IntroLu Bo Lang – Recommended (if you’re in the area)
Yu Yuan Lu 115
Shanghai, China
Phone: 021-6328-0602
Final meal on the tour was this joint in the mad touristy Shanghai area Yu Yuan. Basically, a fake Epcot center looking pavilion that was built around this garden that existed before things got ripped apart during the cultural revolution. Yu Yuan is insanely loud and crowded, so definitely not my cup of tea. Food was pretty good at Lu Bo Lang, but not worth the trip to this madhouse.
Our Menu
Egg Rolls *
Standard egg roll you get at your local Chinese joint. These were good, but really shocking that they serve this same generic egg roll in China. Again, not sure if this is catering to the tourists or not.
Jelly Fish *
Decent texture with ok flavor.
Pickled Vegetable *
I think this is some sort of radish, but this was pretty tasty with the rice. Standard stuff you’d see in a Chinese restaurant in NYC, but this had much better texture as it probably wasn’t sitting in a jar for a year. Salty and slightly spicy with some good herbal flavors.
Water Chestnuts, Carrots, and Broad Beans ***
So, this is what real water chestnuts taste like. I’m used to the crap they serve in a can which basically have no flavor, but just add textural crunch. This had huge chestnut flavor with the same crunchiness that I was used to. Love the broad beans as this added an earthiness to the dish that was immediately satisfying. Definitely need to start playing with broad beans more since real water chestnuts will be tough to get back home.
Sauteed Celery and Hearts of Palm? **
Similar dish I saw in Suzhou with the celery sautéed and glazed with chicken stock. The hearts of palm had amazing flavor and texture – soft yet some resistance.
Chicken soup with egg whites *
Flavorful soup, but nothing really to it.
Pepper Beef **
This is another one of those – do they really serve this stuff here or is this for tourists? The pepper beef is similar to pepper beef back in the states although done much much better. The beef is incredibly tender and the pepper sauce is out of control good. Very pronounced pepper flavor with some sweetness going on with the green, red peppers and onions.
Fried Rice *
Not the kind I’m used to back in the states which are loaded with a ton of stuff. This was perfect as the rice was slightly coated with oil for some flavor and with some diced leafy greens thrown in the mix.
Xiao Long Bao *
Skin was relatively soft, soup base was decent, and the meat was nice, but I know there’s better out there.
Egg Rolls *
Standard egg roll you get at your local Chinese joint. These were good, but really shocking that they serve this same generic egg roll in China. Again, not sure if this is catering to the tourists or not.
Jelly Fish *
Decent texture with ok flavor.
Pickled Vegetable *
I think this is some sort of radish, but this was pretty tasty with the rice. Standard stuff you’d see in a Chinese restaurant in NYC, but this had much better texture as it probably wasn’t sitting in a jar for a year. Salty and slightly spicy with some good herbal flavors.
Water Chestnuts, Carrots, and Broad Beans ***
So, this is what real water chestnuts taste like. I’m used to the crap they serve in a can which basically have no flavor, but just add textural crunch. This had huge chestnut flavor with the same crunchiness that I was used to. Love the broad beans as this added an earthiness to the dish that was immediately satisfying. Definitely need to start playing with broad beans more since real water chestnuts will be tough to get back home.
Sauteed Celery and Hearts of Palm? **
Similar dish I saw in Suzhou with the celery sautéed and glazed with chicken stock. The hearts of palm had amazing flavor and texture – soft yet some resistance.
Chicken soup with egg whites *
Flavorful soup, but nothing really to it.
Pepper Beef **
This is another one of those – do they really serve this stuff here or is this for tourists? The pepper beef is similar to pepper beef back in the states although done much much better. The beef is incredibly tender and the pepper sauce is out of control good. Very pronounced pepper flavor with some sweetness going on with the green, red peppers and onions.
Fried Rice *
Not the kind I’m used to back in the states which are loaded with a ton of stuff. This was perfect as the rice was slightly coated with oil for some flavor and with some diced leafy greens thrown in the mix.
Xiao Long Bao *
Skin was relatively soft, soup base was decent, and the meat was nice, but I know there’s better out there.
Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way
3 comments:
Ni hao, Aramis.
"This is another one of those – do they really serve this stuff here or is this for tourists?"
Simple answer: tourists. Locals do not eat egg rolls. They do have something similar, which they call spring rolls, but it's a lot more light than the egg roll pictured. Reading your posts in China is inspiring me to write up some articles from my visits in China. They're so much more different than what you experienced, but of course, I was with locals. Plenty of restaurants, but lots of street vedors, too. And then, of course, home cooking at homes of chefs and restaurant owners, which a lot of the food pictured in these posts didn't hit the table.
Keep em comin. I am biased towards Zhong guo, so wo ai reading them!
Zai jian =]
Indeed. It felt a bit touristy though some of the food was pretty tasty (dong po rou). This was the last stop on the tour, but the heavy hitters are coming up - just wait and see :)
That's what I wanna hear! And dongpo rou... that's in the top 3 favorite dishes I eat when I'm in China. Hen hao chi!
Post a Comment