Our friends were last in Shanghai during their month long Backpack trip some 30 years ago. To say much has changed in Shanghai in the ensuing time is a bit of an understatement.
We spent some time roaming around soaking in the vibrant Shanghai excitement, all the while drooling at all the enticing dining options every which way.
NANJING ROAD PEDESTRIAN STREET at a 3rd floor restaurant we had enjoyed with my wife’s Shanghainese background aunt/uncle last year.
Restaurant is on the very touristy Nanjing Road. Well prepared food and attentive service. Our second dinner here, fine place to enjoy some traditional Shanghainese cuisine above the hustle and bustle of the street below.
My wife wanted more of the Shanghai White Fish, my buddy and I wanted the Snail dish everyone seemed to be eating.
When it came time for serious eating, we chose a restaurant with a sunlit deck overlooking the emerald waterway. Rustic Gondola cruising by added to the local flavor.
Others might not realize, but those Shanghai Stir Fry Shrimp were probably river shrimp, smaller than what you’d get from the sea.
And the seaweed fish (with seaweed in the batter) is also pure Shanghai. When done right, the fish is so light it seems to float off the plate.
You can’t get more Shanghainese than the sweetened lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice.
Shanghainese food is not served much outside of Shanghai, no matter how delicious it is. It often defies expectations of what people think of when thinking of Chinese food. Many visit without ever trying the cuisine. Or realizing it’s a thing. Now that’s a shame.
