Some of my fave Chinese eats in Shanghai

I promised some weeks ago that I would list my five favourite eats in Shanghai, so here comes. Seeing that Shanghai has about 87648753485873245873 restaurants, I will divide this 'resto info piece' into 2 sections, one for western food and one for Chinese. I will start with my favourite section, namely the Chinese...

Note, that this is no actual 'guide' but rather just my personal favourite eats. I am definitely no food expert, I have no experience when it comes to writing about food (hence my non-existent food vocabulary) and I probably choose all the most ‘obvious’ places… but who cares? I like them! My friends like them! So maybe someone else will too? Obviously most of the places where I like to eat are located in the French concession because this is where I used to live and work before.

Hunan Xiangcun Fengwei, 168 Wulumuqi Zhong Lu, near Wuyuan Lu 乌鲁木齐中路168号, 近五原路 Phone: 6437 0952

I have written about this place many times before, but I don't mind doing it again. This place is everything I want a Chinese restaurant to be: cheap, not too shiny, and the food is spicy! I looove spicy food. I adore this restaurant's eggplant dish (la rou qie zi) and I also always get their spicy beef with green chillies. They also have a great bamboo dish, and some other Hunan specialities that I don't know the name of just out of my head, but just ask the waiters to recommend you their specialties and you’ll be delighted.

Di Shui Dong, 2F, 56 Maoming Nan Lu, near Changle Lu, 茂名路56号2楼，长乐路口 Phone 6253 2689

Since this place has been listed in Lonely Planet, it has become a favourite for foreigners/tourists in Shanghai. But that obviously doesn't change the fact that the food (Sichuan and Hunan) is great! Their ribs are really yummy, and I am also a big fan of the hot veggie pots u can get there. (I normally ask them to make mine a bit extra spicy). The also have some good, bone-less chicken classics like gong bao ji ding.. I've never left from this place hungry. Yum!

Dong Bei Ren, 1 Shanxi Nan Road, 陕西南路1号，近延安中路5228 9898

Beijing food... (so a good choice if you are not into spicy) Another eatery that us popular amongst foreigners. I go here for their selection of dumplings. They have really nice ones with egg and tomato inside... it might not sound so good, but it is!! And it’s cheap! Oh, and the staff might sing for u if u ask them to...

Laifu Kitchen 1416 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Fuxing Xi Lu 淮海中路1416号, 近复兴西路, 6473-5996

Laifu used to be one of my favourite lunch places when I worked at SH Magazine (which has its office just across the street from this restaurant). They serve spicy Sichuan food and I really like this place’s mapu tofu. They also have a great spicy beef, and some wonderful spicy noodles (served cold), that I can never keep myself from ordering. It’s reasonably cheap. Now when I think about it, I haven’t been back here for a long time… Have to go this wknd!

Charmant, 1414 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Fuxing Xi Lu, 近复兴西路,地铁1414号线常熟路, 6431-8107

Charmant used to be my second lunch choice if I didn’t feel like spicy, because it is located just next to Laifu! It’s Taiwanese food, and they have really good lunch sets that will really fill you up. I love their vegetarian lettuce wraps and poached vegetables and they also have a quite good eggplant dish. During the summer, this is the place to go for when you want to have a dessert! YUM! Icy, chocolate, mango and peanut creations that melts in your mouth… Cheap and definitely cools you down! Reasonably priced.