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Is the Chinese government on a warpath of revenge? After enduring an embarrassing year of recalls and bans that left the "Made in China" tag-line in serious need of rehab, it appears that officials are eager to jump on any reason to have the tables turned. After Italy identified higher than acceptable amounts of dioxin in some mozzarella cheese made in the southern Campania region, the folks at the always busy Administration for Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine (or as we like to call them, "Irony and Whine") have put a ban on mozzarella imports from Italy, with other Italian cheeses required to go through lab tests before they're allowed in. From the International Herald Tribune:
Agriculture Minister Paolo De Castro said Italy has no direct exports to China, according to the ANSA news agency. "We are trying to understand the circumstances of this ban," De Castro was quoted as saying.
Italian farmers associations denounced the ban from China, with some pointing out that Chinese exports were tainted by a series of food and product safety scandals last year.
"Adding insult to injury the ban ... is decided by a country like China whose exports have created alarm across the world," said the Coldiretti group.
We feel for the Coldiretti group, one of the aforementioned farmers associations, who undoubtedly feel like the kettle to China's chemically-blackened pot. We were also intrigued by Minister De Castro's claim that Italy has no direct exports to China. If he's right, where the hell have we been getting our mozzarella from? If any of you cheese whizzes know, please comment below.
Photo taken from the site 365cheeses.
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.
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 Though this article is a little old, from Reuters we learn that McDonald's is expanding its delivery service, which we first wrote about way back when. Apparently, demand for home delivery was strong but the restaurants could only meet orders within walking distance. But now, after spending the past year outsourcing its delivery operations and investing in 300 motorcycles across its 42 locations, McDonald's is in a better position to compete with rival Yum! restaurants KFC and Pizza Hut, which have been delivering to customers for years.
McDonald's said last month it would ramp up store openings in China, with plans to open at least 125 restaurants this year and about 150 in 2009.
"For so many years, customers called into our stores to order food for delivery, but our staff were so busy and could only meet the needs of those within walking distance of five minutes," (Shanghai GM) Li said.
He said the company had spent a year preparing for home delivery in Shanghai, but gave no forecast for how much the service would contribute to sales.
Speaking of KFC, expect to see some price increases as the popular chain starts passing some of its spiking food costs onto its customers. According to China Daily, certain products like hamburger and breakfast food will see price increases ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 RMB. Last year saw inflation greatly affect food prices, which rose 12.3% from the previous year. 2008 is off to an even more inflated start, with February alone seeing a 23% price jump. Yikes!
"We will try to keep the prices stable if we can still bear the burden of rising costs," said Sarah Bai, a public relations personnel of KFC. This is the first time the fast food chain has raised its price this year. Another major fast food chain, MacDonald's, raised prices of some of its product in January following another round of hikes last October.
"Paying 13.5 yuan for a hamburger seems too much," said Jin Jing, a 26-year-old legal professional in Beijing. "But that will not influence my choice since prices in other restaurants are also increasing."
Photo by Augapfel via the Shanghaiist contribute page.
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.
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So our search for alcohol-fueled Friday lunches led us to New Heights the other week. Antipasti lunch buffet with soup and a complimentary glass of wine sound exactly like what we need.
The restaurant was relatively empty, the kind that is good for a chatty girlfriends lunch, an obligatory lunch with your workplace counselor or just a quiet meal by yourself taking in the bund view. While the spread doesn't look like much, it actually offers a good assortment of antipasti including the usual smoked meats, salmon, cheese and fresh vegetables (with vinaigrette sauces instead of the thousand island omnipresent in Chinese western dining establishments) as well as uncommon dishes such as erm, pasta and rice salads in case you think RMB 98 is such a rip-off if antipasti is all they would serve a proper lunch should consist of carbs.
We'd chosen to sit indoors the last time partly because it was still a tat too chilly to sit outside. Now that the weather is clearing up (we heart sunshine!), those of you working near the Bund really ought to check this out sometime. We can't get enough of the pretzel breads, and with glass of white wine in hand, it does make us feel like we are at a Sunday brunch almost. Well, at least until the lunch hour's over.
New Heights, 7F, Three on the Bund, 3 Zhongshan Dong Yi Road, near Guangdong Road 中山东一路3号 外滩3号7楼, 近广东路
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 Brunch at the Creek: We recently checked out Creek Kitchen's weekend brunch. Located at the Creek Art Center on the north shore of Suzhou creek, the restaurant on the sixth floor of this renovated art center serves an all you can eat brunch buffet that we enjoyed less for the food than for the relaxing vibe and cool atmosphere. The buffet includes a limited and very standard continental offering: scrambled eggs, thin pancakes, crispy potato wedges, bacon, pizza, spaghetti, muffins, salad, and slices of tender duck (our favorite). Free flow soft drinks, coffee, and juice are included in the 115 RMB price tag, with unlimited sparkling white wine included for an extra 30 RMB. Not a bad deal if you're willing to eschew trendy presentation and adventurous food for a calming weekend meal with good friends and conversation.
Poisoned dumplings poisoning diplomacy: Could a scare earlier this year that saw 10 people in Japan die from eating dumplings laced with pesticide and imported from China affect relations between the two Asian superpowers? From the Japan Times:
The tainted "gyoza" dumpling scare in Japan has caused the delay of President Hu Jintao's visit to Tokyo and, if not properly handled, could result in the unraveling of the dramatic improvement in bilateral relations achieved since October 2006, when Shinzo Abe broke the ice by visiting Beijing shortly after he became prime minister, followed by Premier Wen Jiabao's "ice melting" trip to Japan last spring.
Yikes, it appears that recent China-related news has pushed China's food safety issues to the backseat. For those in Japan worried about eating contaminated food from China, don't worry, those of us here have it much worse! From the AP:
Food poisoning deaths in China rose by about one-third in 2007, the state-run news agency reported Sunday amid ongoing scrutiny over the safety of the country's food production chain.
Citing figures from the Ministry of Health, Xinhua News Agency said 258 people were killed last year, up 32 percent from the previous year. The report said that while the number of deaths rose in 2007, overall cases of food poisoning fell to 506, 26 percent less than the previous year.
We particularly like this quote from Xinhua, our candidate for most obvious statement of the year : "Most of the fatal food poisoning incidents were caused by toxic seafood, meat and produce." Hmmm, I guess that leaves...toothpaste? Oh wait, never mind.
Financial Times eats in Shanghai: Nicholas Lander from the Financial Times makes a trip out to Shanghai and hears what Shanghai food isn't, talks to David Laris, and tries out Fu 1088. Some tidbits: Laris' new steakhouse project at the 1933 space will have lots of "1950's Hollywood glamour," caviar sales increase whenever the stock market jumps, and we really need to someone to treat us to dinner at all these places.
Creek Kitchen - 423 Guangfu Lu, near Wuzhen Lu (光复路423号，近乌镇路) Tel: 6380-4150, Hours: 11:00am-11:00pm
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.
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 This Shanghaiist has been living in our fair town for over four years, most of it spent searching for two things: the love of a beautiful woman and a great, authentic burrito. While we're still striking out on the woman front, we're inching ever closer on that elusive burrito, first with the action-packed weekend special from NYC Deli, and now with the cheesy wonder found at Taikang Lu's Togo taco stand.
And by stand, we literally mean stand. Togo is a 1.5 square meter operation that churns out tacos and burritos to be ushered away or devoured while standing on the spot; there are no tables or chairs. We huddled in the adjacent alley on a drizzly weekend morning, waiting for Togo's owner Steve, formerly found concocting dynamite smoothies at neighboring Mojo Cafe, to prepare our feast of beef burritos and fish tacos. The burrito (40 RMB) consisted of beef ground with a perfect mix of jalapenos, paprika, and chili powder that went well with rice and freshly made salsa and guacamole. The fish tacos (38 RMB) were crispy and tasty, each shell cushioned by a soft tortilla and served two in a box. But it was the glorious processed cheese sauce, dripping from the tacos and leaking out of the burritos, that really made the difference. Yes, piping hot cheese sauce poured from a huge can does not scream out "gourmet" in any sense of the word, but it's pretty damn good, even when being gobbled down in an alley on a rainy day. We also tried the beef taco, made with the same chili mixture that was in the burrito, and again the cheesy sauce was the kicker.
 Steve mentioned Togo will soon be working with a delivery service, which we look forward to as it means we won't have to keep standing as cheese dribbles down our chins, but in the meantime we have even more of a reason to visit the revitalized Taikang Lu, and happy that we've now doubled our options when the all-too-frequent craving for a good burrito hits.
Togo - 155 Jiangguo Lu, No. 24B near Ruijin Lu (建国路155号，24B, 近瑞金路）Tel: 13611826497, Hours: 11:30am-7:30pm.
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.
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 There was a time when we took visitors requesting to eat traditional Peking duck to one of the many Duck King (鸭王) restaurants scattered about town, knowing that they'd be getting a decent and passable version of the dish that so famously belongs to our capitol in the north. We always tempered our expectations when it came to finding the crispy fowl fat here in Shanghai. Those days are now gone. After trying Xinadalu, we know exactly where we'll be taking our guests the next time they request some authentic Peking duck action.
Located on the first floor of the new Hyatt on the Bund, Xindalu is elegant and spacious, with a menu that tilts towards Zhejiang cuisine, but with a decent selection of other regional specialties. However, the stars of the menu are clearly the roasted Peking duck and Hangzhou's famous beggar's chicken. Ducks can be ordered by half and full portions, and should probably be done in advance, as it is by far the most popular dish. There is good reason for this, as the restaurant has invested quite a bit to import a full-service duck outfit, including the special ovens and the chefs, down from Beijing. Placed seductively in an open kitchen smack dab in the middle of the dining area, it's hard for anyone to miss the aroma and the glistening, roasted skins being prepared for anxious guests.
 When the bird finally does arrive, it is carved up table-side, with the thin, crispy layer of skin served first. Dipped in sugar, the skin literally evaporates in the mouth. The next layer of meat is then served with the requisite pancakes, spring onions, and plum sauce. While obviously meatier and leaner, there is still enough fat clinging onto it that the ensuing duck wrap is still amazing. The remaining meat and bones are then cooked in a broth, which they somehow forgot to produce until we reminded them after the dessert. According to our server, the Peking duck at Xinadalu stands out not only for the entire operation from Beijing, but also because the fatty ducks live only 45 days before duck-death (as opposed to standard 65 days for most restaurants). The roasting is also done old-old-school style, in huge stone oven over a wood fire.
The beggar's chicken was also a must-have: a whole chicken wrapped in lotus leaves and then baked in a mold of clay. It's dripping with juices, with huge chestnuts and rice stuffed up the middle. Guests can choose to use the mallet and slam down on the clay shell before the server unwraps the rest of the chicken; it's supposed to bring good fortune for the one who wields it. All we ask is for the good fortune to go indulge in Xindalu's duck very soon.
Xindalu - 1/F, Hyatt on the Bund, 199 Huangpu Lu, near Wuchang Lu (黄浦路199号1楼, 近武昌路), Tel: Phone: 6393-1234, Hours: 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-10:30pm, Price: 200-250 RMB/person
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.
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 Recently we've had the pleasure of dining in two local restaurants in Qingpu Town, technically part of Shanghai but very close to Jiangsu Province, and both times our plates, bowls, cups and spoon came vacuum packed in plastic, supposedly "sanitized" for our pleasure. We had never seen this before, despite having dined at our fair share of greasy spoons throughout the country. But the folks we ate with last night said plastic wrapped tableware is actually quite common, not only in Qingpu, but in Chongqing and other cities throughout China. Is this true? Have we totally missed the trend toward the restaurant equivalent of the plastic covered couch? It just looks so classy. If it is a trend, can it survive the upcoming plastics ban?
We'd like to see a Mythbusters episode test whether tableware packed in this manner is actually cleaner than the stuff we normally use in restaurants. Or maybe that's a bad idea. The results would probably lead us to avoid eating out altogether. And we don't cook much.
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We liked Backyard Cafe. We like its successor, Kakadu, even more. After proclaiming that we were going to visit the new Australian restaurant during the Spring Festival holiday, we did as we always do and ended up lazing in bed instead. We finally made our first trip down there, and are happy to report that Kakadu is what this particular diner is always pleased to find in Shanghai: quality uniqueness. We profess to be quite the ignoramuses when it comes to Australian food and culture, so we had some help from the affable Aussie co-owner and manager, who described to us the recent revival in his home country of its indigenous cuisine. Dishes that included barramundi, kangaroo, and crocodile meat were once solely the purview of restaurants and chefs catering to the tourist crowd, but now are blended with the country's superlative produce and spices and other international influences, and have properly been reintroduced and welcomed into the mainstream to form a modern and unique culinary renaissance.
 This spirit is palpable just by looking over the menu. We started off with the emu medallions, which were perfectly gamey and partnered well with a dash of riberry (indigenous Australian berry) confit. The Aussie beef burger was served on grilled panini, and the layer of beetroot chutney added a pleasant sweetness as we gobbled it down. Though not particularly novel, the Aussie lamb rack was still well made and with the right hint of pesto. Our favorite dish was the smoked duck ***, served over a pumpkin and thyme risotto that was creamy and delicate. The way the table next to us was near ecstasy about the emu fillet made us kick ourselves for not ordering it. We felt the same about not getting the pavlova for dessert either, but we intend to pick the two up on the next go around.
Kakadu's namesake is Australia's famed national park, home to most of the creatures that are on the menu, and according to the owners represents the richness and tradition of indigenous Australian culture. While some may sense something gimmicky in that theme, the food certainly is not, and combined with the warm atmosphere, pleasant service, and slammin' cocktail concoctions, we expect to make our second trip very soon. And this time, it'll be much easier to get us out of bed.
Kakadu - 8 Jianguo Zhong Lu, near Chongqing Lu (建国中路8号, 近重庆路), Tel: 5468-0118, Hours: 10am-midnight, Price/person: 150-200 RMB
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.
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We root for any joint that is ballsy enough to open up on Dagu Lu, the strip where many a restaurant has gone to die a lonely, customer-less death. So it was with a considerable measure of hope that we entered Kitchen 88, the few-months-old Chinese restaurant right next to everyone's favorite DVD stores. Maybe the proprietors here would be able to break from the pack and show a little more lasting power.
 With a bit of sadness, we have to say we don't see it happening. Kitchen 88 does give off a good pre-food impression, with its bright and simple environs. The owners and the chef are from Hong Kong, and this is their first stab at the restaurant biz in either city. One can almost tell how determined they are by how varied and extensive the menu is. When asked what type of Chinese cuisine they served, the owner exclaimed "Everything!" Indeed, the menu cherry picks from traditional favorites from the Hunan, Sichuan, Guangdong provinces, with a dash of Shanghai and Taiwanese selections as well.
Our take on places that try to be a little bit of something from everywhere is that they're great for convenient dining, but leave more particular customers unsatisfied, as we they end up comparing each dish to something better elsewhere. We tried the beef with tea tree mushrooms on the owner's recommendation, which was tasty but forgetful. The H.K. style chicken soup was good, but made us think of Grandma Kitchen's more titillating stock. The owner also pushed us to try the steamed clams stacked atop a bed of mashed potatoes, which might have been a satisfying combo if the potatoes were actually hot.
While we can see ourselves grabbing a quick bite at Kitchen 88 after an exhausting sojourn at the DVD shops, we can't see it making the grade for destination diners. We'll still root for it, and maybe we missed something mind-blowing on the menu, but they've certainly got an uphill climb if they want to shirk the Dagu Lu curse.
Kitchen 88 - No. 405-407 Dagu Lu, close to Chengdu Lu (大沽路405-407号，近成都路) Tel: 5375-1308
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.
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 Can't get enough about Hamilton House? We came across this short video piece from New Zealand's TV3 on our very own Hamilton House, which we enjoy visiting quite a bit. General Manager Richard Xavia is a Kiwi, and the angle of the piece is about how a place like Hamilton House is attractive to the increasingly sophisticated tastes of the young elite. Not a mind-blowing point to make for those of us here, of course, but perhaps it is a little eye-opening for those in New Zealand, a country with a population a quarter of the size of Shanghai. According to Xavia, he believes that things are so fast paced here that a year's worth of change here is equivalent to seven years back in New Zealand. Basically, Shanghai ages in dog years. Not a bad way to put it, actually.
Note: we couldn't find a way to embed the video, so click on the image to check out the site. Also, for some reason the piece on Hamilton House is at the beginning and very end of a separate and longer business report, so don't recoil when the image moves from young attractive diners to an older male business reporter.
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.
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 It wasn't until we read this interview in Salon with Jennifer 8. Lee (and that's not a typo, folks), New York Times journalist and author of the book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food, that we suddenly realized that it has been forever since we've had beef with broccoli or General Tso's chicken. We think it's because we haven't made room in our ordering agenda given the unbelievable amount of variety and selection in Shanghai in terms of Chinese food. The interview definitely wants to make us read the book as a way to cross-check and validate our experiences as a Chinese-American raised on American-Chinese food (go Panda Express!).
Her adventures are illuminating, and the big picture of how American taste has altered Chinese food, and vice versa, sheds complex light on both cultures. The evolution -- or devolution -- of Chinese food in America has similarities with other major ethnic foods, especially Italian and Mexican: As Americans adapt to new flavors, we simultaneously impose our own lustiness onto every cuisine we touch. The portions get bigger, the meat-to-vegetable ratio is reversed. Everything must be breaded, fried, sauced beyond recognition.
Breaded, fried, sauced beyond recognition — sounds disgustingly good and makes us a little homesick. Any of you readers have recommendations for good American-Chinese food here in Shanghai? We have a hankering for it, especially now that we know MSG is not going to make our hair fall out.
Thanks for the tip, Clint!
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.
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 Most Shanghaiist readers are familiar with legendary dive bar C’s and with the music pub Logo too. Darkness, taxi rides and alcohol make the rest of the area a bit of a blur but we have the benefit of living there.
The area, called The Xinhua Community, is centered around Xinhua Lu’s heritage architecture and greenery. We covered this a bit by introducing J. G. Ballard’s old home in a previous post. It also has the Shanghai Film Art Centre, a City Shop, Redtown, rooftop soccer, Yuyin Tang (in the top corner) and it’s very own ‘cool café’.
Sofa Bar and Café is tucked away in the heart of the area roughly halfway between C’s and Logo. It has …wait for it … sofas. A lot of them. It also has wireless net, food, music and all your café needs, of course. It hasn't been 'discovered' yet so you can always get the best sofa there and act out your ultimate fantasy — such a high level hipster that no one even knows where you are. Until now that is. Damn.
Sofa Bar and Cafe: 41 Xiang Hua Qiao Lu (off Xinhua Lu).
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We dropped by Hamilton House last Friday for lunch, something we should have done earlier maybe. (Actually, we had headed over on Thursday but the restaurant was closed for a private wine tasting event.) So there is a decent lunch crowd – enough to make you want to enter yet not too many people to make you wonder if you’ll need to wait all day to get served – and the lunch menu seems quite a bargain, RMB 90 for 2 courses or RMB 120 for 3.
We were game to try tête de veau, unfortunately it was unavailable as the restaurant had concluded it was too much work satisfying the occasional foolhardy patron's palette is in the midst of changing to its Spring/Summer 2008 menu. We picked the Hamilton House salad, oysters and mackerel and sorbets in the end. The oysters and mackerel was delicious in spite of the wait staff’s repeated hesitation to take the order – “The portion will be very small.”, “Just to let you know, it will be served cold.”, “It may not be enough for some people, but there are also others who like it. It depends on you.” And this was what we got:
Maybe she was trying to warn us about something, albeit in a discreet way? Nevertheless, we liked it even though there was only one oyster – slippery soft goodness, at the right degree of coldness more than made up for it. For something a little more filling, one can perhaps opt for Pasta of the Day like our co-worker did.
This was our first time tasting pappardelle in lemon-infused light cream sauce and… we love it. We’ll be sure to order it next time before they take it off the menu and since it’s something as vague as Pasta of the Day, one will probably have to call to check in advance. Our pleasant set lunch came with a choice of tea or coffee though we chose to wash it down with a glass of Hamilton house white (there you have it, alcohol junkies are el cheapos). Well, can Friday afternoons get any better?
Hamilton House, 137 Fuzhou Lu, near Jiangxi Lu 福州路137号，近江西路, 6321 0586
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Photo from danwashburn
Way back in '04, when we were young(ish) and brazen, we declared that Da Marco on Yandang Lu had the best pizza in Shanghai. "I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life," is what we said. It was easier to be so sure-minded about pizza back then, because there were very few reasonable options Shanghai. Are there more now? We think so. But perhaps, after nearly six years, our definition of "reasonable pizza" has changed a bit.
Da Marco may very well still have the best pizza in Shanghai, but our favorite Da Marco location doesn't exist anymore and, as far as we know, they have never delivered. When we go out to eat, we rarely order pizza — it's more of a staying-home-with-a-DVD option for us.
But anyway, you don't care about that. What we're here to tell you today is that, after several years of painstaking research, we have found a pizza place in Shanghai that we like, quite a bit. And yes, they deliver. The name?
Alexander Pizza Fabbrica
We found this place in an unlikely source: Sherpa's-clone Mealbay, which we kind of poked fun at when it launched in 2006. We really don't know much about Alexander Pizza Fabbrica (Mealbay actually calls it "Alex Pizza Fabbrica" — this Chinese site calls it "Alexander"), and there is precious little about it on Google. But we do know we like their pizza better than any other we've ever had delivered to our home in Shanghai.
You can see the menu here. Twelve-inch pizzas start at RMB 43 for the Margherita (pictured, homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh basil). Our personal favorite is the RMB 58 Capricciosa (homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella, cooked ham, mushroom, artichokes), but we swap out the cooked ham for either arugula or garlic. We have ordered several times, and the quality is consistent (the delivery is also consistently on the slow side). The crust is pretty much how we like it: thin but not so thin that it is crunchy. The crust will sometimes bubble up like good pizza crusts often do, and there's usually some flour left powdered on the bottom, which for some reason we find comforting. The toppings are always fresh and tasty.
According to Mealbay, Alexander Pizza Fabbrica is located at 757 Jiaozhou Lu near Yuuyao Lu, 胶州路757号(近余姚路), in Jing'an District. Has anyone been? Here's a map. Their phone number is 52567233. Mealbay can be reached at 51580168.
Give it a try and let us know what you think. And we're always keen to hear other suggestions — we're more open minded now than we were in 2004 (about pizza, that is).
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The corner of Fumin Lu and Julu Lu is a hotspot for expat diners: Nepali Kitchen, Shintori, Guyi, Otto, Coconut Paradise, and Mesa. But smack dab in the middle are also a handful of Chinese restaurants that don't get much mention in our beloved English-language rags. We checked one of them out recently and have now added *** Yuan Fang (汇元坊) to the list of worthy destinations located within that intersection.
 We're not big fans of Shanghainese food, but we're familiar with the high standards that are set for the cuisine, and are appreciative when we are served traditional Shanghainese dishes that are made with delicacy and precision. We had a great meal at *** Yuan Fang, which offered the same quality of food and service as their more popular brethren Xiao Nan Guo (小南国) and Jade Garden (苏浙汇), but at a much more intimate level. The first floor at this restaurant is also the top floor, and consists solely of private rooms. Those of us not dining in a room are ushered to the basement level, where an attentive staff waits on six or seven tables, perfect for a quiet conversation to go along with the excellent food.
Traditional dishes of braised pork (48 RMB) and sauteed river shrimp (138 RMB) hit the perfect combination of sweetness and consistency. We expect gobs of goo and oil when eating Shanghainese food, but *** Yuan Fang tones it down on the grease, and thus undresses the flavor underneath. We recommend the braised tofu with bamboo shoots and vegetables (38 RMB), which is delightfully delicate and tasty. Combined with the tasteful decor and quality service, *** Yuan Fang is a safe bet for a solid evening with the beloved local cuisine. Try it out next time you're facing an hour wait right up the street at Guyi.
*** Yuan Fang - 793 Julu Lu near Fumin Lu (汇元坊 - 鹿路793号近富民路) Tel: 5404 7979
Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com.
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