Food In Shanghai (Part 6 Final)

This is it, the final day of training and the last full day i'll have with my new friends. They say life is a bittersweet event of comings and goings and there's nothing you can do about it. What can i say? Everything has an ending doesn't it? Even life itself has an ending. Cest la vie my friends, cest la vie.

Food Street

Well, this is the street we had most of our lunches at. Everything was at budget prices apart from pasta fresco de salvatore which won the crown as worst place for a meal after our lunch there on day 2. Did i mention i love the weather in Shanghai? Well, i'll say it again, the freezing weather was simply wonderful.

Table

Menu

Casual Japanese dining to round off our last lunch in Shanghai. Yo! Teko was simply the choice because it was the only place that was not packed to the bring during the lunch rush hour this day.

Pork Ramen

Baked Beef Pasta

Chicken Katsu

I didn't get to have any of the dishes above so i'll just leave the pictures for your enjoyment. ^.^
General comments was that it was below average though.

Complimentary Salad

Beef Hamburger Steak

The salad itself was fresh and soaked with salad dressing which somehow didn't overwhelm. My lunch for the day was a surprisingly small portioned hamburger steak. Service was once again drop dead slow and it was served close to half an hour after we ordered. The steak was just like the other dishes, barely average. The meat was soft but lacked taste. It wasn't hot enough to justify the wait and was simply not satisfying.

Oreo Banana Sundae

Had i had the main before i ordered, i would not have wanted dessert at this place but sadly, i've already nailed the coffin by ordering dessert first. Despite the way it looks, its strangely lacking in ice cream and taste. In fact, the bottom layers were dominated by cornflakes and bananas which just didn't feel right. The mid layer was quite simply cream and only the top layer had scoops of sub par ice cream which even then, lacked taste.

Overall Score: 4.5/10

Last word:
Will i return? How about no thank you?

Dinner was a heartier affair. Why? Because everyone has passed their final training exam and life has gotten a whole lot easier. How else better then to have a last big gathering over dinner and end it with a trip to the pub? (Well, i didn't go to the pub in the end though. I'm an early sleeper.)

Restaurant Entrance

Interior

We actually traveled to 3 different places before finally settling down and Lance's recommendation at Mei Lin Ge. Why the special mention of the name of the restaurant? Its good.....great even. The food was quite simply superb and the selection was astonishing. You'll see why in a moment.

Menu

Fried Buns

The buns were a hybrid of xiao long bao and the normal bao i've had with a twist! The bottom was actually pan fried and quite crispy while the top remained soft and fluffy. Break it open and the soup simply oozes out, needless to say, this was just the beginning of a night full of surprises. Did i say it tasted good too? Yeah, it was very good indeed.

Steamed Dumplings

Just your average dumpling? Well, not quite. As with many of the dishes tonight, its done using pork and honestly, i've never had anything like it. Soft and stretchable dough surrounds the meat which exudes a meaty fragrance with each bite. The meat was also nicely minced and mixed with carrots, radish and spring onions for added effect.

????With Egg

I know the bottom layer is pork which i did not try and the top layer was some springy substance which i also did not have. All i had here was the egg. It was of the sweet chinese braised variety.

???? (pickles ???)

Duck Tongue

For the 2 items above, duck tongue and ??? which i'm not sure what it is, i did not try as well. Simply did not appeal to me i guess. Especially the tongue, doesn't it look like a mass of live snails to you??

Kou Shui Ji (Salivating Chicken)

Now this salivating chicken is of the spicy variety. Tangy sauce abound which made it look just like curry chicken in my opinion. The chicken meat itself was very soft and came apart easily. Needless to say, the meat was soaked with juices and spicy chili for a venomous concoction. You need to love spices to love this dish.

?????

?????

I had a small piece of the top dish which tasted a little like sponge in soy sauce and teriyaki sauce. Its not bad actually but with so many choices to come, i was saving space for more economical items. The fish i skipped altogether so i couldn't comment.

Drunken Prawns

Notice something different? Well, the prawns are not cooked my friends. And that is the actual meaning of drunken prawns. Not the Singapore reddish pink variety. This here is the real deal. And i have to say, its addictive. I'd never have known prawns could be eaten this way. The meat was actually sweet on its own and already has the crunchy texture i so love. Add the fact that it was soaked in liquor and quite simply, its a real winner. Good stuff.

Roasted Duck Beak

When this first came, i thought it was chicken until my friend enlightened me that it was actually duck beak. I've never heard of that part of the duck cooked this way before and basically, there isn't much meat to talk about. However, there is a definite fragrance to the dish that goes so well with beer, its a must have when drinking. Worth a try.

Water Cooked Fish (Shui Zhu Yu)

I am so missing this dish right now. Good fresh, sweet fish meat that is cheap is so difficult to come by in Singapore. This one upholds the same tradition every dish before it had. Succulent, thick and sweet fish in burning hot sauce. In a word, yummy!

Salted Egg Potatoes

Potatoes coated in salted egg yoke. Oh my, this is just sinful pleasure. I don't know how they did it but the mid layer of the potato was actually watery and blended so well with the salted egg yoke that it had its own strong and strange fragrance. Worth a try as well!

Coffee Braised Beef Tenderloin

Now this....this is a must have. Succulent medium well cooked beef thats been soaked in coffee and sweet and sour sauce. I can't tell you enough of how good it is. The meat was tender and slightly charred on the outside with its thick meat juices flowing inside. If you've had good coffee braised sweet and sour pork ribs, you'll get the idea, except that this time, its beef and there are no bones to pick. Just heavenly tasty meat.

Char Siew Sor

Not your average char siew sor. One look and you'll think the outer layer is overly encrusted with dough. Bite in and you'll find that the crust crumbles into flakes easily while maintaining the overall shape. Thick savory char siew (roast meat) fills the inside and nothing feels dry or otherwise badly done. Another surprisingly good item.

Lor Mai Gai (Rice with Pork)

Assorted Wild Mushrooms

Kai Lan With Fish Maw

Sesame Yam Cake

For the above four dishes, i didn't try too much so i'll reserve my views on them. Enjoy the pictures and if you can, go try it yourself.

Kong Ba Bao (Braised Pork)

Similar to the Singapore version of Mei Cai Kou Rou bao except that this is made using the less fatter portion of the little beast. Also, unlike the hakka version, there are no salted vegetables in it as well. This is more of the sweet, soy sauce variety and i'm glad to say, it works and is a much healthier choice in comparison.

Fried Corn Pizza

Very interesting dish. Fragrant, crispy and all around appetising. One is never enough though.

Shark's Fin Soup

Sharks fin soup......with a little spice and loads of chicken, mushrooms, egg and of course, shark's fin. I found this less starchy than Singapore and honestly, its much better tasting as well. Worth a try!

Braised Dou Gan

Sweet and sour pig's neck

I'd be lying if i said i still ad space for more food by these dishes but it just keeps coming. I didn't have the dou gan but i did try the pig's neck. Who would have known you could eat that part as well? I certainly didn't. It is very springy and chewy. More so than the other parts i've had before, but i'm still struggling to discern if it was simply made out of harder fats....best not to think about it i guess.

Shanghai Steamed Fish

Another first for me. I was told this is a special Shanghai dish you couldn't find elsewhere. It looked normal at first until i noticed something different. The scales were completely intact! And better yet, you were supposed to eat the scales!!! Talk about different. No qualms about the freshness of the fish, every fish i've had in Shanghai despite bad service has been great. Notice the thick layer of fatty meat atop the fish? It was left to simmer so that the fatty juices would flow over and provide more fragrance to the fish. Upon the taste test, the scales actually tasted pretty good but hard. Scales are known to stick to the mouth and teeth but strangely. That did not happen here. Interesting and worth a try.

The Aftermath

Yep, we had loads left over. We simply overordered this time around. Not that we regret it though. The food was great! And having the privilege to try this many is a godsend. Guess what? Everything here only amounted to USD 30 per person. Yep, you heard right. Value for money? Oh....this goes way above that my friends.

Overall Score: 8/10

Last Word:
I would be lying if i told you i had no complaints of the place. It was smokey and stuffy but that was slowly gotten used to especially after tasting the first few dishes. Would be great if the place was cooler though. That said, the food is simply one of a kind and came at a reasonable price too. Must try!

Food In Shanghai (Part 5)

On towards day 5, the feeling of camaraderie at its best and basically, everyone is feeling very comfortable where they are already. Life has more or less gotten to be around this group of people you've spent 5 long days with. Albeit all filled with fun and laughter. Well, for dinner this day, we've decided on Korean food! (yep, its getting to be quite a habit to have different cuisine instead of Chinese in China...hmmm...what does that say of the food there i wonder?)

Korean Cuisine

Anyhow, the place is extremely near my hotel and is just one street across. The location is average looking and you would be forgiven for choosing the wrong one because on the same floor, there were quite a few different Korean restaurants. I'll just jump the gun and say the service here was great (with the exception of this cashier lady who was extremely fierce.). It provided the best service we've had in China since our arrival. It was so good that we actually decided to tip the serving lady and we did. She did a wonderful job of balancing and serving 4 tables at one shot while still providing explanations, cooked food and service with a smile. Now thats good service.

Side Dishes

Fresh Greens

Kimchi

The choice of side dishes is excellent to say the least. Refillable, the dishes do not repeat and basically, the sides were good. The kimchi, fried beancurds and beansprouts all satisfy with their authentic Korean taste. That is never easy and even more so since this is Shanghai we are talking about. Definitely worth a try.

Vegetable Pancake

We had a multi dish set men again at the recommendation of the lady boss. She recommended a 6 person set meal but we decided upon a 4 person meal with side additions. Good choice too. Because the actual portions, side dishes and meat were anything but miserly. Up first, the vegetable pancake above. It was lightly battered with crunchy cabbages, mushrooms, eggs and asparagus. And despite being fried, had very little oil when we bit into it. The fragrance it provides with each bite was excellent and we were tempted to order another on the spot, but there were more items to come.

Seafood Pancake

The seafood pancake was surprisingly small, what you see here is a slice of the original pancake after the lady split into 5 portions. I can tell you though, the pancake was still done well, crunchy shrimps with the wonderful fragrance of lightly spring fried onions accompany each bite. Shame on the portion size for this though.

Beef Tarte

Having had much Japanese cuisine, raw fish is no longer a novelty but rather a norm but raw beef is a first for me. Braving the unknown, me and Dean decided to have this dish to share. It came looking a winner. Egg yoke seating atop a bed of fresh reddish meat with a smattering of grounded nuts. Squeeze a little lemon over it, mix the contents up a bit and start eating. The texture was very tender and chewy. Like extremely tenderized chewing gum but better. The meat had a mixture of sweet, sour and a dash of peanut fragrance. Eating too much of it though, made me feel a little nauseous. Still good though, wouldn't mind eating it again.

Beef

Pork

Another Look

More Beef!!

The Grand Reunion

Let me just summarize the meat selection we had, beef, beef, pork and more beef. I had enough beef this day to remember for ages. Its made even better when all the beef were marinated very well and went perfectly with the side vegetables for better effect. Tender, fragrant and plentiful. I really can't say enough about it to illustrate the feeling. Its just great and much better then even the Singapore Ju Shin Jung that i have reviewed previously. In fact, the reason i crave Korean food in Singapore is due to this place. Yeah, its good alright.

Korean Pot Noodles....with beef!

We were already stuffed to the brim in meat and greens when this big....make that enormous pot of noodles were brought to the table. I kid you not, we stared at the pot and laughed when we saw it because there was no way we could eat the pot of noodles after everything prior to it. However, i was wrong, this pot of noodles tasted excellent. Imagine ginseng with bak kut tea and assorted other herbs to brew the broth. The broth was nothing short of amazing and we lapped it all up in the end. We couldn't finish the noodles which was a huge regret because the noodles were equally well done and very springy. The beef was normal but anything in that broth automatically invites you to finish it. At the end of the dinner, we were thinking we could have saved loads of money by simply ordering this pot in the beginning. This alone would have satisfied all five of us and all of my pals agreed on that. DO NOT MISS THIS if you are in the area.

Ginger Tea

Ginger tea. As i've mentioned before, this is an acquired taste but sadly, i've not acquired the taste for it when i first had it. It was subsequent visits that made me like it.

Overall Score: 7.75/10

Last Word:
What can i say, the best Korean food i've had thus far. Try it for yourself. Oh, the meal cost less then 20 bucks a person. Yep, value for money and definitely a keeper.