庄氏隆兴面馆 — Restaurant in Shanghai

Whenever I visit Shanghai, there are a few local dishes I never miss—especially crab roe noodles and Xiao Long Bao (小笼包). I found a restaurant near my hotel, which was conveniently within walking distance. I enjoyed it so much that I went there two days in a row, trying a variety of dishes.

The restaurant can get very crowded during lunch hours, so you may need to wait for a table. The crab roe noodles were served with the roe, noodles, and vinegar separately, allowing you to mix them yourself. Adding vinegar enhances the flavor, and I prefer a stronger taste, so I opted for a less sweetened version. However, I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t provide ginger, even after I asked several times. I believe ginger is essential for balancing the richness of both the crab roe noodles and crab dumplings.

The Xiao Long Bao arrived steaming hot, and I recommend eating them immediately before the skin dries out and becomes tough. Ideally, dipping them in vinegar with ginger (if provided) would make them perfect. The noodles were slightly overcooked for my taste, as I prefer them al dente. I also tried the prawn dumplings (虾馄饨), which were decent, and a prawn-based Xiao Long Bao. While both were enjoyable, I found the crab roe version to be the best.

Overall, it was a satisfying meal! The crab roe noodles cost ¥168, while other simpler dishes ranged from ¥48 to ¥68—not exactly cheap, but...

One of the must-try restaurants in Shanghai features a neat and elegant old Shanghai decor. It offers a delicious crab noodle meal with a large portion and fresh ingredients. The noodles come with free refills, and the pork chop is crispy.

The staff are friendly and suggested ordering through the Da Zhong app for promotions, but it requires a China mobile number. Without a promotion, the price for the set of noodles is CNY 168, the pork chop is CNY 28, and the prawn dumplings are CNY 48.

I arrived in the morning around 11 am, and it was already crowded...

At dinner time, the queue was long but the staff manage it really well. The xiao long bao was really good. The secret tips for noodle is the vinegar that they gave.

Despite the restaurant ordering system does not complied with the alipay but you can nicely ask staff to make an order for you at the counter and...