We recently finished a culinary tour of China in the Summer of 2010. Shanghai is a world class city full of great food. Most of the Chinese food was superior to that in the San Francisco Bay Area and even Vancouver, BC Canada.

Here are some quick mini reviews of places we ate at, so you can understand how Shanghai food compares, and so you select the best places on your visit. We have full reviews for places we deemed important enough;

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Fu1039 is a classic Shanghai restaurant that is mentioned in many tour books, making us cautious. It is located in the Hongqiao area of Shanghai not far from the subway. The restaurant is located down an alley from the 1039 address marker. Read the rest of this entry »

We recently revisited Hong Kong and ate more of the best Cantonese Chinese Food around…

Upscale IFC Shopping Center – Fancier than any US Mall

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Jia Jia Tang Bao (佳家汤包) is a small but popular Shanghai steamed dumpling or Xiaolongbao shop in Shanghai. There was a short line when we went there. The cheapest dumplings are also some of the most delicious but small pork dumplings. (RMB$9)

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Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao is an casual dining sitdown Chinese restaurant located near the arrivals area at the Hong Kong International Airport. Established in 1991, they have several styles of restaurants and many locations throughout China, Singapore, and other Asian countries. 9 of these informal restaurants in Hong Kong alone. We decided to stop there and have a quick dessert after having dinner at marginal Chao Inn. Crystal Jade was touting their Michelin Bib Gourmand rating and dumplings.

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Lei Garden is a well respected restaurant group with locations in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Macau. They opened location18 in Shanghai in 2010. We visited their location in the upscale IFC mall in Hong Kong for dinner in late 2008. This location earned one star in the 2009 Michelin guide but lost it in 2010.

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South Beauty is a very beautiful restaurant located in the Super Brand Mall in Shanghai’s Pudong district. The view of the Bund was awesome from this location making us worry about the quality of the food. You have to spend at least ¥200 per person to sit by the window. Dining on the outdoor deck is unparalleled. South Beauty, founded in 2000 by Zhang Lan, has over 40 high end restaurants throughout China including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chengdu, Suzhou, QingDao, Shenyang. They also run Steam, LAN Club, and SUBU. We had eaten at this location about two years ago and had mixed results. South Beauty Was picked this time because the other restaurants in the Super Brand Mall had already closed. They serve a combination of Sichuan and Cantonese Chinese food in stylish environments.

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Dumplings worth flying across the ocean for…

Yang’s Fry Dumpling – Chinese name: 小杨生煎馆 or xiao yang sheng jian guan – is a small but popular fried dumpling shop serving pan fried pork bun or Sheng jian bao, a Shanghainese Chinese dish. It was formed in Shanghai in 1994 by Mrs. Yang, who still keeps her recipe secret. They have over 20 locations in Shanghai and are opening another 10 shortly. We went to the convenient location near People’s Square. Yang’s had a line when we went there, as is the case most of the time because the dumplings are cooked in batches. Read the rest of this entry »

Din Tai Fung is a popular Shanghai dumpling restaurant with locations in Los Angeles, Taipei, Japan, China, Singapore, and several other countries. We dined at the location in Shanghai’s touristy Xintiandi. The Los Angeles location is in Arcadia with Yelp reviews unfortunately indicating it is a step down from the ones abroad.

This restaurant started in Taipei City and has expanded over the years based on the popularity of their Shanghai steamed dumplings. We decided not to visit the USA or Hong Kong branch and eat at one in the heart of Xiao Long Bao dumpling territory, Shanghai, China. Read the rest of this entry »

Could this be the most outrageous buffet we’ve been to?

Nicolini’s is a Italian restaurant in posh Hong Kong’s Conrad Hotel on Hong Kong Island island’s business oriented Central district. The Conrad hotel is a luxury hotel where rooms start at a $400 night. They switch the 8th floor restaurants; Brasserie on the Eight and Nicolini’s, into to a legendary Sunday brunch buffet with the food stationed in the hallway between the two restaurants. Seating occurs in either restaurant with Nicholini’s, where we dined, offering the better environment.

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6Sens is the brasserie restaurant housed at the French Pavilion in the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, which runs from May 1 to October 31, 2010. Twin-Michelin-starred chefs Jacques and Laurent Pourcel run the show.  The 2010 Expo is a huge, crowded and hot exhibition with long lines and outrageous exhibit halls.

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The iPhone is an essential tool when traveling. Google maps, travel guides, language translation, and many other apps are extremely useful. Here are some tips on using your iPhone in China. We also have an article on using iPhones in Hong Kong.

You can only use foreign SIM cards in an unlocked iPhone.  Jailbreaking and unlocking iPhones are not easy tasks.  (We use redsn0w.com and ultrasn0w.com) Be sure to change your default SSH password.

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