LDJS wrote:

GirlatWork wrote:Sounds like you have tried more Chinese food in a week than I have in 5 years. Great attitude! You'll love it here. In fact you will be happy anywhere. We need more positive people like you.

Hey thanks. Yeah I loved the food. I live in Korea at the moment and whilst I enjoy the local cuisine, it is very samey and basic and nowhere near as subtle and elaborate as the food I had in Shanghai. Koreans are 'cooks' the Shanghai peope are closer to artists when it comes to food, in the way Italians or French are.

In fact I found some of it so elaborate in terms of blending of flavours and spices etc that it was kind of hard to get a handle on it and unlike with comfort food, where you just have a animal like satisfaction in your gut, that was more ellusive with some of the local dishes I had, especially the soups as they were so complex in flavour. I found myself walking away thinking 'I still don't get that soup but it was so good.'

Seriosuly, you guys should know how good you have it there food-wise. Compared to South Korea, it's a food paradise and I know some of you guys complain western groceries (cheeses, salamis, chocolates etc) are twice the price of 'back home' but compared to Korea where it's like 5 times the price ''back home' (even month after the US and EU - Korea fta's have been ratified...) I was in heaven. And the variety! The variety! Went to that foriegn market in People's square, holy cow, deli meats and cheeses, amazing beers, luxury chocolates, such variety. Man the local supermarkets there even blow away the selection at the big department stores in Seoul and are again, at least half the prices.... 50rmb for a huge piece of Italian quiche, 50rmb for a quarter of rabbit roasted in fennel and rosemary... (yeah I know you could eat local food for like 4 days on that, but hey I was on vacation.)

I am happy here in korea when I can find a 300g block of edam or a 150 slab of Gorganzola for the equivalent of 5 - 6 gbp....! Had a 125g camambert last night which cost be about 4 pounds in Korean won... Back home at Liddels that would be a quid...

Anyhow, good stuff.

And those lamb kebabs I swear are better than the ones I pay 5x as much for at the Uzbecki restaurant here in Busan.

Verbal - you were right the hand pulled and chow mein dishes were ace. But that is also what gave me the runs.... ha ha. Never tasted a sauce quite that good even in Bangkok Chinatown and the Chinese food there is fabulous. And these noodles were like 11rmb. Like the best women when you're young and can handle it - gorgeous but deadly.

Chavster wrote:
But trust me - you don't want to trade Korea's food for China's no matter how many good times at spicy hot pot you have here.

LDJS wrote: Shanghai dairy products were way better than here in Korea and cheaper too! I'm talking imports of course. Foreign cheeses and imports are simply cheaper there, trust me, I've been here for 8 years.

You may be right about the msg etc, but with a fried rice, chicken and veggies, I don't think you can go too wrong.

Korean food, I mean day to day food at restaurants for like 5k won are not that health either, packed full of salt and too much chilli paste and plain white rice which is pretty much empty carbs. They have the highest rate of stomach cancer in the world.

Anyhow, I'll take taste over healthy anyday. I just ate 200g of salami, 100g of mozzarella and salad and had dunhills and beer for dessert, so I'm not too worried about that!

Stark wrote:

Chavster wrote:
But trust me - you don't want to trade Korea's food for China's no matter how many good times at spicy hot pot you have here.

Disagree COMPLETELY. Have eaten more Korean food than probably every other cuisine - both here and there - and have to say it must be my least-favorite (many of my closest friends and co-workers are Korean have been dragged to the 'best' Korean restaurants in town many times over in Korea town near Jinhui Lu and Ziteng Lu). I would eat so much McDonalds if I had to live full-time in that country, and I hate McDonalds. It may be because I can't stand kimchi, but an entire food-type based around hiding the fact that the underlying ingredients are past their expiration date - yuck. Sichuan food blows Korean food out of the water, there simply is no comparison. Koreans have no idea how to prepare vegetable dishes to make them tasty - the Chinese are the world-leaders in turning a few leafy greens into something garlicky and delectable. Yeah, their BBQ is good, but if you can't BBQ meat and have it be tasty the entire cuisine should just throw in the towel. Seriously, OP, I don't know how you lasted 8 years.

OP, a restaurant that has not been mentioned yet and is a good date-place (not expensive but classy) is Bellagio, a Taiwanese place. Actually, both Bellagio and Charmant serve up pretty tasty and clean tasting Taiwanese grub, which tends to be a little less oily and 'greener' than mainland fare. Of particular note is my favorite Chinese dish 'gongbaoxiaren' - this is basically kung pao chicken with shrimp substituted for chicken, though they do seem to tweak the sauce and replace the traditional peanuts with cashews. Bellagio has the best version in town, though I've also enjoyed the version at Spicy Joint, a great Sichuan place for cheap.

LDJS wrote: Okay, so they do good milk, but who doesn't...

LDJS wrote:Shanghai peope are closer to artists when it comes to food, in the way Italians or French are

neverboring wrote:As for xiaolongbao, without dredging up another 13-page debate, my vote still goes to Din Tai Fung.

tylerdurden wrote:

Places to avoid:
Hot Pot restaurants - unless you like all your food to have one of precisely two flavours (choice of chilli or soap);

Kiwi wrote:

LDJS wrote:Shanghai peope are closer to artists when it comes to food, in the way Italians or French are

LDJS wrote:

Kiwi wrote:

LDJS wrote:Shanghai peope are closer to artists when it comes to food, in the way Italians or French are

Pretty much a widely held view amongst chefs and food reviewers the world over.

LDJS wrote:

Kiwi wrote:

LDJS wrote:Shanghai peope are closer to artists when it comes to food, in the way Italians or French are

Pretty much a widely held view amongst chefs and food reviewers the world over.

LDJS wrote:

Kiwi wrote:

LDJS wrote:Shanghai peope are closer to artists when it comes to food, in the way Italians or French are

Pretty much a widely held view amongst chefs and food reviewers the world over.

neverboring wrote:Didn't read through the thread but I'll offer my few mao for what it's worth:

In no particular order:

Di Shui Dong (Hunan)
Guyi (Hunan)
Sichuan Citizen (Sichuan)
Jesse's (Shanghainese)
1221 (Shanghainese)
Xiao Nan Guo (big Shanghainese chain, but has always been consistently decent)
Chinoise Story (Shanghai-Canto "nouveau")
Din Xiang Hua Yuan (Shanghai dimsum)
Both Fu's (1039 and 1088; both Shanghainese)
Qimin (hotpot)
Xibo (supposedly great Xinjiang food with nice ambiance; good rep, but I've been once and it was unmemorable)
Dong Bei Ren (Dong Bei)
Lost Heaven (Yunnan, with good ambiance)
Southern Barbarian (Yunnan, with great beers)

As for xiaolongbao, without dredging up another 13-page debate, my vote still goes to Din Tai Fung.

Chavster wrote:Ideally I would like to have Shanghai's international dining scene combined with Korea's obsessiveness with cleanliness and quality.
It's great that we have M and Jean Georges and El Willy and awesome Tonkatsu joints but you just can't eat like that every day. Even if you could afford it, it would be ruinous to your health.

I find Korean food anything but boring and repetative. Quite the opposite. Some flavors are just so strange and "out-there" that I just can't get into it. I find that I love about 70 percent of Korean food. The other 30 percent just mystifies me. Give me a cook over a chef any day of the week. A cook is going to make me something good using a life-time of acquired skills. A chef is too busy with his latest T.V. project or "mixology" seminar.

Mr Nose wrote:why do you single out the spices as the cause of stomach cancer?