Jinxian Lu features an abundance of places to go, to eat, to drink, and to play. From Masse (formerly Racks), Bliss Lounge, Momo Paradise, Southern Barbarian, Di Shui Dong, among others. LanXin is hole-in-the-wall restaurant that specializes in no-frills home-cooked Shanghainese cuisine.
On the advise of a close friend, we, luckily found the place. Unfortunately, we had a 1/2 hour wait in the August summer night. Not fun at all. On the insistence of my friend, we choose to stick around and wait it out. The food must be good.
We had Hongshao rou with green peppers, jiang ya – a braised duck leg covered in thick, sweetened soy sauce, a pork and radish soup, and clams with steamed eggs. Hongshao you, braised pork belly, the consummate Shanghai dish, was prepared bit differently with green peppers cooked in to provide additional taste. The subtle nuances could be felt with each bite. The hearty pork and radish soup was also more than flavorful. Not too salty, which was fine by me. The clams with steam eggs, though, weren’t exactly what my friend was looking for – she is more used to the Cantonese style with runny eggs. And finally, the braised duck leg, which utilizes the similar sauce and cooking style of the Hongshao Rou, was the star of the night. The tender duck meat melted with the sweet sauce, which if you think about it, is similar to the sweetness style of the Beijing Roast Duck. With rice, the pork and duck was a fine meal to be had.
What to Order: Jiang Ya (duck) and Hongshao Rou (pork)
What not to Order: perhaps the steamed clams
Rating
3 Pigs
Price Range 1 $/¥/NT
Links
Dianping Listing, 95171, Winnie Leung’s Blog, SmartShanghai Listing, Shanghai Mei Shi, Dopplr Listing, Sharound LoTour, DDMap, A Sina Blog Post, Gudumami, SoSo.Com Post, A Wretch Blog Post
兰心餐厅 LanXin
进贤路130号, 近茂名路
130 Jinxian Lu, near Maoming Lu
+86 21-62533554
Popularity: 12% [?]
Lan Xin is great – it’s one of my favorite places for Shanghainese. If the wait is too long, Xiao Ayi’s sister (or brother- I forget) owns the restaurant next door which is just as good (some of their dishes are better, some are worse) – but you need to be careful because three of the restaurants on Jinxian Lu are owned by the same family, and the fourth is not and is supposedly not as good.
So you have Lan Xin and if you are facing Lan Xin, the one door to the right is also owned by the same family (next to the Lomography store). And then you have the home of what I consider the best dish in Shanghai – Hai Jinzi all the way down past Citizen’s and right next to Shaanxi Nan Lu.
Great blog by the way! (Another Angeleno turned Shanghai resident)