Fu 1039 Restaurant Review, Shanghai

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Fu 1039 1039 Yu Yuan Road near Jiangsu Lu 愚园路1039号, 近江苏路 Shanghai, China 021-5237-1878 021-5238-8868 (Fax) Fu 1039 Website

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.

Decor, Vibe – Fu1039 is located inside a beautifully restored, classic 1930s Shanghai residence. Walking into Fu 1039 transports you back in time. Old-fashioned lamps, incense, dark wood paneling, classic ceramic tile, pictures, coat of arms, lots of marble, plush velvet seating, set the scene. Tables were thankfully separated by large distances. They have banquet and private rooms upstairs. The quiet lunch crowd included nearby workers and well-heeled society ladies.

Menu

Fu 1039 Menu has a wide variety of dishes, from sharks into fresh seafood, some of which are very expensive. We chose carefully, never feeling the need to order expensive shark’s fin, that is probably better in Hong Kong and not very eco-friendly.

Signature Dishes – Shanghai style Fish, River shrimp, River shad

Fu1039 Full image set

Picks:

Smoke duckling (¥58 for half) with tea leaves, was served with small buns. This dish looks small but provided a ton of tender smoky meat for just a half portion.

Sauteed rice cakes with pork mix in spicy sauce (58) were diced up, unlike versions in the US. Rice cakes had a nice texture and chewiness to them. Pine nuts, diced pork, and shrimp were mixed in the dish along with a thick sticky sauce. Overall an excellent dish.

Stewed pork in sweet soy sauce (88) is a classic sweetish Shanghai dish cooked in the beautiful serving pot. Lots of fat on top and super tender meat inside. Be sure to peel the fat off and eat the meat and chewy skin.

Deep fried fresh river shrimp in sweet soy sauce (88) possess more of the sweetish flavors prevalent in many dishes. These shrimp were tiny and were eaten whole along with the shell. Very fresh and very chewy. You could pull the head off if you so desired. We started to gag on the shells after eating a bunch of these.

Old-fashioned Shanghai smoked fish (48) was a signature dish and was very good. It was served Slightly warm, unusual as most are cold. Tons of fish and some bones.

Sweet glutinous rice pearls (12 per person) was an excellent, very soupy and not too sweet dish. A lot of rice was suspended in the solution along with small rice balls.

Eight treasure rice (28) was tiny with a separate container of red bean sauce. This dish was refined and delicate, not too sweet.

Fresh watermelon juice (20) was very fresh and not very sweet.

Complementary fresh fruit platter with watermelon, starfruit, grapes, lychee

OK:
None

Pans:
None

Service – Fu1039 had decent service that was not in the top tier. Plate changes and refills did occur, but the black uniformed servers were around that often.

Value – Prices are very reasonable and cheap by US standards, for such high-quality Shanghainese Chinese food.

Verdict – Fu 1039 was the time we truly felt we were really eating in Shanghai. No tourists, no crowds, no bright lights. The classic atmosphere along with the excellent traditional Shanghai food came together to provide a memorable experience. We have yet to experience a Shanghainese Chinese restaurant with food of this caliber in the US. We will definitely be back.

They also run an even more exclusive and expensive (¥300 per person) Fu 1088 restaurant, which is NOT located down the block at 1088.

Fu1039 is One block from Exit 1 (Yu Yuan Rd) at station Subway: Jiangsu Lu

Other Shanghai reviews: 2010 Shanghai mini Restaurant Reviews, Din Tai Fung, Fu 1039, Jia Jia Tang Bao, South Beauty, Yang’s Fry Dumplings, 6Sens Shanghai Expo.

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