[Shanghai] Shanghai Ren Jia 上海人家

上海人家 | Dianping
Address: 41 云南中路 Middle Yunnan Road (other locations available)
Date visited: 2013.04
Total bill: RMB¥1700 for 12 people (~¥142 per person)
Verdict: Good Shanghainese food for locals and visitors
Will return: Definitely
What to get:
– 红烧肉 Braised Pork Belly
– 黄鱼春卷 Yellow Croaker Spring Rolls
– 醉虾 Drunken Shrimp

上海人家 Shanghai Ren Jia literally translates to Shanghai people’s home. This is most definitely my kind of food. The dishes here are all Shanghainese staples. There are several locations in Shanghai. The taste of each dish varies slightly from location to location based on the chef but the “midao” (Shanghainese for flavor) is there. You can get authentic Shanghainese food at 上海人家 without sacrificing taste, cleanliness, and service. There is a main dining area and also private rooms.

Given that this was a family affair and we got 20+ dishes, getting a photo of every dish was mission impossible. Therefore, I have highlighted some of the more memorable dishes. But no bird dishes because of the flu. My relatives know the head chef at this location and he basically selected half of our dishes. Overall, I was very satisfied with most of the dishes and didn’t dislike anything.

The total bill was RMB¥1700 (~¥142 per person) and we were all very full by the end of our three hour dinner. We had time, appetite, and people. You can definitely eat comfortably for less than this.

醉虾 Drunken Shrimp
Drunken shrimp is live shrimp drowned in baijiu and a little bit of soy sauce. The shrimp here was already dead by the time it made it to our table but you might get lucky and get shrimp still seizuring on the plate. That’s how you know you have really fresh shrimp. The shrimp itself was raw, translucent, and sweet (yes, you need to peel the shrimp). The combination of baijiu and soy sauce was a perfect marinade for the shrimp. I could eat so many of these.

Mussels in Bean Sauce

豆苗扣肉 Bean Seedling Steamed Pork Belly
The traditional version of this dish is actually 梅干菜扣肉 Mei Gan Cai Steamed Pork Belly, which uses preserved mustard greens underneath the pork rather than bean seedlings. This was good but I prefer mustard greens over bean seedlings.

双味虾 Shrimp Duo
No Shanghainese meal is complete without sauteed shrimp (right). Dip into a bit of vinegar and eat.

咖喱螃蟹 Curry Crab

红烧肉 Braised Pork Belly
There is no question that I will get braised pork belly if it’s on the menu. I ate at this restaurant’s 龙之梦 Long Zhi Meng location last week and their braised pork belly was literally one of the best I have had. The sauce was very sweet (but not overly) and the meat was loose and fell right apart when I bit it. However, this location’s braised pork belly was not as good; the sauce was not as sweet (and also a bit lacking) and the meat was a bit hard. This is one of those dishes that will definitely vary depending on the chef.

For comparison, this was the [better] braised pork belly at the Long Zhi Meng location:

黄鱼春卷 Yellow Croaker Spring Rolls
Bomb. These put every spring roll I have ever tasted in my life to shame. Lots of fish pieces in each spring roll and the fish was so flavorful. There wasn’t too much miscellaneous fillers that masked the fish either.

炒面 Fried Noodles
Delicious but I like my dad’s version the best. Can’t help you there.

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