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Xiao Chi Dian 小吃店 – Shanghai, China

A very cool little place that we went to is actually a street side restaurant, which typically are dirtier but local and delicious. This one that we went to was Xiao Chi Dian which directly translates to Little Eat Place, or something like that!

At this little eat restaurant, we ordered some Xiao Long which came to the table in a bamboo basket steaming hot! It was really good! These xiao long bao ranked really highly on our Shanghai trip!! Steaming hot, tons of flavour, great skin with a great filling! It was divine!

The main attraction for this visit actually was for their lao ya fen si tang 老鸭粉丝汤 which was recommended to us by our friends wife! This steaming hot bowl of glass noodles (粉丝) has some duck and tofu in the soup. The flavour of the soup has left us all speechless! So what if this place is a little dirty… the food really compensates for it!

Lastly, we ordered some Fried Pork Chop to share amongst us all! It wasn’t anything to rave about, but it was a great piece of fried pork chop! The pork was still tender and juicy and the crust was really crispy! They used Chinese Vinegar for a dipping sauce which was good, and it helped cut the grease!

Overall, we have nothing negative to say about this place. If I had to say something, it would be that there isn’t a lot of seating at all. They do have tables on the upper floor, and that’s where we sit. We did pretty much take up the entire upstairs… with just 6 of us!

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NanXiang Steamed Bun Bread Shop 南翔饅頭店 – Shanghai, China

We were thinking about delicious xiao long bao and asked our hotel concierge about a great place for them, and they suggested to us to visit Cheng Huang Temple by Yu Garden. From there, we walked around a bit and found a super long line and looked up at the sign… there, it said NanXiang Steamed Bun, so we got in line and waited about 40 minutes before we got to order.

The menu wasn’t extensive at the street level, but there is an eatery upstairs full of food and other options. Of course, we just stayed in line and ordered their famous xiao long bao Steamed Bun with Pork Stuffing was their English translation. The skin was quite thin and delicate and the soup inside the dumpling was phenomenal! It was one of the best we’ve ever had!

Another item that we saw a ton of people order (but not nearly as much as their dumplings was their Steamed Bun with Crab Roe and apparently the locals eat it by sucking the soup out of the bun first, then then eat the bun. Good thing we watched them!

Overall, this was a fantastic place for us to visit! We really appreciated the recommendation and the neat thing is, it’s kind of famous here!! It was so good and the location was great for both locals and tourist. The shopping area around this place is apparently known to be a bit cheaper than the rest of the places. So, it’s a win-win for us for sure!

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Zhang Sheng Ji Restaurant 张生记酒家 – Shanghai, China

We had a little adventure and went to Shanghai, China where we ate a lot! We ate at a restaurant called Zhang Sheng Ji inside the Super Brand Mall on the 6th floor! The food was Shanghai style and it was quite delicious! It was a restaurant that was one of our friends favourite, so she was really excited to take us there!

We didn’t eat a lot this evening as we just got off the plane and was quite tired. We did start with a soup of Bamboo Shoot and Pork Soup and it was really nice after a long day on a plane! The flavours were well developed and it was quite tasty!

One of my favourite dishes is the Squirrel Fish which is a deep fried fish deboned from head to tail (but in tacked) and fried with a pattern to look like a squirrel! It is often a sweet and tangy flavour so you’ll often find pineapple and tomato ketchup with the fish. This one had the sweet and tangy sauce, I don’t recall pineapples, but it was absolutely delicious!

We also had their Sheng Jian Bao which is a pork bun that is pan fried. These buns are steamed with a light and fluffy top and a delicious crispy golden pan fried bottom. These ones were stuffed with delicious pork, kind of like a pot-sticker filling! These were definitely made to perfection, tasty and juicy on the inside too!

Overall, this was a great place that was recommended! I did want to go back, but there were so many other new and exciting places to try, in and around the area (even in the mall!)

Zhang Sheng Ji Restaurant 张生记酒家

Super Brand Mall Shanghai China
6F West Zone 42-43
50476828

10:00 A.M.——22:00 P.M.（Monday – Sunday）

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La Ronde Revolving Restaurant‎ – Edmonton, Alberta

We were going through Edmonton numerous times this summer, and we ended up staying at Chateau Lacombe Hotel in downtown Edmonton. It was getting late and we were hungry, so we went upstairs to their revolving restaurant for dinner at La Ronde Revolving Restaurant. It was a really nice place and we got seated immediately even though we didn’t have reservations for the evening. We couldn’t get a table by the window, but it didn’t matter!

Once we were seated and ordered, a bread basket came out! The bread was quite nice, light and fluffy on the inside with a nice crust! We had quite a few slices – for both reasons of being hungry and it being really delicious!

We don’t always get starters, but this particular day we decided to go for some Escargots and they had tons of pieces of snail. Some were quite large in size as well! The escargots were sauteed with mushrooms in a cognac cream sauce, and it tasted as good as it looks!

My entree that I ordered for myself was their Char Grilled Yellowfin Tuna and it was cooked to awesomeness! It was tender and juicy and the portion was really generous! I really enjoyed my meal!

My husband also had an excellent meal! He ordered their Prime Rib and it was really tender and soft, tons of flavour! It was one of the better prime ribs we’ve had! He liked it as it wasn’t full of the “sides” with his meal, just a nice piece of dead meat!

With dinner working out so well, we knew we had to try their desserts! We were stuffed but we ordered their feature dessert which was Cheesecake with Strawberries and it was divine! I loved it and must’ve eaten 80% of the cheesecake!

Overall, this place was phenomenal! We loved it from beginning to end. The service was top notch, the food was definitely delicious and memorable, the atmosphere was great! We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly! This restaurant is basically only opened for dinner, but they do have lunch on Saturdays only.

La Ronde Revolving Restaurant‎ on Urbanspoon

La Ronde Revolving Restaurant‎

10111 Bellamy Hill
Edmonton, AB
(780) 428-6611

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Shibuya Izakaya – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been to Shibuya Izakaya in the past, but it’s been ages — way before I started my blog. So, I thought I would revisit them as I was wanting a bowl of udon for lunch! It’s located right on 16th Avenue, and they do have a small parking lot. It’s a lot easier to find parking spaces dsuring the day than in the evenings.

We started by ordering some Gyozas for an appetizer. I don’t normally order appetizers for lunch, but I can’t turn down dumplings of any sort! So, I got a plate and they weren’t bad. The skin was really thin, and it was steamy hot inside. It did lack a little flavour, but it was pretty good with their dipping sauce! So, they compensated it expecting you to use the sauce.

One of my favourite sushi would be Hokkigai and when I can order it alone, I normally do. However, I’m not sure why I did here. These 4 pieces below cost me $9!! They weren’t bad, but it’s definitely not the best, and not for the the price!

I ordered a bowl of Chicken Udon and that was actually really good! The broth was really delicious and the texture of the udon was quite authentic! The chicken was still juicy and tender, so I really enjoyed my bowl of udons!

My husband also wanted a bowl of udons for lunch so he tried their Tonkatsu Pork Cutlet Udon. The pork cutlet looked like it as awesome, but the meat was pretty tough and a tad dry. They did a great job frying it though! The broth and the udon noodles was the same as mine, so overall quite satisfactory (not as good as my Chicken Udon though)!

Overall, we left on a full belly and quite satisfied. It was relatively quiet for a Satuday afternoon around lunch time when we got there. I guess most people don’t think about sushi for lunch, but you can always think about ramen/soba/udon! This is a great place to go for a Japanese noodle fix though!

Shibuya Izakaya on Urbanspoon

Shibuya Izakaya

449 16 Ave NE
Calgary, AB
(403) 277-8823