Lan Ting

Lan Ting Kitchen is the Shanghainese restaurant I've been to the most, unless I count the local-style greasy spoons or xiaolongbao shacks I pop into. It follows the pattern of many of my favorite Shanghainese Restaurants: amazing food, cheapish price, no English, and a small & packed environment with no atmosphere other than a certain “wow, this is really different than the US” novelty. There's six small tables, half of them seat two people, and half of them seat four, with a little squeezing.



Lan Ting is conveniently located at 107 Song Shan Road, it's a couple blocks away from exit number two of the very central Huangpi Nan Lu Subway Station, nearish to Xintiandi. It doesn't take reservations, and there's generally a line outside – you take your chances. Arrive on the weekdays or at around five on the weekends, and there might well be either no line or just a short line. On the weekends, it's more like fifteen minutes to an hour.



The menu is extensive, generally a waiter will give a copy to people in line, to order before they sit down – that sounds terrible, but the restaurant doesn't push customers through, and even if they did, it's not really the sort of place to linger. The menu is divided into different types of food, each with their own page, and every page has a few of the most popular dishes highlighted. Someone without any Chinese should be able to order fine, just by selecting a highlighted dish from a number of different pages. Inevitably, looking at other tables, 90% of the dishes ordered are these highlighted dishes.



Here's a dish I very much enjoy, sweet & sour pork strips, it's #7 in the above menu. It's quite vinegary, with a nice breading. I could eat it all day!



And this is the remains of a nice vegetable dish, swimming in an alcohol sauce. A lot of the dishes here are cooked in Chinese Yellow Alcohol. In small amounts I don't really have an opinion if that's a good or a bad thing. However, in a few of the dishes the Yellow Alcohol taste is overwhelming, and just not to my favor.



Their fried fish with vinegar dish is excellent but very simple, perhaps it's simply too much fried fish with vinegar for only two people. I'd still recommend this dish, but it’s better for groups of four than groups of two.



I tried this straw-mushroom dish because they were sold out of my first choice, but I found it bizarrely bad. It wasn't gross, just the tastes didn't match or amount to anything more than “random ingredients heated in the same pan.”



Finally, they have excellent soups. Their shepherd's purse & tofu soup is my favorite rendition of my favorite soup – with my #2 being the version at Shanghai Restaurant back in Oakland California, ha ha. I also very much like their Hot and Sour soup.



The bill comes to around fourty kuai per person when I go, that's about six dollars. Although the atmosphere is poor and having to wait outside is a pain, especially in the cold Shanghai Winter, I strongly recommend this restaurant.

More Potato Chips!

Is it possible for a blog to “Jump the Shark” twice? I'll leave the question as an exercise for philosophers, but on a more empirical level, here's a second update about Potato Chips in Shanghai. Potato Chips are still the most common snack found at just about every street corner in Shanghai. I can't say I'm a huge fan, but sometimes I'll get them, especially after I've found that my meal was just too small for me – it's an occupational hazard of being six and a half feet tall and living in China!

Blueberry Potato Chips:



Hats off to market leader Lay's: in the three years since my first Potato Chip update, they've managed to do a good job of keeping their best flavors and replacing the stranger ones – actually, Cucumber Potato Chips are the only holdover from the earlier update. However, they've introduced strange new sweet-flavored ones, Blueberry Potato chips are very common and do a surprisingly good job of matching two flavors that would seem to be impossible to match. I have never once ever seen a blueberry in mainland China, but recently it's a popular flavor for snack foods, chocolates, and the like.

There's also mango and lychee potato chips, I tried them out of curiosity. They're awful!

Sweet and Sour Tomato Ruffled Potato Chips:



Most potato chips in China are of the normal, sliced variety. The ruffles are a nice change, personally I think the texture is much better. Unfortunately their flavors suck – this one's just weird, they also have plain, which I find boring, and generally unappetizing beef & pork flavors.

Lime Potato Chips:



Shortly after my last update, Lay's discontinued Lemon flavor and replaced it with lime flavor, despite that Limes aren't generally available in China. It's a lot less sweet and a little more Sour, and is pretty good stuff. This is probably the most common flavor of Lay's Potato chip, anyway it's definitely my favorite. My second favorite is Cherry Tomato flavor.

Doritos D2 Corn Chips:



Corn chips! I like them more than potato. D2 chips used to be called “Nacho Cheese Flavor.” There's also D3 chips, which used to be called “Taco Flavor,” and aren't very good. I guess they got re-named after some marketing guru realized that somewhere around 100% of Chinese people have never eaten either Nacho Cheese or Tacos. Still, I don't really understand the names “D2” or “D3.” Why isn't there a “D1”?

Cheese Cheetos:



I haven't had these in years, let me say that the Chinese version here is pretty bad. It's just bland-cheese flavor, there's no tang. Unfortunately there's no “Spicy Nacho Cheese with Lime” flavor, I had a college roommate who loved that stuff. They also have “Beef” flavor, and “Brazilian Beef” flavor, very strange.

Cheetos are produced by the Dorito's company, which means there can be a little bit of searching to find them. Lay's are everywhere, but there’s also Doritos, Pringles, a Japanese brand called Oishi, and a Chinese brand that is really sorry.

Old Houses of Shanyin Lu

Shanyin Lu is a street near the Beijing North Road shopping area and the Duolun Lu Old Street. The obvious reason to go is because of Wanshou Zhai, a small hole in the wall that makes not only very good (if somewhat inconsistent) xiaolongbao, but also excellent noodles and won-tons. Wanshou Zhai is right at the base of Shanyin Lu, it's a short street and I think it's worth continuing on to have a look at the old, colonial-style buildings of the area. They're of a higher quality than the shikumen that are being pulled down all across Shanghai, from what I gather Sichuan Bei Lu was a top spot to be back around 1930. A lot of China's most famous Kunmingtang figures lived there, as well as many of the literati, and Lu Xun, a proto-revolutionary author proclaimed “China's best author,” had a well-preserved home here:



It's brick buildings, three stories tall, with air conditioners installed. But there's other styles represented, the front gate to this apartment, with stucco and arches, looks like a half-attempt at a Spanish facade:



A number of the buildings have plaques on the outside, giving a few historical facts about the building, and in an ideal world, that means the building won't get torn down to make a ghost mall or another 5-star hotel.



Most interesting, to me, was larger Edwardian-looking mansions, in the classic Shanghai style of blue and orange bricks.



I don't know much about these buildings, but I'm very curious. I imagine they were originally built as a small apartment building, in the model of the author's apartment from Scenes of City Life, and are currently stuffed solid with people? Anyway, the laundry, and the accruements of daily life, seem to be overflowing out of the house:



And generally it's just an interesting area to look around, you don't see curved brick buildings every day of the week:

LOgO

I haven't had much to say in this blog about the nightlife of Shanghai, and that's because the sort of things I said in a recent post about Shanghai's foreign restaurants apply double to nightlife in Shanghai – it's absurdly expensive and too low quality, in comparison to what I was familiar with in the United States. The sort of places that are popular with foreigners generally don't attract a local Chinese following, and even the top spots probably wouldn't last a week in any large Western City. It's more something foreigners do out of force of habit.

That said, it's a habit of mine, there's a few spots I enjoy, and I'll have a short group of updates about them. The first will be Logo, which is something of a dive bar, on 13 Xingfu Lu – it's a little out of the way, I usually get there by taking the taxi from the Hengshan Lu Subway Station. I like to go on Sunday nights, when there's an open mic night. The music can be inane, in the way jamming can often be, but some of the individual performers are very good, and can really stand out when they need to. Even at its worst, it's fun background music.



Drinking in Shanghai is on the expensive side, but LoGo is fairly cheap, and tipping isn't expected. Most people are drinking big half-liter mugs of Carlsberg, a tasteless beer, it goes for 30 kuai (about $4.50). They also have some mixed drinks on the menu, there's froo-froo tropical drinks like Pina Coladas and Mai Tais for 35 kuai, they're better than I expected and mixed strong. There's also a bunch of mixed drinks I've never heard of, maybe that's how they mix drinks in England.



Logo often has dancing, and some performances by local bands – I'm not a huge fan of these, because aside from where the main stage gets set up, there's really not much space in the main room. Even when it's not busy there'll be a lot of squeezing, to get past people. Anyway, the club has an English-language website with a list of events. There's also larger room up front, I'm guessing it doesn't have as much sound-proofing or it would be the main room. It's chill, there's more places to sit, it's quieter, it's lit a lot brighter:



There's a foosball table there - the people who play are in a league above any foosball I've seen before.



A big problem I have with Logo, that's endemic to nightlife spots in Shanghai, is that everybody's chain smoking, and ventilation doesn't amount to much. Personally I find it gross, and by the end of the night clothes and hair will smell really seriously disgusting. Beijing (of all places) implemented a ban on indoor smoking, and I'm hoping Shanghai does the same.

Lan Xin Restaurant

Lan Xin Restaurant is a Shanghainese Restaurant that I enjoy, but a restaurant I think of as existing in the shadow of Chun, which is practically next door on Jinxian Lu. Like Chun, it's a small, home-style restaurant, turning out authentic tasty versions of the local cuisine in a casual setting. Chun is a little famous for not having a menu – or at the least, every time I've seen Chun mentioned, the no-menu thing gets mentioned as well. Lan Xin has a menu, but it's hand-written, here's a gander at a page:



Lan Xin is a step or two behind Chun in a few regards. The place is small, but doesn't feel charming, just packed. In addition to the main dining area with five tables, there's also a seriously steep flight of stairs that leads to a small room with a couple tables and a couch, it feels like sneaking into someone's private room for a meal.



I think the food, while still very good, is not as good as Chun's. While Chun is consistently excellent in everything it creates, Lan Xin varies. Still, there's a number of dishes that the restaurant is famous for getting right, and these dishes are seen on just about every table. One of these is Hong Shao Rou, a Shanghai specialty of fatty pork with a sweet sauce. Their rendition is on the fatty side, but still probably the best I've ever had. The "red" sauce it's served in is dark to the point of being black.

Another popular dish is Cong Bao Xia Ren. OK, I'm a lazy eater. I don't like spitting out bones, I don't like picking at shrimp shells to get out the meat. These shrimps were very tasty, but small and inconvenient to eat: first bite off the heads, then pop the rest in the mouth, try to chew out the meat, and then spit out the shell.



My favorite vegetable dish there is nothing fancy, but quite nice: Tang Cu Ying Si. It's a lightly pickled mix of a local vegetable, sliced mushroom, and black fungus:



But there's a lot on the menu that I find surprisingly average. Certainly not bad, but not the sort of thing you'd expect to find at a restaurant with a perpetual line. The Tofu and Shepard's Purse Soup, usually a favorite of mine, is oily and not particularly good. And this eggplant, not as spicy as it looks, just wasn't anything to get excited about:



And a quick digression: I've lived in Shanghai for quite some time, and before that I lived in heavily Chinese Downtown Oakland. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about Chinese food, and consequently I snobbishly turn my nose up at certain un-authentic American Chinese restaurants, although I think there are plenty very authentic Chinese restaurants in the US. So what to make of Lan Xin's Gu Lao Pork? It's quite good, but it's coming from almost the exact same playbook as Sweet and Sour Pork, the sort of thing you'd find at Panda Express. It's not quite as tangy, and the meat is of a higher quality than what you'd find there, but it wouldn't raise an eyelid if it was served back at some mall in California, alongside a fortune cookie:



Update 2/25/2009 - Wow, according to Wikipedia, Sweet and Sour Pork is actually the same dish, after being transported to Canton and then California.

One advantage Lan Xin does have over Chun is that it's half the price, bills should come out to around fifty kuai ($7.50) per person, or less. While I think it's possible on some theoretical level to just show up and get in line, I definitely recommend making a reservation first, the phone number is (21)6253-3554.

Unfortunately, there isn't any English at all, and while the staff is friendly, this restaurant will probably be impossible to navigate without at least a little Chinese, or a willingness to point at other people's tables. It's worth trying your luck though. Finally, the address is 130 Jinxian Lu, it's very close to both Chun and the Lomography store. I get there by taking the #1 Subway to Shaanxi Nan Lu station, walking north along Maoming Lu for five or ten minutes, and then taking a left at Jinxian Lu. It's right near the corner.

Xinjiang Style Restaurant

Xinjiang Style Restaurant is a very good Xinjiang Restaurant in the Hongkou area. On the Chinese food site Dianping.com, it's currently rated the #2 Xinjiang Restaurant, based on taste. This isn't my first update about a Xinjiang Restaurant, I've also mentioned the unfortunately-named Xinjiang Rather Go On Expedition A Restaurant, near Jing'an Temple. And much of what I could write for that restaurant applies to this one as well: Xinjiang Food is from the Muslim, Eastern-Turkish minorities of Northwestern China. It's Central Asian in character, with a Chinese influence, and makes an excellent break from eating standard Chinese fair. Xinjiang Restaurants are most known for their lamb kebabs, which are popular both with a meal, or a snack for people just passing by. And to my mind, the kebabs aren't as good at Xinjiang Style Restaurant. They're being cooked out front in the small picture up top, here's a closer look at them:



I wouldn't call them bad, they're actually pretty good and I order a few whenever I go. Rather, it's that there's solid chunks of seasoned lamb fat on those kebabs! It's probably something of a treat for those stuck in the freezing Xinjiang winters, but to me it's kind of gross. Anyway, past that, I prefer Xinjiang Style Restaurant's food to Xinjiang Rather Go On Expedition A Restaurant's. The two restaurants are comparable in quality, both of them occupy the range of being better than good but worse than amazing.

The environment can't be called upscale, but service is friendly and there's a unique atmosphere. Particularly in the early afternoon, Xinjiang Style Restaurant is almost entirely occupied by Uighur/Eastern Turkish people, many of whom seem to know each other well. Maybe they're of the same extended family, or maybe it's just a close-knit community, I haven't asked. Even if they have nothing else on their table, they'll generally have a large stack of Xinjiang-style bread, it's very dense but vaguely reminds me of naan. I can't say I'm a huge fan, but it's not expensive, neither.



I am a big mushroom fan, and these needle mushrooms are marinated in a really delicious vinegar-dominated sauce that reminds me of the mushrooms you'd find in an Italian deli:



The soups are fun, and while I couldn’t give a culinary history, they seem to be thoroughly Xinjiang-ized takes on Chinese soups. For instance, this Hot and Sour soup was swimming with peppers, lamb, and onions:



Looking underneath, it's all heated with a dry flame, that keeps the soup at a low boil while it's at the table. It's not at all uncommon to see in Shanghai, but I still like it very much.



I've never seen any foreigners at this restaurant, and there's no English spoken, but the menu has pictures included for the most part, and there should be no real difficulties. It also has English translations that make almost no sense. My favorite thing to get, if I'm going by myself, is a plate of Ding Ding Mian – chopped-up noodles with diced lamb and peppers. It may look like Chef Boyardee, but it's so delicious!



This restaurant is located on 98 Dongjiangwan Lu, it's about a 5 minute walk south from Subway Line #8's Hongkou Stadium Station, Exit #1, and in the shadow of the elevated subway line. A meal should cost somewhere between twenty and fifty kuai per person.