is a semi-regular column featuring the haunts of chefs, restaurant owners, F&B managers, and other marginally sane people with good eating recommendations.
Johnny Le is the sandwichman of . He's Vietnamese-American, which is a good background to have if you're riding premium Vietnamese banh mi (58rmb) and deluxe roast beef sandwiches (65rmb) to success. Both are simple studies in great handheld lunch. Johnny was responsible for putting me on to , and so I asked him for a few other recommendations.
In his own words:
The Friendship Store Night Market's Grilled Scallops
On Wanhangdu Lu and Changshou Lu, there's a lubiantan, or nightmarket-type streetfood. It's right under the Friendship Store. There's one vendor who sells grilled scallops with rice vermicelli, garlic, and an XO-type condiment. It's a classic Cantonese dish, made on the street. They're 3 for 10rmb; I've eaten 28 in a night. The best part is that there's an arcade right upstairs, cheap beer, and lots of eye candy:around the corner there are four KTV's and all the girls go to the night market after work to get their munch on, so go after 10.30pm.
Nanling's Lion's Head Meatballs
Chinese lion's head meatballs (shizi tou) slow cooked with shredded cabbage. cooks them in their own fatty broth. What I do: smash the meatballs so they're like minced meat, and then generously apply meat, broth, and cabbage to a bowl of rice. To me, it's the ultimate Chinese comfort food. I'm sick: I once ordered four meatballs to go, took them home, cooked up some macaroni, minced the meat, and voila -- the ultimate noodle soup (albeit really heavy). Perfect for the winter day where all you want to do is DVD and couch it.
Tenya's Grilled Tuna Collar
Although is hands down the finest sushi in the 021, in these tuff economic times, sometimes you gotta compromise. I get tuna collar with a bowl of rice and a bowl of chopped green onions. Take the moist meat off the collar bone, plant it on top of the rice, sprinkle with green onions and a dash of soy sauce, and you've got a very nice, balanced, satisfying bowl of rice.
Golden Anchor's Roe Crab with Sticky Rice
This dish (nuomi chao gaoxie) is Shanghai gluttony at its finest. takes a whole fatty crab, cracks it open, braises it hongshao rou-style, and then cooks it with sticky rice. When the dish hits the table, the roe is all over the plate, emulsified in the gooey sauce and sticky rice -- and I haven't even mentioned the crab yet. If you're not lazy, take the meat out of the shell, combine it with the roe and gooey rice, and... wow.
Big Apple's Cheese-stuffed Hamburger
This is the basic Japanese burger patty on an iron plate but is filled with oozing cheese. I get it with a bowl of rice and extra gravy. Sick again: I mince it all up, mix it with the rice, and I have all the carbs and protein I need for a day of slaving in the Deli. I usually get a sunny-side up egg too, so the yolk melts into the rice. If you're really hungover, one of these will fix you up and put you right back to sleep. Bye bye, hangover.
Stamina Garden's Olympic Beef
(食特美烧肉 in Chinese) is an institution. You've gotta order what I call the "o-toro of beef". In English it's called Olympic Beef (aoyun niurou in Chinese). It usually sells out and it's not on the regular menu; look for the special wall advertisement with flags from a bunch of countries. I'd say the beef's is 8. Order a pot of rice (a common theme of mine), and some kimchi and seaweed. Start with the lettuce leaf, add some rice, a piece of kimchi, a couple strips of beef, and then the seaweed. Wrap that bad boy up like a taco and dip into the sauces. You've also got to order this kind of pickled vegetable they make themselves, served cold. It's called jingcongmuo. Add it to the sauce. Alternatively, if you're as lazy as me, there's the J Le Special: a bowl of rice, five strips of Olympic Beef, and a super-duper generous portion of the jingcongmuo. Put a dash of the sauce on top. It's the ultimate beef rice bowl.
KFC's Egg Tarts
I know this sounds crazy, but these are the finest egg tarts in China. They emulate the Portugese egg tart's pastry crust. The filling is always piping hot, and they're cheap: one for 5rmb, six for 25rmb. I don't know how they do it, but the tart is always balanced. In every bite, you get the same airy pastry with the fatty, sweet tart. I've sat with a chef friend, ordered 20 egg tarts, and made them disappear within one episode of Entourage. It's amazing how much better KFC is in China.
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