Our driver in Shanghai, or "tour guy" as Mom would call him (tour guide, Mom, not tour guy!!!), recommended this place for lunch.
He said Shanghai No. 1 is better than all the overpriced restaurants we went to the past 2 days (Lost Heaven, Mr. & Mrs. Bund and Whampoa Club).
He made the reservations and drove us there.
The restaurant design was a pleasant surprise. It was grand, elegant and tastefully done.
Look.
BUT LOOK CLOSER and you will see it is NOT as tasteful and elegant after all.
Staff cleaning during lunch service
Dirty mops in the toilet cubicle
Cigarette holes in table cloth
What lousy presentation!
Huge ass menu
Everyone wanted to order everything. As always we ended up with too much food.
Boiled Intestines - not bad
Fried Fish - yuck!!!
(Sorry, but true)
Black Garlic - very sweet
Beans in scallion oil
Pork Neck
Wine Marinated Goose Liver
Deep Fried and Sauteed River Shrimps - the fried ones were tasty
Miso Paste Yellow Croaker
Stir Fried Eel
Pork Belly Pot
More than the pork, I loved the knotted tofu skin at the bottom of the pot
Crab Roe with Steamed Buns
Cholesterol attack
Tofu Strips with Crab Roe Soup
Malantou (Indian Aster) Vegetables
Sea Cucumber in Papaya
Mandarin Fish in Garlic and Rose Pot - this was delicious!
Eel Fried Rice
Yang Chun Noodles
Fruit Platter
Because we knew they were going to serve boring fruits, we brought our own sweet and
juicy strawberries
Out of the 18 dishes we ordered, only the Mandarin Fish was outstanding.
A few items like the deep fried river shrimps, boiled intestines and tofu skin knots were good.
The others, meh.
We wrapped the leftovers for Mr. Tour Guy.
Shanghai No. 1 Restaurant? Not for us!!!
Shanghai No. 1 Restaurant: 6/F, 99 Huaihai East Road, Huangpu, Shanghai, China. Tel: +86 21 3331 7177
