The Bottom Line
I'd never heard of Huaiyang cuisine until we read a wee review of this restaurant in a city magazine. Looking it up, we found that Huaiyang is a famous Chinese cuisine (in China obviously) coming from the area in Jiangsu province around Yangzhou. Popularized by the first Ming emperor, it is famous for its carving techniques with specialty knives. Many dishes are sliced and diced amazingly.
Pros
- Fun to try something new, ever heard of Huaiyang cuisine?
- In the heart of Shanghai's former French concession, enjoy walking around the neighborhood.
- Delicious food, very reasonable prices.
- Bright, family-friendly atmosphere.
Cons
- Strange decoration - don't go for the ambience.
- Long English-translated menu somewhat hard to decipher. The lucky thing is, everything's delicious.
Description
- Nanling Restaurant
- 168 Yueyang Road, near Yongjia Road, French Concession
- Tel: 021-6433-0897
- Opening Hours: lunch 11:30am-2:30pm, dinner 5:30-10:00pm
Guide Review - Nanling Restaurant Review
Tired of the rut we've gotten into when it comes to going out for Chinese food, we decided to branch out and try something new. Driving up, we were underwhelmed. Supposedly housed in a historic location, it looked more like a modern building that happened to have a Chinese restaurant on the first floor. Finding the rest of our group inside at the back, we were confused by the Southeast Asian-looking wall carvings covered by golden fishing nets. But we put our doubts in our pockets, traditional Chinese restaurants are usually brightly lit and gaudily decorated, so don't judge the book by its cover.
After getting a lesson about Huaiyang cuisine from one of our friends, we decided to let him do the ordering. True to the Huaiyang tradition, many of the dishes came impressively diced - Huaiyang chefs pride themselves on their technique. We were six people and ordered enough for ten, but that's the fun of trying new Chinese food: order lots and stuff yourself with your favorites.
The English menu doesn't do justice to the dishes. I favored the starter/cold dishes that came first (I'm quoting the menu):
- Bamboo shoots with garlic sauce
- Chinese V. chicken leg ("V" means vegetarian chicken, which means this is not actually chicken, it's tofu, and surprisingly delicious)
- Helan bean mixes the lily flower
- Bean curd needles with chicken and ham
- Braised tofu with crab meat
- Dou miao- a sauteed green vegetable
- Grayling fish - a heavily sauced firm white fish
- Braised Pork with cuttlefish
- Nanling Roast Duck
The food was great and you can't argue with the bill, at just over 100rmb per person. Enjoy!
