Food In Shanghai (Part 3)

My third night in Shanghai was a little less crowded. Only 4 people went out for dinner this time as the rest had better things to do. No night is the same of course, and in the blistering cold weather of Shanghai, every night is an adventure when you step out. (Of course, everyday life is an adventure, it just depends how you look at it.)

Anyhow, the story this time is that since the 4 of us were thrown by ourselves to have dinner together again. We decided upon something a little closer, rather, its chanced upon while we were wondering aimlessly in the cold for.

The exterior

Let me first make a statement, "I Love Japanese Food!" Not just any japanese food of course, i love the ones that are value for money and fresh and those made by my gf is pretty good as well. The second thing i wanted to say was, so far, my impression of service in China is that it needs alot of work. This time, however, we were pleasantly surprised by good service rendered by this obscure joint.

Salmon Sashimi

Fresh, succulent and sweet salmon Sashimi never ceases to whet my appetite. In Singapore, Sashimi does not come cheap. The same serving could cost anywhere between $6- 20 for a decent or sub par serving of Sashimi. Over in China, you get thick, juicy and extremely tender Sashimi for as economical as $2. And yes, we orderd one plate for all the 4 of us there. As mentioned in my previous post, its difficult to continue to enjoy fish in Singapore when the feeling of being ripped off is all over the island.

Yakitori (Chicken)

Yakitori (Wings)

Simple as these dishes seem, its definitely good when done right. Well marinated meat and wings roasted over a slow fire. Never mind the little charred bits you see, the freshness of the ingredients and tenderness of the meat is enough to make you crave more. For the first dish, the meat is coated with teriyaki sauce and a smattering of mustard is given to enhance the taste. For the second dish, lemon is sprinkled sparingly over the wings before eating. What can i say? Simple as it is, it still tastes surprisingly good.

Tako Pachi

You can get this in Singapore easy enough. The China version i had tasted similar though i noticed the paste is lesser and the ingredients more generous. Not to mention that this cost us barely $2 for about 6 of the tasty little spheres of cheese and ham.

Udon

I had only one taste of this and i can already say its good. The soup base is sweet and the udon did not have the powdery taste that i detest. Very simple, very plain and pretty good in its own right. This was ordered by Yang Yong because he feared the normal food we ordered won't be enough to fill his stomach. He was sorely mistaken on that front.

Sushi

Things just keep getting better. I loved the sushi. You can taste everything that is wrapped in it. From the sweet tamago (egg), to the cucumber, to the unagi and the fish roe. Everything is just in harmony in this dish. I had the most of this of course. And this only cost $5 in Singapore. The quality simply surpasses the monetary value that is put on it. I haven't had anything close to this in Singapore before sadly.

Okonomiyaki (Egg with noodles and cheese)

You can have this is Singapore as well and needless to say, this is much cheaper yet again. My friends liked this dish but i did find it a tad too oily (as is most other dishes in China). The teriyaki was overdone also, making it sickeningly sweet. No doubt it tasted good but then again, which teriyaki infused, mayonnaise covered, pan fried egg and noodles did not? Wait, don't answer that. Anyway, this is still decent, just that everything prior to it did push my hopes up a little too far.

Complimentary Dessert

This is a boring dessert you might say but there is a reason why its here. Its so sweet and so juicy I just needed to say something about it. I don't know where they get their stock of oranges but this is very appetising even after our filling meal. The sweetness is perfect and i had to ask for seconds to satisfy my taste buds. Yep, its good alright.

The meal cost only about $10 per head yet again. I'm not just impressed, i want to have these value places in Singapore. Alas, such thoughts are only met with the cruel slap of reality.

Overall Score: 8/10

Last Word:
Who would have thought? Good japanese food in China. The irony of it all. I did find out that the boss of the restaurant is Japanese which thus explains why most of the food is done to pretty much the standard one would expect from Japan. The chefs were from Japan as well which answered why the food tasted authentic. Good job i must say.
And this ends my third night in Shanghai. The first time we had good service in the foreign land and good food to boot. If i return, i'll definitely have a meal here again. And this time, i'm getting as many items on the menu as possible.