Dinner in Shanghai

This was my first night in Shanghai. A friend took us to a nice Seafood restaurant in Pudong (near the Shanghai Expo) but in my excitement I forgot to get the name.

The seafood selection section. A staff actually stopped me from taking photos but I ignored him. It's not like I am stealing a state secret.

The Shanghai Crab seems very popular (and pricey) because they are everywhere. Believe it or not they are being sold even in the Airport Arrival area.

We had a private room. It was quite up market. It seems most "private rooms" in China are.

Can you guess what these are? Duck's tongue. I tried one but didn't like it. It has a crunchy texture. The locals love it though.

Fried Fish. Nice and crunchy.

The popular steamed chicken. Tender and tasty.

This vegetable dish is also another popular one. It's spinach with century egg. This is something different to what I am used to and actually nice.

This is a variation of one of my favourite Hokkein "Tau Ewe Bak" (pork in soya sauce). There is a Japanese variation as well. This Shanghai version is nice and a bit on the sweet side.

Rice served in bamboo. I found the addition of sweet corn to be nice. It's amazing how something so simple as adding corn to nice adds a new dimension.

This is Singapore Bee Hoon. It's nice but a bit greasy but I guess that's the way it should be.

This is some special soup that has been boiled all day. It has duck, ham and bamboo shoot. It was quite pricey compared to the other normal dishes. 

Fish fillets in spicy sauce. Another nice dish.

A bowl of the special soup.

Shenzhen Airport - Lunch - Hainan Chicken Rice

We are heading to Shanghai. Breakfast has barely digested when we decided to have lunch before boarding China Southern flight to Shanghai. My friend told me the food on board was really bad.

We had hainan chicken in one of the many restaurants at the airport. In hindsight I am glad we did as the food served on board was a bun, some pickled vegetables and an unappetising piece of cake.

The chicken rice was quite decent. I can't remember how much it cost but it wasn't that much.

Breakfast at Solmar Restaurant - Goodview Hotel Tangxia

The Solmar Restaurant at the Goodview Hotel. Buffet Breakfast cost RMB98 (A$16) with 15% tax.

The food set up.

I had bacon, egg, sausages, baked beans and brocolli. 

The bread and pastry section.

My friend had tea egg, waffle, baked beans, sausage, bacon and pancakes.

Han Palace Chinese Restaurant - Goodview Hotel - Tangxia

click for website of Han Palace Goodview Hotel

The Goodview Hotel in Tangxia is nestled beside a lake (man made I was told but I find that hard to believe). I would say it is in the class of say the Marriott or Ritz. My room was 880 RMB which is about A$135. It is a BARGAIN for the luxury!

We had a huge lunch so we decided to have a simple and light dinner at the Chinese Restaurant in the Resort.

Slow cooked herbal chicken soup. This is probably the most expensive dish I have had on this trip. Cost RMB 399 which is A$61. Apparently it has been cooking all day.

 A serving of the herbal soup.

Deep fried pork ribs.

First fried rice I had in China.

This style of vegetable is very common. Greens are cooked in a soup which usually has century eggs added.

Dessert was sago and yam.

Hua Cheng Restaurant - Dongmen

This restaurant is on Le Yuan Lu (Street), also known as Seafood Street as the whole street is lined with seafood restaurants.

My friend chose a restaurant that he had been to previously. The live seafood is displayed out front.  I cannot tell what some of the seafood were as I have never seen them before.

 This is the famous Shanghai Hairy Crab. They cost about A$30 each.I believe they are so expensive because the entire crab is filled with roe. We didn't have this.

 Some sort of giant slugs.

Shrimps.

Mud crabs.

 Assortment of seafood.

 Some sort of bamboo clams.

Fish which I guess are cods and groupers.

 Slug like clams.

Lobsters and crays.

More seafood.

These slugs cost 78 RMB a kilo by the looks of it. That is A$13/KG.

This guy just walks around the tanks by stepping on the edges. He tops up and selects the seafood.

This is the restaurant across the street.

Looking down Seafood Street.

Pots of various soups.

The roast meat section of the restaurant.

The ready cooked food of the restaurant.

The Restaurant's business card.

The ever present peanuts. 

Again, preserved vegetables are served as nibbles.

The steamed chicken which is quite popular in Southern China.

The white stuff in the soup which I thought was tofu turned out to be coconut. It tasted quite good. 

Stirred fried chili bamboo clams.

I found this vegetable a bit difficult to eat. They did not cut it so you have a whole string of each stem which could be as long as one and a half foot!

Another type of clam but cooked in the same style as the bamboo clams above. We could have been a bit more imaginative.

The shrimps are simply steamed and they are very tasty.

 

Scallops in shell with black beans. They did not taste very fresh or very nice.

This meal cost us RMB240 which is A$40.