Fried Rice.  Standard fare, yet still quite good. ©2011 The Thirsty Pig. All Rights Reserved.

Cha’s Restaurant, Shanghai

查餐厅 Cha’s Restaurant
思南路30号,近淮海中路
30 Sinan Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu, Shanghai, China, +86 21 6093-2062, 11am-2am

Cha’s, which opened in 2009, looks like its been there for years. A typical Hong Kong Cantonese cafe/diner – Cha features great Cantonese dishes. The original chain is based out of Hong Kong, and is built on the allure and charm of the old style, circa 1950′s. The no non-sensisical restaurant has paper menus at each table covered with glass.

With Sugared & Spiced, From Dumplings to Donuts, and Frenzied Palate, we decided upon Cha for an early lunch. Since we arrived just before the Saturday lunch crowd, we had little wait for our smallish table.

Cha reminds me of the Hong Kong cafes that I used to frequent – like JJ’s, after a night of drinking. In Hong Kong, Cha would be like a neighborhood diner, featuring breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Cha’s restaurant doesn’t look like much, but I’m sure this will relieve a lot of people’s Cantonese fix.

We started off Cha’s Homemade Curry with Beef Brisket & Tendon. The thick fluorescent colored curry with potatoes and carrots is a great meal by itself, with rice. The large cauldron had a nice spicy indian flavor, naturally. It wasn’t BTS spicy, which is good for novice spicy eaters.

The Poached Chicken in Soya Sauce is a classic Cantonese dish. Strangely, the ideal chicken is not cooked all the way, as evidenced by the reddish color in the bone. This delicate and specialized cooking manner maintains a natural tenderness and a succulent moistness in breast meat.

And the last of the main dishes we had was the Sweet & Sour pork. The breaded & deep fried pork is a famous dish, not only in China, but also in the US. It is one of the more popular dishes at Panda Express and other traditional Chinese restaurants.

To round out our meal, we also had fried rice, bolo bao’s, and egg tarts. Milk tea’s and lemon tea’s, which is also a Canton speciality, had to be ordered, as well.

What to Order: Cha’s Homemade Curry, Chicken, Sweet & Sour Pork, Egg Tarts
What not to Order: Chicken is ok

Rating
1 Pigs
Price Range 2 $/¥/NT

Links
Smart Shanghai, Zagat, Dining Secretary, City Weekend, Dianping, Food. Fashion. Ferrets.

Look for this simple sign just off of Huai Hai Zhong Lu

The fabulous neon sign

Get there early for lunch, this place gets crowded around 11

Stacks and stacks of baked goods, including the Bolo Bao's.

Egg Tarts are my favorite dessert.

Cha's Homemade Curry is one of featured items on their menu with either Seafood/Beef Brisket & Tendon/Ox Tongue/Chicken/Assorted Vegetables - We had the Beef Brisket & Tendon. 40 RMB

Poached Chicken in Soya Sauce, 50 RMB. This is a traditional Cantonese dish found in Hong Kong Siu Mei's.

Sweet & Sour Pork. This is dish that almost everyone will love. 36 RMB

Fried Rice. Standard fare, yet still quite good. 32 RMB

Bolo Bao's (Pineapple Buns). These sweet pastries just look a bit like Pineapples, hence the name. 6 RMB each

Saving the best for last. Our egg tarts!, 5 RMB each

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4 Comments

  1. Buzz Archer

    good lighting on the Rice! That dish was one of my fails for pics as I could not get the right angle or lighting on it.

  2. Petra

    Sorry for little off topic, but this was local light, or iPhone has so strength flash? I find it very difficult to make nice food photos.
    Petra recently posted..Tramadol for dogs has side effectsMy Profile

2 Trackbacks

  1. By Cha’s Restaurant 思南查餐厅 | Sugared & Spiced 20 Jun ’11 at 9:27 pm

  2. By Shanghai, China; Images From Our Weekend « Through A Lenz 18 Mar ’12 at 10:31 pm

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