Shanghai Country Restaurant — Restaurant in Zhongzheng District

I wanted to rate this place four stars but ultimately decided that three stars is more appropriate.

I adjust my rating of restaurants based on the price of admission. A Rolls Royce Phantom being a five star automobile is not a surprise given its price tag. While a five star rated Honda Fit cannot possibly be compared to a Phantom, it deserves to be rated that highly as compared to its peers.

This place could be rated higher if the prices charged for various dishes are more in line with the quality offered.

Our party ordered seven dishes, including the Fish Head in Casserole that needs to be ordered in advance as well as the famous braised pork that is served as a square. Both of these dishes warrant 3.5 star rating.

Fish Head in Casserole is a difficult dish to make well. In order to infuse the soup with fish flavor, it is necessary to cook the fish head longer than the optimal time to retain the tenderness of the fish flesh. There are ways to compensate but doing so is both time consuming and costly. This dish did not quite measure to the best although the broth is quite flavorful.

The texture of the braised pork was on par with the best of its ilk. Unfortunately, I detected quite a bit of bitterness in the sauce which I reckon was the result of the soy sauce being simmered longer than desirable. The accompanying buns were also subpar on account of the dry skin and lack of elasticity.

The fried fresh water eels were interesting but it is hard to give the dish a high mark given that, unless one has no clue how to cook, fried food tends to taste good.

Three of the other four dishes were decent but no better than average.

The stirred fried vegetable was awful as it was neither fresh nor cooked well.

Even with the three star rating, I'd give this place another chance. Hopefully I would be more impressed during...

One of the few restaurants in Taipei that still focused on Shanghai style dishes. And one of older establishments.

One to enjoy this style of place is gather friends and family together for their ser table bundle (feeds and seat for 10 persons)

One of the must try dish is baked Square pork (·烤方蹄蔘) served with steam dumpling pocket. The savvy favor of braised, roasted, pork which was prepared from porkbportion consists of skin, fatty, and lean layers. Oozed through multiple methods to ensure the pork is fully tender , soaked up with favors while whole piece melt in mouth.

Other dishes are a bit less impressed. It has...

An unexpectedly large venue with with an elevator and 5 floors of seating. Was a bit confused why it was this big!

Noticeable some cups was and plates had gone through the dishwasher and had to be recleaned.

The experience was like a time warp back to the 90s. Staff was super attentive and professional. The food was of older traditional Chinese dishes: Jellyfish, froglegs, chicken amalgam, sweet and sour fish, abalone.

Overall the food was quite good although the freshness of of some such as the fish was questionable.

Atmosphere was great having a private room and able to...