Because it is recommended by the cute concierge at the Sofitel Hyland, I bring our party to dinner at this Shanghai institution that is Lao Zheng Xing.
Yes, because he is cute.
锅烧河鳗 Zhengxing crisp eel – fried till all the soft eel meat turns hard and crunchy
正兴醉雞 Zhengxing drunk chicken – delicious!
醬鴨 Duck with heavy sauce – can be good if I am not already so sick and tired of all the sweet brown sauce I’ve had this trip
油爆河虾 Fried river shrimp – one of the restaurant’s bestsellers and rightfully so. Crunchy and tasty but just a tad too oily
特色生煎包 Special pan-fried buns – the skin is too thick and there is little or no juice in it at all. Nothing, I say nothing can ever beat Yang’s Fried Dumplings.
草头圈子 Herbage with chitterling – the Chinese are big on words, but don’t be put off, it’s really just nice and chewy pork intestines on a beautiful bed of vegetables. Really tasty.
八宝鸭 Eight jewel duck – and the jewels turn out to be nuts, beans and rice stuffed inside the perfectly broiled duck. Fall-off-the-bone tender.
香芋紅豆 Sweet dasheen red bean – aaackk!!! I think the chef forgot to put in the sugar. Very disappointing.
Maybe if the cute concierge had dinner with us, all these food would taste so much better.
Hmmm…
Lao Zheng Xing 老正兴菜馆: 556 Fuzhou Road, near Zhejiang Zhong Lu, Shanghai, China. 中国上海福州路556号 (近浙江中路). Tel: +8621-6322-2624
