nanamoose

Shanghai Finds - Dagu Road

This is absolutely hilarious. Walking down Dagu Road today, apart from the numerous new cafes, restaurants and massage parlours (you have the best in Shanghai all within walking distance from each other, Dragonfly, Taipan and Peony amongst other lesser known names), I came upon two DVD stores that look exactly the same and right across the street from each other. To be exact, I did not come upon them just like that. In fact I had heard about these two stores on Dagu Road but this was the first time I saw them ‘in person’ – and what a hilarious sight it was.

To your left on 378 Dagu Road (if you are coming in from all the massage parlours that is) is Movie World. On your right hand side is Movie Star on 407 Dagu Road. So which one should I go into? Pondering hard (I know I should not be using the words “ponder” and “hard” together, but somehow, I just love the sound of the combination) and starting to feel helpless I saw under Movie Star’s store sign a banner that reads “EVEN BETTER THAN MOVIE WORLD”. Voila! So Movie Star is better than Movie World – and not just better, its EVEN BETTER, implying that Movie Star actually harbours at least respect for Movie World.

Easy choice then. Movie World it is: 1. Movie Star is even better, so Movie World must be pretty good to start off with. 2. Never liked comparative advertising to begin with. If you have to compare, it means you have nothing better to say about yourself.

So for those of you on a weekend spree to Shanghai & short on time, head to Dagu Road for a one-stop cure to all (or some) of your Shanghai cravings – good massage, nice coffee shops to regenerate in between, and not one, but two, good DVD stores.

(one of) The Original Chong Qing Chicken Pot

Why does the original look so much dowdier than the Hong Kong version?

Shanghai Finds - Taikang Road

Never intended to walk into a little piece of Provence in the middle of Shanghai at Bohemia Café. In fact, never intended to walk into a little piece of Europe in the middle of Shanghai in the form of Taikang Road.

Once again, although I have long heard of Taikang Road, it having made a name as an artist and designer’s enclave with lazy, loungy cafes, for some reason (again one too elusive to expound upon here) it was only recently that I had the chance to visit. I was bought ten seconds walking down Lane 210 (i.e.田子坊) in the middle of Taikang Road. Once down the alley you are surrounded by one off shops selling mostly Chinese or ethnic inspired pieces, from homeware to jewelry to stuffed toys and dressing gowns. Allow yourself to get lost in this labyrinth of alleyways (if you insist on not being lost, at the end of the main alley look for the sign to Ginger Café on your left. You will come across Japanese Antique Clothes on your left. Continue to the end of the courtyard and dog-leg left down the tiny alley) to find cafés with al fresco tables and an interesting, bohemian crowd nestled amongst the charm of old Shanghai. Here local residents go about their daily lives, hanging their washing above your heads and rubbing shoulders with tourists and local foreigners alike in their pajamas.

Amongst the many stores in this lost alleyway you will find Nuzi, a furniture shop from New Zealand selling bespoke wooden wares, Amidu, a gallery selling original Tibetan tangkas, and best of all Bohemia Café.

My best Shanghai find of the year, Bohemia Café spells rustic chic in Provencal terms. With unpolished wooden furniture, exposed brick walls from which sits dainty tea candles, fresh flowers and a team of expatriate staff, Bohemia Café is the ideal place is waste an afternoon in a book or on your laptop (like I was doing today). The banana cake was a bit on the dry side but the friendly staff and sweet airy environment pretty much made up for any shortcoming in terms of food.

Love for thy Neighbourhood (Part II of III) - Hong Kong's Cheung Hing

Ok ok, I do not exactly live in Happy Valley now, but I did so for about fourteen years since I first moved to Hong Kong. Ok ok, then again I did not exactly live IN Happy Valley but above it, but I did go to school there and had been going to lunch at Cheung Hing for as long as I could remember. Cheung Hing therefore holds fond memories for me, especially memory of that once when we, as fourteen year olds, got to share a table with Michael Wong!

When most people think of Cheung Hing they think of old Cheung Hing with its 70s 阿飞正传Hong Kong old school drab look and autographs of celebrities pinned up all over their walls. Old Cheung Hing does exude an old world charm hard to replicate in modern Hong Kong, so if you are looking for that particular experience look nowhere else. However, for good cha chaan tang food the new Cheung Hing is the way to go. At old Cheung Hing the noodles are on the soggy side and the Hong Kong style iced milk tea watered down. At new Cheung Hing however (with my old friend Mr. Ma, who has worked at Cheung Hing for almost twenty years, providing excellent service), the food is always (apart from the occasional Saturdays when there is horse racing in Shatin and the chefs therefore get distracted), the noodles are al dente and the iced milk tea perfecto. The 茶走 (cha chaan tang language meaning 茶走糖, i.e. tea without sugar and instead with condensed milk) here is also the best I have had anywhere in Hong Kong. My favourite is 五香肉丁出前一丁(with one egg). The 五香肉丁 comes straight out of a can but I am a firm believer in the fact that the simplest foods are often the most difficult to make, even when it is as simple as cooking a pack of instant noodles and pouring canned meat on top of it. Believe me. The五香肉丁出前一丁 here is unparalleled.

Next time you are in Happy Valley I advice you to fill up your stomach with food from the new Cheung Hing, then hop next store to the old Cheung Hing for some pineapple buns with butter and egg tarts.

Love for thy Neighbourhood (Part I of III) - Shanghai's Le Passage Fuxing

I have a tendency to love all things ‘neighbourly’. The same kind of shop or restaurant, one in my neck of the woods and another in a fancy district some 15-minute cab ride away and I will vouch for the one in my neighbourhood any day. I believe this is the same kind of love attributed to the ‘girl next door’, or 邻家女孩, a phenomenon I have in fact yet to understand (according to wikipedia, the girl next door is someone who exudes “wholesome, unassuming, or ‘average’ femininity…”).

Places, however, as opposed to girls, I understand, and in Shanghai the best example of my neighbourly love is Le Passage Fuxing on Fuxing West Road near Huashan Road. Le Passage Fuxing may indeed be unassuming thanks to its modest exterior but take a stroll down its small alleyway and you will see that it is far from average.

Housed over two floors in an old colonial building, Le Passage Fuxing boasts Cha Gang (edgy Japanese unisex separates) on the ground floor, stylish sino-chic yoga studio Y+ above, cosy and airy café Ginger (with free Wi-Fi – you will often find me here in lazy afternoon writing blogs and reading the papers) at the back and Rouge Baiser (pretty embroidered table and bed linen) near the exit. I guess there goes your girl next door at a neighbourly joint.

Lost Heaven Found in Shanghai

With Lost Heaven billing itself as the Folk Cuisine of Yunnan and with an address smack in the middle of the French Concession on Gao You Road in Shanghai, I knew this would be my kind of restaurant. However, for some reason Lost Heaven has never gained a following amongst the Asian expatriate crowd in Shanghai and accordingly I have been kept in the dark from it until now.

This is not to say that Lost Heaven is not popular. In fact, it is VERY popular and on the Friday night that we visited the three of us had to cram in a two-person table right above the stairs. The moment I stepped into the little courtyard leading to the main reception area I was bought. I have to say this again: this restaurant is just so me! Stylish, hip, yet rustic and ethnic – could this be nana’s bags you are talking about? In Lost Heaven’s courtyard hangs pictures of rice paddies and ethnic minority women at work while the main restaurant area is backlit with long strips of miao embroidered runners. Scattered throughout the restaurant you find nice surprises like lamp bases made of ethnic silverware and ethnic sculptures in the restrooms. Lighting is dim, the walls are crimson and the mood is laid back and romantic. You will even find a small cosy bar on the ground floor.

The most pleasant surprise of all came from the food. Everything we ordered was utterly delicious. The menu boasts cuisines from the ethnic tribes of Dai, Miao, and even Burma, and though their authenticity is questionable, who really cares when they taste so good? We ordered a spicy melon, stir fried mixed wild fungus, spicy chicken, spicy mussels and stir fried rice cakes with tomato and egg (ethnicity and ingredients unknown –was too excited about my find - but all on the spicy side), which turned out to be all, very good indeed.

If you like nana’s bags, you will absolutely adore this place. Lost Heaven has made it to nanamoose’s top Shanghai list, so make sure you book a table in advance the next time you visit!

Lost Heaven is at 38 Gao You Road, Shanghai (near Fuxing Xi Road) tel: +86 21 64335126

Where Art Thou Lovely Mixer?

I have loved you at first sight since that fateful day five years ago whilst shopping at the basement of Selfridges.

I could still remember the way you looked that day, decked out in an arresting red and grabbing the attention of all passersby with your stunning good looks. How could I be so foolish as to let you leave? How could I be so foolish as to not take you home with me that very day? How could I then be so foolish as to have time slipped by, one year, two years, three… till eventually today, it has been five years. It took me five whole years to finally hold you in my arms. And what bountiful arms you have!

You will not be able to imagine my excitement when I saw you, this time in California, dressed in a dazzling white; less the feistiness but in place of that an innocence equally as bewildering. I knew instantly this time that I could not let you go once more. I had to have you. However, in the midst of all this excitement I had forgotten about how I am to take you home. I have only two pathetic arms, how could I carry you on the plane with me? I almost lost my mind when I contemplated the idea of losing you once more. Luckily for me a white knight came to the rescue & kindly agreed to carry you home, all the way from San Francisco to Hong Kong (thank you Mr. Lee).

So there you are, my dear KitchenAid mixer, resting on my kitchen table today and looking as handsome as ever. You never flinched or cringed, and in the whisk of a few seconds there comes a beautifully, thoroughly mixed cookie dough for my famous oatmeal and raisin cookies.

O ye KitchenAid mixer, I can no longer imagine life without!

Lamian Spree in China

There is a big misconception about the lamian. For some reason it is often perceived as having originated from anywhere but its real origin. We see it being made as part of a performance at Peking Garden back in the 80s (or perhaps the show is still going strong today? Sorry, have not been to Peking Garden for the longest time) and today at places like Haidilao, a Sichuanese hot pot restaurant in Beijing. So where does the lamian actually come from?

The answer is Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province with a major Muslim community. Anyone in their right minds will have heard of the Lanzhou Lamian 兰州拉面. It is easily the most popular noodle in China and you will be able to find a bowl in almost every corner of China, whether Shanghai or Shangri-la. A bit like the pho, these lamians come in a pre-cooked beef or mutton soup and with a few slices of the same meat on top.

I think the lamian is addictive. Once I have tasted the REAL lamian and gone through the REAL experience, nothing in Hong Kong quite does it for me anymore. The shabby-looking roadside Muslim restaurant, the mustached teen skillfully and efficiently stretching doughs out into long thin strips of lamian, the fragrant aroma of cooked mutton soup and the crooked old man sitting next to you picking his teeth after gulping down a RMB$4 bowl of lamian... this is the real way to eat Lanzhou lamian. I am ready for my next lamian spree in China.

Suzhou Reinterpreted

The last time I went to Suzhou was some ten years ago when I did not know any better but to follow my parents around with a Hong Kong tour group. All I could remember about the tour and Suzhou were the endless history lessons in various gardens that looked pretty much all the same to me and semi-forced shopping in sketchy-looking commercial buildings.

I realized on this scouting trip for Kylie that the image of Suzhou I had all along had been heavily misconceived. Suzhou, just over an hour away from Shanghai is in fact cultured, beautiful, and full of pleasant surprises. Suzhou is known as the “Venice of the East” for a reason. Crisscrossing the city are numerous canals and waterways along which stand grey and white houses built in traditional Suzhou style generally part of a well-preserved old town community with cobbled alleys and easygoing inhabitants.

The best place to sample Suzhou’s old world charm is Shantang Street 山塘街, a water village closely resembling that of outer Shanghai’s Zhouzhuang. The difference is here you can sample freshly made 海棠糕 and 梅花糕（which are made from real flowering crab apple and plum blossom petals） by the waterways and my favourite 玫瑰酒醸餅 from Cai Zhi Zhai 采芝斋.

XIAOLONGBAOS: Shanghainese vs Taiwanese vs Tibetan

“Wow these dumplings are absolutely amazing! So, these xiaolongbaos are a famous Shanghai delicacy?” asked Kylie while she devoured into the juicy Nanxiang xiaolongbaos which we had queued for about ten minutes to buy and paid a meager RMB$10 for a dozen.

“Well, to be exact, these dumplings originated about 100 years ago from a small town called Nanxiang near Jiading district, which is about an hour away from Shanghai, but they have since become so famous that the Shanghainese decided to adopt them as their trademark food. Their fame has also caused a lot of fake Nanxiang xialongbaos to emerge and hence the cultural officials in Jiading are now fighting to have the dumplings listed as part of their intangible cultural heritage. It is easy to tell the fakes from the authentic though. A real Nanxiang xiaolongbao has at least fourteen pinches gathered on top.” I answered casually as if the ambassador of Nanxiang xialongbao. I think I have succeeded in convincing the audience that I know everything there is to know about xiaolongbaos.

“Intangible cultural heritage! This just goes to say how much the Chinese love their foods!.....”

Nanxiang xiaolongbaos are an icon in Shanghai, and xiaolongbaos have pretty much become synonymous with Shanghainese food. The queues outside Nanxiang and the hustle and bustle created by people frantically elbowing each other for the freshly steamed xiaolongbaos are a landmark in itself. However, personally I prefer the xiaolongbaos from Din Tai Feng in Taiwan, or even the momos in Tibet. As Hau Ba Ba rightly pointed out, Taiwan has pretty much perfected regional Shanghainese delicacies like the xiaolongbao or soy milk and fried dough and made them into something better and healthier. The Taiwanese xialongbaos for instance are more refined. The skin is much thinner and the filling, though soft and juicy, contain a lot less fat.

As for Tibetan momo’s, you will absolutely worship them if you are a lamb or yak meat lover. Momos are pretty much the yak meat version of xiaolongbaos and with a thicker and denser skin. For the best momos, head to A Fang’s Karma Cafe in Shangri-la (66 Jinlong Street, Old Town, Shangri-la Tel: +86 887 8224768). She even does a lovely yak cheese salad!