking male barged through the door, stood right beside our table and just roared at the owner’s wife at the top of his lungs:

“Guo Hao Bu Deng! Shi Bu Shi Ni Men Ding De Kui Ju!” screamed the young patron, “Is it your own rule not to wait for customers who missed the call for queue numbers!?”

Perhaps it’s got something to do with our restaurant selections, but we always seem to get front row seats in the midst of some local drama (see our experience in Osaka when the Yakuza arrived to collect protection-money during our dinner). This time we decided to quickly wrap up our meal, before the shouting match turned into a brawl.



We finished our dinner with a dish of locally grown Alfalfa Leaves (Caotou), stir-fried with a strong dose of rice liquor, costing about RMB 16 (CAD$2.5). Now you see the reason behind the incredible popularity of this unassuming eatery, and why Shanghainese locals are practically fighting for the privilege of one simple table. Where else can you find such top quality Shanghainese home-cooking for RMB 15 to 30 per entree, within Central Shanghai, in this age of rampant inflation? Although ... the next time I’ll probably skip the 2 hour line-up, and just take out some Chicken Bones in Sauce and plain rice to head back to the hotel room!

Bill for Two Persons

Chicken Bones in Sauce	RMB 28
Deep-Fried Yellow Croaker Fish in Batter	RMB 30
Stir-Fried Alfalfa Leaves in Wine	RMB 16
Large Draft Beer	RMB 10
Seven-Up	RMB 5
Rice and Plate Sets x 2	RMB 4
TOTAL	RMB 91 (CAD$14.4)

So you want a taste of authentic Shanghainese cuisine at cheap local prices, but you don’t have 2 hours to wait in a line-up. And you want a place with English menus. And you want it right next to your sightseeing, within walking distance from the Bund? Well, there is ONE such place that I know of ...


Food Review: LVYA RESTAURANT (Shanghai)
Address: 372 Jiangxi Zhonglu, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Hours: 09:00-21:00
Website/Map: Map from Google
Directions: Take the metro to East Nanjing Road station and exit onto East Nanjing Road. Walk east in the direction of the Bund and turn left on Jiangxi Zhonglu. Lvya Restaurant is about 2.5 blocks down the street on the right side. See the picture of the storefront below, and look for the long staircase leading to the 2nd floor.


There are many reasons why I just LOVE this restaurant: excellent Shanghainese food, authentic local atmosphere, cheap factory workers’ prices, and best of all, its convenient location just 2 blocks from the most beautiful section of the Bund’s shoreline. When asking for directions, remember it’s not called "LOVE YA" or "LOO YA," but "LÜ YA" where the Ü sound is similar to the Germanic Ü with the umlaut (eg. ZÜRICH). Chinese computer users have long adopted the use of the letter "V" to represent this sound (versus the regular "U" sound), hence "Lvya" instead of "Luya."



Once you get past the pronunciation and the intimidating staircase at the entrance, you’ll enter into the world of authentic Shanghainese dining without any moderation towards foreigners. The clientele is unapologetically loud, occasionally rowdy, and is typically generous at filling the hall with cigarette smoke and strewing the carpet with peanut shells -- so you’ve been warned! But should you choose to stay, you’ll be rewarded with some of the best genuine Shanghainese cuisine at neighborhood diner prices. This place is famous among the locals, for good reasons.



The favorite on EVERY table is Shanghai’s timeless crowd-pleaser, the Flash-Fried Shrimp, or You Bao Xia. These are tiny freshwater shrimps found in local waters, repeatedly flash-fried in a sizzling oil wok until the inedible shells transform into a delicate crisp, and finally seasoned with a delightfully sweet finish. The result is the perfect dish for the lazy seafood lover: no peeling is required as the shrimps are meant to be eaten whole, shells and tails and all. As one can probably guess, these scrumptious morsels wash down exceptionally well with beer or the regional specialty of aged yellow wine. This was probably my number one favorite dish in Shanghai, even surpassing the outstanding (but several times more expensive) dishes at the highly acclaimed Fu 1088.

Do note though, that these tiny crustaceans do possess hazardously sharp spines and shells, thus requiring a bit of caution before you pop the whole shrimp into your mouth. I personally like to first chew off the sharp spine on the shrimp head, but I’m sure each local foodie has his or her own trick.



Deliberately faithful to classic Shanghainese flavors, Lvya is a dream for traditional gourmands and a nightmare for diabetics. There is absolutely no toning down of regional preferences for sugary sweetness to suit non-Shanghainese (let alone Western) palates, as demonstrated in this cold dish of Sixi Kaofu, or Spongy Gluten in Four Happiness Style. I never really understood the whole gluten-free fad in the food industry from the perspective of the 99.9% who aren’t allergic, and when traveling in Japan or China I never shy away from blatantly gluten-made dishes. In fact I really enjoy the softness of Shanghainese gluten and how the spongy texture soak up the flavorful marinade, compared to the denser and chewier versions seen in Southern China (as Simulated Duck) or Japan (as Yaki-Fu). This was also one of the cheapest restaurant dishes of our entire 17-day journey, at merely RMB 12 (CAD$2).



The surprise of the evening was a more contemporary favorite with the confusing name of Yu Mian Jin, or Fish Gluten. These turned out to be soft, puffy meatballs made of pureed fish and egg white, which really had nothing to do with gluten at all. At the cheap price of RMB 22 this simply could not have been made from saltwater fish, but it was so well-prepared that I did not detect any hint of the repulsive "muddy" flavor characteristic of freshwater fishes. The fish puffs were in fact extremely fresh, juicy and miraculously chewy, and were perfectly seasoned with a few squares of cured ham. Another excellent dish for less than CAD$4.

Aside from the above dishes, a friend of mine (you know who you are) visited a few months later and found the Red Braised Pork and Ningbo Glutinous Rice Balls to be very recommendable as well. While Lvya Restaurant may seem chaotic and bewildering on first glance, the food is cheap, genuinely Shanghainese and most importantly, consistently excellent in terms of quality. If you're looking for authentic local cuisines to complement your sightseeing at the Bund, this would be my best recommendation.

Bill for Two Persons

Flash-Fried Shrimp (RMB 13.8 per 100g x 400g)	RMB 55
Fish Gluten with Vegetables	RMB 22
Spongy Gluten in Four Happiness Style	RMB 12
Large Beer	RMB 10
Rice	RMB 1
TOTAL	RMB 100 (CAD$15.9)

The above restaurants should satisfy your needs for cheap and delicious sit-down dinners within Central Shanghai, for less than RMB 50 (CAD$8) per head. And if you’re looking for something absolutely dirt cheap (RMB 10 to 30), no worries. Shanghai is also famous for its mouth-watering assortment of peasant snacks, starting with its highly celebrated Soup Dumplings.


Food Review: JIAJIA TANGBAO (Shanghai)
Address: 90 Huanghe Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Hours: 06:30-19:30
Website/Map: From Google Map
Directions: Take the metro to People’s Square Station and take Exit 8 to West Nanjing Road. Head west and immediately turn right at the first street (Huanghe Road), where Jiajia Tangbao is two blocks ahead on the right side. Look for the queue and line-up with the locals.


This place is a genuine Shanghai original as far as Soup Dumplings are concerned. If you have time for just one food adventure in Shanghai, this unassuming eatery, combined with the neighboring Yang's Dumpling, would be my top recommendation. And even if you don’t trust me, you have to trust the long line-up of locals and Chinese tourists alike outside this little shop all day, every day.

Attracting its small army of followers is one and only one simple dish. Whether you call them Soup Dumplings, XLB Dumplings or Xiao Long Bao in standard Chinese, these little steamed buns with fillings of scaldingly hot soup and savory minced meat have quietly garnered fans around the world for years, even before the New York Times declared Din Tai Fung one of the "Top 10 Restaurants in the World" back in 1993. Since then Time Magazine has also hailed Din Tai Fung as one of “10 Things to Do” in Shanghai, which is a really unfortunate mistake made by a bunch of misinformed Lao Wai reporters with no understanding of Chinese food. So let me clarify this for all readers:

Din Tai Fung is NOT a Shanghai tradition -- it’s actually a Taiwanese chain with branches as far as Los Angeles, Sydney, Tokyo, and then a few in Shanghai. At the Shanghai branches you’d be paying about 5 times the street price at RMB 120 for a steamer of 10 Pork-and-Crab-Caviar dumplings. Ask any random Shanghainese guy and you’d be directed to the cheaper and much more authentic local joints, which is why we’re here at the extremely popular Jiajia Tangbao.



Jiajia Tangbao is a small local chain with multiple shops in town, the most convenient being this location right at the centre of Shanghai, two blocks north of the People’s Square metro station. Upon arrival you’ll see a long queue, which actually moves much quicker than it may seem with most patrons finishing their dumplings in about 20 minutes. Don’t be deterred by the posted menu in Chinese -- they do have a hand-scribbled English cheatsheet of a menu.

Ordering was a no-brainer as we simply followed the example of the locals -- one steamer of Soup Dumplings and one dish of Vinegar with Shredded Ginger. We would have ordered 3 steamers between the two of us if we wanted a full lunch ... BUT there’s an equally delicious and even cheaper eatery right across the street that we had to save stomach room for (see review of Yang's Dumpling below).



Next to the counter was an open kitchen of 6 chefs collaborating in an assembly line of dumpling magic -- one to work the dough and churn out uniformly portioned flour balls, one to turn the balls into perfectly flat and circular wrappers, one to prepare the filling of minced pork, crab caviar, aspic and whatever secret ingredients it took, and three to perform the most delicate handicraft of folding the wrappers into circular cones sealing the soon-to-be liquefied filling of meat and soup inside. The sealing is most essential -- it would be considered a complete failure if the dumpling bursts before it reaches the patron’s tongue.

It was early November when we visited, right in the middle of Crab Caviar season when local Hairy Crabs were harvested for their succulent golden roes (see our visit to the Crab Farms of Yangcheng Lake). Top-of-the-line dumplings with Crab Meat and Caviar were available for a cool RMB 99 per dozen, which we didn’t order as I often find the taste of pure Crab Caviar fillings too strong for my preference. Our conservative and much cheaper choice was the Soup Dumplings with Pork and Crab Caviar at RMB 27, still possessing that intense flavor of Caviar and complimented by a soup base of freshly minced pork.



Just look at the luscious, bright yellow caviar oil oozing out of the folded seams of the Soup Dumplings, and you’ll see why these were simply the best either of us has ever had. Looking for that perfect thickness in the wrapping, almost paper-thin but just thick enough to prevent from bursting when picked up by chopsticks? Check! And that unmistakable flavor of Crab Caviar in the soup, with a portion generous enough to wow the tastebuds and yet not overpoweringly strong? Check! What about the filling of pork and caviar, disintegrating in the mouth with a genuine non-MSG-derived Umami flavor? Yup, they’re doing everything right to please the pickiest local gourmands, and hence the huge line-up of patrons you see outside the shop.

Bill for Two Persons

Soup Dumplings with Pork and Crab Caviar	RMB 27
Vinegar with Shredded Ginger	RMB 1
Soft Drink	RMB 2
TOTAL	RMB 30 (CAD$4.8)

So far we’ve spent only RMB 30 (CAD$4.8) between the two of us, for some of the best Dim Sum (or Dian Xin in standard Chinese) in town. But this was only the first half of our lunch, as the aroma from Yang's Dumpling beckons just 20 metres away across the street ...


Food Review: YANG’S DUMPLING (Shanghai)
Address: 97 Huanghe Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Hours: 10:00-22:00
Website/Map: From Google Map
Directions: See the above directions for Jiajia Tangbao -- the two eateries are directly facing each other across the street.


So you want authentic Shanghainese food, at prices even cheaper than the RMB 27 (CAD$4.3) steamer of Soup Dumplings at Jiajia? You’re still at the right place! Competing for business right across from Jiajia is a branch of Yang's Dumpling, one of Shanghai's most successful "fast food" chains. Instead of copying the American formula of cholesterol-laden burgers and fries, Shanghainese entrepreneurs had taken take-outs for a healthier and addictively tasty turn, in the form of the succulent Shengjian, or Pan-Fried Dumplings.



If you’re wondering how good take-outs can possibly taste for a measly RMB 6 (CAD$1), you’ll be pleasantly surprised. The Shanghainese are known to be religiously serious about their Pan-Fried Dumplings, and of the numerous specialty shops sprouting across the megapolis, Yang's Dumpling is widely regarded as one of the top local favorites (about 40 shops across Shanghai, and still expanding). The common feature at every storefront is an open kitchen where fresh batches of scrumptious dumplings are constantly being scraped off the gigantic wok, served piping hot and bursting with savory juices.



Patrons have come to expect a small line-up at any hour of the day, though wait times should be short as most of the orders are typically take-outs. Each order comes with four mouth-watering, soup-filled dumplings with thunderously crunchy pan-fried bottoms, serving up a satisfying breakfast or a light lunch for about half the price of a McDonald’s Big Mac. No wonder that the local KFC had to look past the Colonel’s Fried Chicken and come up with Spicy Shrimps on Rice in response -- Shanghai’s own fast food is good, and cutthroat-priced.



See the quantity of soup inside just one of these Dumplings, and you’ll understand why these were by far the juiciest Pan-Fried Dumplings either of us had ever tasted. Purists may point out that traditional Shanghainese Shengjian are supposed to made with a drier, more meaty filling, but ourselves, and my wife in particular, absolutely loved this soup-filled version.



We finished our meal with a bowl of Clear Broth with Pork Balls, Tofu Puffs and Mung Bean Noodles, another local favorite for breakfasts or quick lunches. This was nowhere as good as the Pan-Fried Dumplings though, and we probably should have saved our stomach room for the next restaurant on our list. But we certainly had no complaints about Yang's Dumpling -- the dumplings were top quality, the portions were large, and we really couldn’t ask for a cheaper price than 4 large dumplings for RMB 6.

Bill for Two Persons

Pan-Fried Dumplings x 8	RMB 12
Clear Broth with Pork Balls, Tofu Puffs and Mung Bean Noodles	RMB 9
TOTAL	RMB 21 (CAD$3.3)

After two light lunches at two of Shanghai’s best informal eateries within the course of an hour, you may think that we’re done for the afternoon. But as your dutiful reporter I’ve got another dumpling place on the itinerary, just 10 minutes’ walk to the east.


Food Review: TAIKANG TANGBAOGUAN (Shanghai)
Address: 768 Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Hours: 09:30-20:00
Website/Map: From Google Map
Directions: Take the metro to People’s Square Station and walk east onto the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street. Taikang is about 100m into the pedestrian zone on the left hand side. NOTE that this is also within walking distance from Jiajia and Yang's reviewed above.


If you think we’re going overboard visiting THREE specialty eateries for dumplings in Shanghai in one day ... well, I can’t proclaim to be a lover of Chinese food if I fail to appreciate the different interpretations of Shanghai’s most famous contribution to the culinary world. The Soup Dumplings at Jiajia are your classical XLB Dumplings served in Chinese restaurants around the world, while the Pan-Fried Dumplings at Yang's belong to a whole different category of thick-skinned, pan-fried or deep-fried dumplings, which may or may not come with any soup inside. And finally at Taikang we’ve come for a 21st Century interpretation of the age-old Soup Dumpling, which looked like:


This! We’re talking about THE ultimate dumpling for soup lovers, a monstrous pouch 15 cm in diameter made with a delicate wrapping, and filled with nothing but liquefied, scaldingly hot soup. Unlike your traditional soup dumplings, there was no meatball to be found inside, only a thick broth of minced pork, crab meat and caviar, and of course the aspic to gel it all together during the wrapping stage.



Despite its deceptive flimsiness the wrapping was actually much stronger and stretchier than it appeared, and at no point were we in danger of puncturing the pouch and spilling the soup. This marvelous wrapping was something we had only previously seen on CCTV’s excellent documentary A Bite of China, on which the chef demonstrated blowing air into the pouch to expand it like a balloon. The flavor though was definite a couple notches lower than the excellent Jiajia -- the crab caviar in particular wasn’t quite fresh enough, and emitted that bitter fishiness characteristic of stale caviar. It was an interesting experience for once, but in terms of taste I would definitely recommend Jiajia and even Yang's over Taikang.

Bill for Two Persons

Soup Dumpling with Crab Meat and Caviar x 2	RMB 30
TOTAL	RMB 30 (CAD$4.8)

Fine Shanghainese Cuisine in Shanghai

We splurged on our last day in China at what is reputed to be one of the finest Shanghainese restaurants in Shanghai.

This was the morning when we traveled from Suzhou back to Shanghai to complete our 17-day full circle, with only 7 hours left until our flight out of Pudong Airport. That’s barely enough time to stash our luggage at the train station and take our leftover Yuans for one final meal -- and one of our most memorable meals in China.

Food Review: Fu 1088 (Shanghai)
Address: 375 Zhenning Road, Jing’an District, Shanghai
Hours: 11:00-14:00, 17:30-23:00
Reservation: 021-52397878. Reservations highly recommended. Working English spoken.
Website/Map: From Google Map
Directions: Take the Metro to Jiangsu Road Station. Take the Yuyuan Road Exit (No.2) and walk east along Yuyuan Road. Turn left at Zhenning Road, and the restaurant is about 100m ahead on the left side. Note that there is no signage -- you need to keep an eye out for No.375.



This place is widely accepted as one of the best, if not THE best, restaurants for Shanghainese dishes anywhere in China, at least according to local reviewers at the Chinese language Dianping.com. Housed in a 1930’s European style mansion in the former French Concession, Fu 1088 is a throwback to the glorious heydays of Old Shanghai, serving representative Shanghainese classics with a modern and sometimes experimental twist (which may or may not work well). There’s no signage out front -- you simply have to be in the know.



While dining in China is still relatively cheap if you’re from Europe or North America, I must point out that this restaurant is no bargain by local standards -- the minimum charge is RMB 300 (CAD$48) per person before drinks. Originally we wanted to book its sister restaurant Fu 1038 where the minimum charge was RMB 200, but it was unfortunately closed for a wedding reception on the day of our visit. To put this into perspective, our previous THREE meals in Shanghai TOTALLED less than RMB 150 per person, and those were already some of the best eateries for their respective genres. See the next article for Shanghai’s cheaper eats, if you’re looking more for authentic peasant food.



This is the extravagance that has attracted Shanghai’s affluent upper-middle class -- university-educated waitresses, antique Turn-of-20th-Century furniture and spotless pressed white linen, set in our own private room behind closed doors with a window facing the suburban Zhenning Road ... right across from a blue-collar eatery advertising RMB 10 lunch boxes. And here we were having a RMB 600 feast alongside the rich and famous of 21st Century capitalist China. It’s all very Shanghai in an unfortunate way.

But ambience means little to these two traveling foodies -- we’re here to see if the upscale prices and raving reviews from Chinese gourmands are justified by the quality of food served. To gain a full appreciation for the restaurant’s repertoire, and to satisfy the RMB 600 minimum charge, we ordered 9 representative Eastern Chinese dishes. That’s 9 dishes for just my wife and myself. For lunch.



The dishes we ordered were mostly Shanghainese classics; the interpretation of the dishes however wasn’t so apparently classical, starting with our first course of Drunken Chicken with Huadiao Wine (Huadiao Zuiji), one of the most popular Shanghainese dishes. In my experience this dish is typically served in one of two ways -- either with the slow-marinated chicken still bathing inside a small urn of seasoned yellow wine, or having the chicken drained of its marinade and plated dry. This was neither.

In a surprising twist referencing the restaurant’s past life in the French Concession of the 1930’s, our familiar Shanghainese fare was given a westernized presentation, stacked into a small tower topped with frozen crystals of Huadiao wine. The deboned chicken fillets were flavorfully free-range, tenderly simmered and infused with the complex fragrance of the wine marinade. While the melting crystals of Huadiao on the tongue was a crowning bonus, the chicken alone was good enough to rank among the best Drunken Chicken I’ve ever had anywhere.



Cold dishes would dominate the start of the meal, as one would expect at any formal Eastern Chinese restaurant. Our second course was another modern twist of a Shanghainese classic in which a traditional Cold Smoked Egg was served with a little scoop of caviar. I thought the caviar was entirely overshadowed by the deep aroma of smoked tea leaves infused into the egg, and was inserted for the sole purpose of inflating its price (RMB 18 for half an egg). I still loved the delicate flavors in the eggwhite and the silkiness of the yolk, and to be fair this was still the best Smoked Egg I’ve ever had, minus the caviar.



Between cold dishes and hot entrees came a transitional dish of Old Shanghainese Smoked Fish (Laoshanghai Xunyu), one of the most recognizable dishes in Shanghainese cuisine and typically served cold. Here it was presented as a warm dish out of the deep-fryer, and stacked into a tower of filleted chunks instead of its conventional serving as a round steak with bones and skin attached. This was at the same time the crispiest, the juiciest, and the best flavored Smoked Fish I’ve ever had -- and note that this was the third straight dish reaching the best-ever category. If this continued for a few more dishes this would have easily become our best ever meal ... but it wasn’t to be. Close, but not quite.



Our entrees started with yet another Shanghainese favorite in this Stir-Fried Eels in Sauce (Qingchao Shanhu), also the most expensive dish of the day. Here we’re finally diving into the representative Shanghainese flavor known as Nongyou Chijiang, or “heavy on the use of oil and sauces.” The quality of these native yellow eels was simply excellent -- fresh, delectably rich in oil and chewy to the point of being “al dente” to the bite. The dark sauce however was much more average, and certainly nowhere as deep and delicious as the similar dish we had at Suzhou’s Wumenrenjia a couple days earlier, for about half the price.



By the 5th course we reached the classic of all classic Shanghainese dishes, and the local equivalence of hearty comfort food -- a humongous slab of Red-Braised Pork (Hongshao Rou) made from five-layered pork bellies. While the thick and gelatinous skin was wonderfully chewy to the bite, the bottom layers were a little too heavy especially with the syrupy sweet baste. I would have liked a more generous use of the region’s aged dark vinegar to balance out the oiliness, though that’s just a personal preference.



Just when we needed something lighter from all the excess oil, this plate of Baby Yunnan Green Peas with Diced Cured Ham (Huoding Yunnan Xiaowandou) arrived in time as a palate cleanser. Note that this was the only non-Shanghainese dish thus far, as the locally preferred palate cleansing dish would be the Indian Aster (Malantou). This turned out to be a pretty decent dish, though we would have stopped ordering long before this point if it wasn’t for the RMB 600 minimum charge.



November was crab caviar season in Shanghai, and even though this was only a day after our crab-caviar-tasting at Yangcheng Lake, we decided to order two more of these highly seasonal dishes before leaving China. Unfortunately I think we must have been spoiled by the luscious caviar of Yangcheng Lake Crabs, as we simply weren’t impressed by this elegantly presented Steamed Egg White with Crab Caviar ... especially at the price of RMB 38 per person. While the egg white was perfectly soft-steamed and velvety smooth, the taste of crab caviar was miserly and barely detectable. In retrospect we probably should have ordered something such as Tofu with Crab Caviar, where the quantity of caviar would be easily visible to the eye.



But there’s one more chance for this restaurant to redeem itself in terms of crab caviar dishes, with Shanghai’s most famous Dianxin (ie. Dim Sum) creation: the Steamed Soup Buns with Crab Caviar. This was two weeks after we had the absolute best Soup Buns of our lives at Jiajia Tangbao on Huanghe Road, so the bar had been set. And at the price of RMB 36 for 4 buns, I wanted to see at least a good effort, and the generous use of caviar, to justify paying 3 times the price compared to Jiajia.



Again we were disappointed. The signature bright yellow caviar-oil associated with the addition of crab caviar was nowhere to be found, and neither was a pronounced flavor of crab caviar in the filling or the soup. Perhaps I shouldn’t be overly critical, as the dough skin, the soup and the filling were all very good ... but please don’t attach "Crab Caviar" to the name!



Wrapping up our meal was a novel interpretation of the timeless Jiaozi, a.k.a. Gyoza in Japanese. It was interesting to see the ubiquitous pan-fried dumplings presented in this almost crepe-like form, held together by a delightfully crispy layer of deep-fried starch solution which went very well with the mildly spicy dipping sauce.

I still don’t know how we managed to stuff all 9 courses into ourselves, as the Red-Braised Pork was the only dish we couldn’t finish. I guess that’s exactly the purpose of that RMB 300 per person minimum charge -- otherwise every middle-class family in Shanghai would come and order Red-Braised Pork, Smoked Fish and plain rice and walk off with a RMB 200 dinner for a family of three. Despite a couple of disappointing dishes the overall quality of food was still excellent, especially their modern interpretations of classical Shanghainese appetizers. Next time though I would still try to make a reservation at Fu 1038 for the cheaper per-person minimum, and I’ll remember to skip the crab caviar.

Bill for Two Persons

Drunken Chicken with Huadiao Wine	RMB 68
Cold Smoked Egg with Caviar x 2	RMB 36
Old Shanghainese Smoked Fish	RMB 58
Stir-Fried Eels in Sauce	RMB 138
Red-Braised Pork	RMB 108
Baby Yunnan Green Peas with Diced Cured Ham	RMB 68
Steamed Egg White with Crab Caviar x 2	RMB 76
Steamed Soup Buns with Crab Caviar	RMB 36
Pan-Fried Shrimp Jiaozi Dumplings	RMB 30
Fresh Squeezed Grape Juice	RMB 32
Fresh Squeezed Papaya Juice	RMB 38
TOTAL	RMB 688 (CAD$109)

A couple of friends have asked which hotel we chose in central Shanghai and whether it’s recommendable. Frankly I didn’t come across any exceptional deals when we planned our November trip, and selected our hotel based on our usual criteria such as:
- Direct transportation from Pudong Airport where we arrived
- Direct transportation to Hongqiao Train Station where we departed
- Walkable to a major Metro Station (East Nanjing Road Station)
- Walkable to the shoreline of the Bund
- Walkable to a good selection of restaurants
- A clean western-style room with private shower and toilet

The above criteria narrowed down our choices to a select few superiorly positioned hotels, typically 4-stars and above. We did however find a couple of reasonably priced 2- to 3-star hotels in the area, and settled at a little-known private hotel, just half-a-block from Shanghai’s most popular attraction.


Hotel Review: ZHENBEI HOTEL SHANGHAI
Address: 47 Jiujiang Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Price: RMB 288 (CAD$46) for a double room with private bathroom
Website: from Google Map here
How To Book: Book from CTrip
Directions: Take the Metro to the East Nanjing Road Station. Take Exit 7 and walk along East Nanjing Road towards the Bund. Immediately turn right at the next street (Jiangxi Zhonglu) and then left on Jiujiang Road. The hotel is about 300m ahead, half a block before the bright lights of the Bund.


If you’re looking for 5-star convenience at 2-star prices in the heart of Shanghai, this little private hotel is one of my two recommendations (the other being Manhattan Business Hotel at a slightly higher price). Here you’re a 1-minute walk to the glitzy shoreline of the Bund, and in fact one block from the venerable Peace Hotel and its extravagant RMB 3000 rooms. And on top of that, one metro trip on Line 2 takes you directly to Pudong Airport for international flights, or Hongqiao Airport for domestic flights, or Hongqiao Train Station for high-speed trains to Hangzhou if you wish. And if you need one more reason, some of the best cheap restaurants in town are within walking distance (see next article on Cheap Eats).



The downside is ... it is a budget hotel after all, as reflected in the drab wallpaper and rundown carpets. Our sheets however were very clean, and our room did come with the modern conveniences of air-conditioning, cable TV, fridge and hair-dryer. The front desk spoke minimal English, though that should be expected at anything less than 4-stars.



The bathroom was western-style and reasonably clean, which is always one of our bottom line requirements. No breakfast was served at this price, but why would we want to waste our stomach room on mediocre food while the best peasant fare of Shanghai was only one subway stop away on Huanghe Road off the People’s Square? That to me, was one of the major advantages of staying at this central location.



The best part was of course the iconic night scenery of Shanghai’s Bund, with the world’s best exhibition of Art Deco architecture on the near shore and the 21st Century skyscrapers of Pudong on the opposite shore, being barely 100m from the hotel’s front door. With views like this just 5 minute’s walk away to the north, you can see why we didn’t spend very much time inside our ugly hotel room. It was all about the location anyway.

Caviar Tasting at the Crab Farms of Yangcheng Lake

This is my pilgrimage as a serious fan of Chinese cuisine.

To Chinese gourmands, the words "Yangcheng Lake" should automatically evoke images of lusciously golden-and-white crab caviar, universally treasured from Hong Kong to Shanghai to Beijing. On my last trip to Hong Kong these adorable little crustaceans were sold at allegedly certified retailers for HKD$180 (CAD$23) for one little palm-sized crab. If you think that’s a bit over the top ... honestly, price isn’t even the problem.



The real issue is -- only 3,000 tonnes are hoisted from the waters of this small lake annually, compared to an estimated 100,000 tonnes marketed as genuine Yangcheng Lake Crabs worldwide. With a counterfeit ratio of 97%, where could one find the genuine genuine Yangcheng Lake Crabs?

It was time for a serious food trip. We purposely scheduled our 17-day trip of Eastern China in the autumn -- just to coincide with the harvest season of the highly prized delicacy at this prestigious locale -- and went on an expedition to a floating crab-farming village on Yangcheng Lake for a taste of the real thing.



I have to clarify -- this really isn’t as crazy as it sounds. The increasingly affluent middle class of Shanghai makes this pilgrimage every year, arriving in the village for a gratifying lunch and carrying home a basket of crabs as precious souvenirs. But I’ve never heard of foreigners coming here, and I did surprise the crab farmers when I called them in my imperfect Mandarin Chinese. As it turned out, the Mandarin Chinese of these Wu-dialect speakers wasn’t so perfect either, and one farmer agreed to drive his boat to the pier and pick us up at 10:30.



Nestled at the centre of the lake is the secluded crab-farming community of Lotus Island (Lianhuadao), accessible only thru the private motor boats of crab farmers and fishermen. Native islanders have worked these waters for generations, but in recent years the village has also opened itself as an agri-tourism destination to the city-dwellers of neighboring Suzhou and Shanghai. Visitors come to indulge in a colossal meal of organic farmhouse specialties, culminating in the climax of not just one, but a male-female pair of Yangcheng Lake Crabs, full of the two distinct and equally delicious forms of caviar.



This is about as certain as you can be about the authenticity of your Yangcheng Lake Crabs, when you’ve just seen the owner returning with fresh crabs from his assigned waters. 10-course feasts featuring TWO crabs per person range from RMB 150 to 250 (depending on your choice of crab sizes) per person with free pick-up from the lakeside, a bargain basement price compared to anything found in Hong Kong or even Shanghai. For comparison we paid RMB 158 the previous night in a Suzhou restaurant for two crabs alone, and those weren’t even Yangcheng Lake Crabs. You simply can’t beat the price-performance ratio here ... and plus ... there’s the bonus of exploring an authentic Chinese fishing village after the meal.



Awaiting our arrival from the 10-minute boat ride was a meticulously prepared feast of monumental proportions. After two weeks of MSG-laden fare from city restaurants, we’re so delighted to find authentic home-cooked dishes deriving from the island’s own fresh produce, starting with cold appetizers such as these Salted Duck Eggs. Remember that everything had to be shipped in by boat at a cost, so you can count on the ingredients to be as locally-sourced as possible.



How good were these organic ingredients? One of my favorite memories of the meal was this unassuming dish of Turnip Salad, which was really nothing more than freshly shredded turnips with perhaps a pinch of sugar and salt. But this was so much better than any turnip / radish I’ve ever tasted in anywhere in the world, so sweet, juicy and crisp, and possessed such a concentrated radish flavor that I could never find in city supermarkets.



Another example was this simple appetizer of Stem Lettuce, a fall and winter favorite of local peasants in Eastern China. Plainly stir-fried and lightly seasoned, these organic vegetables taste a thousand times better than their mass-produced counterparts served elsewhere. This was a bit of an eye-opener for me, as these incredibly fresh and flavorsome veggies were impossible to purchase in metropolitan China and Hong Kong.



The emptied plates kept on piling and suddenly we’re at our fourth appetizer, a cold dish of Chicken Feet in Brine. This Eastern Chinese style of preparation seemed somewhat similar to the Cantonese favorite of White Cloud Chicken Feet, though I still personally preferred the lightly vinegared Cantonese version. Keep in mind that there were only two of us in this attempt to complete a 10-course meal, and you can see why we’re starting to worry about limited stomach room.



After four appetizers we finally arrived at the main courses, starting with this Sauce-Braised Free Range Chicken. While the meat was chewy and flavorful as expected of a free-range bird, I did find the sauce a little light and watery. I knew I shouldn’t judge this harshly though as these weren’t restaurant presentations, but momma’s cooking from the family kitchen of the crab farmer’s wife and aging mother.



Spiny crustaceans aren’t the only produce from these shallow lakebeds, as regional favorites such as periwinkles have also benefitted from the pristine water quality, driven of course by the enormous economic importance of the Yangcheng Lake Crabs. These Stir-Fried Periwinkles with Scallions are a staple in informal Eastern Chinese meals and always seem to come in a dark, savory and mildly spicy soy sauce. Even though the tips of the shells were already sheared off to allow the meat to be sucked out easier, this was still the second most time-consuming dish to finish, next to the crabs.



If you’re wondering how 2 people could manage to finish all this food, to tell you the truth I don’t know either. If this was a regular restaurant and I had choices in ordering, I would have stopped long before this tempting dish of Oil-Braised Manchurian Wild Rice Stems arrived at our table. While I did feel obliged to finish everything and make the old grandma happy, this was getting a little too much.



Just when we thought we were stuffed to our gills, out of the kitchen arrived this HUGE plate of Red-Braised Freshwater Bream, yet another fresh ingredient hoisted by the villagers out of the local waters. While I’m normally not a fan of freshwater fish, the relatively low level of "muddy" flavor in this fish made it quite enjoyable ... and this was after finishing the previous seven dishes. I don’t know how we managed to finish this entire 1 kg fish, but we did, right before the grand entrance of the ONE dish that was the whole reason for this trip.



Presenting the royalty of all Chinese seasonal delicacies -- the rare and highly distinguished Yangcheng Lake Crab.

More expensive than all other dishes of this meal combined, these 4 certified Yangcheng Lake Crabs alone would easily command upwards of HKD$1600 (CAD$205) in specialty restaurants in Hong Kong. But we’re at the home of the farmer who raised these crabs, and the cost they charged here was RMB 150 to 250 (CAD$24 to 40) per pair, depending on crab sizes. It was a no-brainer considering that we had to fly 11 hours to Shanghai -- we went for the largest, plumpest and most expensive crabs at RMB 250 a pair ... and that’s the price including the other 9 courses in this ginormous feast.



I don’t think I need to explain the adrenaline of peeling open these freshly steamed beauties and sucking out the white, sweet and deliciously gooey male caviar. Every fan of Hairy Crabs probably has his or her own reasons for favoring either the male or the female caviar, and for me it’s about the mouthfuls of syrupy, gelatinous male caviar that clings to the tongue and oozes its delicately distinctive flavor. According to the timeless traditions of the local gourmands we arrived at just the right time, during the prime male caviar season in the 10th month of the Lunar Calendar, or about November in the Western calendar. This was the easily the best, and certainly the most voluminous, male caviar I’ve ever had in one crab.



For female caviar however we probably arrived a month too late as per conventional wisdom, and the volume of female caviar was quite average to be honest. But what the crab lacked in quantity, it made up in terms of the quality of its succulent golden caviar. If you’re one of those finicky eaters who get turned off by the characteristic slight bitterness of female caviar, this crab would be perfect as it carried absolutely no hint of bitterness at all.

All this sticky, viscous finger-licking goodness probably blew our cholesterol limit for the week, if not the entire month. But this is what everyone comes to Yangcheng Lake for, and for the two of us living in faraway Canada, this would likely be an experience of a lifetime. I don’t envision the need to return in future even if we pass through Eastern China again -- we’ve already accomplished our ultimate pilgrimage.



Somehow there was still more food to be had, and somehow we did manage to find the last bit of room for this excellent dessert of Sweet Squash Porridge. By now you’ve seen why this feast was worth every single yuan, and why we specifically set aside a half day to make this easy trip from Suzhou. This isn’t something I would recommend for all travelers reading this article, but if you’re as much of a voracious foodie as I am, you already know where your heart is pulling!

Bill for Two Persons

10-Course Set Meal with One Large Pair of Yangcheng Lake Crabs	RMB 250
10-Course Set Meal with One Large Pair of Yangcheng Lake Crabs	RMB 250
TOTAL	RMB 500 (CAD$79)

The added bonus of visiting the remote Lotus Island is a chance to see how the famous Yangcheng Lake Crabs are farmed in their traditional enclosed pens, all scattered methodically in the open waters surrounding the island. It is this system of fishnet gates that gave rise to the popular name of Big Sluice Crabs (Dazhaxie), even though the days of herding crabs through gates and harvesting by hand are long gone. Along with the tempestuous ocean off Alaska where King Crabs are harvested, and perhaps the Hokuriku Coast of Japan, this in my mind would be the mecca for crab eaters.



If you want to have your crab and eat it too, there’s a farmer's market in the village where you can purchase a few crabs and bring back to the cities. We didn’t, as we knew we had enough cholesterol being so well fed for the past two weeks, touring four different provinces in Eastern China. It’s time to wrap up our journey and head back to the starting and ending point of our circular trip, the megapolis of Shanghai.



TRANSPORTATION AND PRACTICALITIES

There are dozens of these informal crab-farming eateries on Lotus Island at the centre of Yangcheng Lake, operating between the official opening date (typically late September) of the crabbing season to the end of the Lunar Calendar Year (January-ish). October and November are generally the best months to visit, the earlier being considered the prime season for female caviar and the latter for male caviar.

To reach Lotus Island, the best approach is to have a Chinese-speaking person call the Crab Farm a couple days ahead (we did it on the same morning, but only because it was a Saturday during peak season) to ensure availability. Agree on a time for the farmer to send a boat to pick you up. But most importantly, some farmers only serve the smaller pier on the north side of the lake which isn’t very accessible by public transit. So make sure the farmer will pick you up at the pier beside the Yangcheng Lake Tourist Centre (Yangchenghu Lvyou Jisan Zhongxin), which is on the west side of the Yangcheng Lake. Write down the time and pier number where the farmer will meet you.

Getting to the Yangcheng Lake Tourist Centre is relatively easy. Start from the Suzhou Train Station and walk downstairs to the local bus station, which is the end terminus for Bus #87. Take this bus for about an hour and get off at the Yangcheng Lake Tourist Centre bus stop, where a side road to the right leads towards a large parking lot. The pier is at the end of the parking lot.

Contact information for our host is as follows:

Crab Farm / Restaurant: Huzhong Xiezhuang
Website: HairyCrabs.com (in Chinese)
Phone: 0512-65442361 (call in Chinese only, ask for the owner Mr.Xu)
Address: Lianhua Village, Yangchenghu Town, Xiangcheng District, Suzhou

Other crab farmers’ phone numbers on our back-up list:

0512-65449686 - Nongjia Xieyuan
13506213873 - Huxian Renjia
13901545955 - Jiaxin Xieyuan
0512-65443797 - Zaizhuiyifang
15962239262 - Fuji
0512-65446213 - Xuji
0512-62270089 - Xiaozhang
15162447096 - Shenji
13913567411 - Xiao Bao