China
Pizza Hut Now Serving Escargots
Remember Pizza Hut and how it began serving pasta in 2008? It actually serves quite a diversified menu in China, where I snapped this photo of escargots for offer last summer in Chengdu. Along with one of the saddest salad bars I’ve had the displeasure of sampling, they served a variety of pastas and hot-dogged pizza crusts. Slice, take note.
Drinks at M Bar at the Mandarin Oriental
M Bar at the Mandarin Oriental reminds me of Shanghai’s slickly overproduced watering holes. The difference is that in China, these kinds of establishments stock only the most svelte and snowy-skinned of waitstaff, the kind with faces that inspire as much protection as possession.
(The physicality of Chinese beauty hits you in a very different way from Western beauty. Even at its most objectified, the former maintains a certain distance from its sexuality. It’s softer – it doesn’t assault you from the front so much as it circles an arm from behind.)
In honor of last summer, I ordered their Mo-del cocktail, which featured notes of rose and lychee, very Shanghai. I appreciated the generous helpings of sugared almonds and olives, which helped cut a very stiff drink.
I could almost imagine those were expat men lining the sill of the bar and spilling over the banquettes. I was never sure what to think of them last summer, to see them as so many suited malcontents, or to envy how some were mindlessly adept at making the city their jungle gym. Somehow, it felt unfair.
International food porn – Quails on sticks, donkey meat, prawns.
Some underwhelming prawns at Private Kitchen 44 in Beijing.
Donkey meat in Beijing at Noodle Loft… like beef, but with a gamier, greasier mouthfeel.
(more…)
The Best Hairy Crab Roe in Shanghai, or, a Shanghai Dining Editor’s Must Eats List
Back during my tony days interning at City Weekend Shanghai, the benevolent dining and health editor would spit out recommendations with the efficiency of a finely tuned machine. I recently asked her for some recommendations for a friend in Shanghai, and I wished I had had this list when I was there. So in case you ever make your way to the Middle Kingdom’s most cosmopolitan city, consult this guide for what you should be inhaling.
Don’t forget these babies, the best breakfast crepes ever, on Mudan Lu, close to Pujian Lu.
———-
Joanne Yao, City Weekend Dining Editor’s Must Eats List
Vegetarian – Wu Guan Tang (try the carrot and potato faux crab roe, it’s amazing; the bags of fortune for a milder palate, the 8-plate appetizer set if you’re with lots of people, and knife-cut spicy mushroom noodles).
The crab place - must tries here are the dan dan crab noodles and the “yin-yang” pastries in the dim sum section (they’re fried halves of yummy glutinous rice, one stuffed with curried crab the other with lotus paste). They also have normal food (non-crab) too, if you’re on a budget.
for photos: http://www.dianping.com/shop/2093833
Cute cafes with actual good coffee have been popping up all over the place lately, so for coffeehouses, check out the last dining cover story. Out of these, my personal favorites are the Living Room, GZ Cafe and Cafe Dan for coffee and ambiance.
There’s Jesse’s for Shanghainese, which is a must try for anybody coming here. This is a good time to try their hairy crab tofu, which is delicious. If you want to splurge, then definitely get the wine marinated crab (it’s around RMB250). It’s freaken delicious, has lots of roe (it’s bigger than hairy crab) and can be split among 2-3 people. Also try the glutinous rice stuffed dates, the grandmother’s hong shao rou and if you are going with at least two other people, the fish head cooked in a canopy green onions (order this in advance, and always make a reservation).
The best sushi buffet in town is this place in Hongqiao. It’s around RMB220 for all-you can-eat sushi and all you can drink too (they have hot and cold sake, iced plum wine, milkshakes, etc.) For quality in a buffet setting, this place is the best. They have fresh oysters on the half-shell and sea urchin, steak, etc. They don’t skim on the good stuff.
Crunchy cartilage-laden chicken
I stumbled upon a Cantonese restaurant this summer when I was waiting for my friend to finish up work in Beijing. I had just had the worst “soup dumplings” of my life a few shops over where they were more steamed buns with juice inside that had long since leaked out. In desperation for a good meal, I saw a few people eating something delicious through the large glass windows of this restaurant and decided to give it a whirl.
There is something intensely comforting and yes, American, about Cantonese food since that’s the root of the USA’s rendition of the cuisine. I ordered a pork congee – soothing, fragrant, and creamy. Then a platter of this chicken dish which had a tensile crunch in each bite from the soft cartilage inside. I definitely skew more Chinese in this respect, since I love have some extra texture in the meat. The peppers were a gorgeous bright red, crispy, and fried until all the heat had abandoned their mean-looking flesh. Even the rice came nicely presented in a white ceramic pot. It seemed like a good photo, so I took one.
Fried, cartilage-laden chicken with fried peppers, pork congee on the side. Ancient cellphone mine.