Today after K and I left work, we had dinner with two ID friends (Ying and Jun Jie) at a place called Shun Feng (the one on Huangpi Bei Lu).
I had the brilliant idea of trying to walk there, because Huangpi Rd is literally right next to our office in Xintiandi. I just didn’t know how far the city blocks were. At first, we started walking in the totally wrong direction, on the right street. Then, we turned around and started waiting for a cab. It was IMPOSSIBLE to find a free cab today, though we spent more than 20 minutes trying to do so each time. In fact, there are some clever entrepreneurial guys who ride their mopeds around, and offer to take people for rides. I guess you have to get on the back of a scooter or motorcycle without a helmet with a random dude and pay him/her a certain arbitrary amount of money. In Xintiandi, I saw one of these guys arguing with a Caucasian woman about shortchanging him. It looked like she paid 11 kuai, which is sort of the standard cab fare, but he demanded more and kept pointing to her bag. Craaazy.
Anyway, we finally got to Shun Feng, 30 minutes late, to find Ying and Jun Jie waiting for us with a GINORMOUS menu sitting on the table. This thing was a perfect bound, 70 page, hardcover, full color USER MANUAL for the food that must have weighed 10 pounds. I promised myself I wouldn’t judge the food here.. it’s just not fair, considering that I’m a vegetarian…. but on the menu today was something that rivaled the grossness of the stuff on Wangfujing dajie in Beijing: an entire suckling pig (a baby pig) that was served on the table. I guess you had to reserve it ahead of time, though.
We found a fair share of su cai (vegetarian) food, including this delicious 蔥油餅 (cōng yóu bǐng.. green onion pancakes). But MAN, was it heavy on the oil. I feel like I might have clogged 2 or 3 arteries just eating dinner today alone.
I love eating out with people, but this unhealthy food is REALLY getting to me. I need some oatmeal soon. When I get back to Chicago, I think I’m going to do a serious wheatgrass detox for 5 days. By then, I’ll really need it.
In any event, for those who are carnivorous, the restaurant seemed like a good choice with a pretty large selection. Actually, it was the largest selection I’ve ever seen in my life. Here is the address in case you’re particularly interested:
3/F Central Plaza, 227 Huangpi Bei Lu
near the Grand Theatre, Metro Line 1 People’s Square Station
黄陂北路227号中区广场3楼
近上海大剧院, 地铁1号线人民广场站
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