Lisa’s Travels: Shanghai, China

A quick visit to Shanghai crammed with a ridiculous amount of noodles and dumplings.

SHANGHAI

In 2014 we spent a few days in Shanghai and really loved it. Can’t wait to go back. Here’s my Shanghai list, for what it’s worth:

We stayed at the Peninsula which we absolutely loved. Uber luxurious. Beautiful everything, great service and lovely breakfast.

The highlights for us were Untour Shanghai, the dumplings and noodles and the breathtaking view from the Bund.

Untour Shanghai offer some wonderful food tours. We really loved the street eats breakfast tour where we tried many different types of street food that (honestly) we would NEVER have been brave enough to seek out on our own.

One of the many highlights were the Xiao Long Bau at Jia Jia Tang Bao. These Shanghai soup dumplings are the most magical things. A dumpling with a chicken or pork filling along with a little hot soup all enclosed in the dumpling. We were taught that to avoid a burnt tongue and mouth, you need to pierce the top of the dumpling with your chopstick or teeth and gingerly suck out the hot soup, and only then can you pop the whole thing in your mouth.

Another highlight was the perfect Portuguese custard tart right at the end of the tour.

And we loved it so much that we signed up for an ‘oodles of noodles’ tour. We arranged a private ‘Untour Shanghai’ tour with some friends who were also in town and it was really fabulous and totally worth doing. But bring your appetite. We ate the most surprisingly delicious things in the history of surprisingly delicious things – peanut sesame noodles. Who would’ve thought?! If you don’t have time to do the noodle tour, at least go to Wei Xiang Zhai for the sesame peanut butter noodles. The absolute best. Then we saw some very talented noodle-makers make the most beautiful noodles from a lump of dough with their bare hands. No jokes. Bare hands. And we snuck in a visit to Mr Wu, for his O-M-G scallion oil pancakes – in fact Shanghai culinary expert Jamie Barys calls it a cult pancake. I think it is something that everyone should eat at least once in their life.

Check out Untour Shanghai’s website for tours as well as Culinary Backstreets for other restaurant/food ideas.

AND OTHER THINGS:

And also, while you are not busy eating noodles and dumplings you can do many other things:

A must-do in Shanghai is to have cocktails at a bar overlooking the mesmerising Shanghai skyline. It is breathtaking. And your photos will not do it justice. Our favourite outlook was from the Indigo hotel, where our friends were staying. It is quite a way up the Bund from the Peninsula but worth it.

There are many Jewish immigrants in Australia who arrived from Shanghai, most of them coming originally from Russia. The most talked about and popular Jewish tour of Shanghai is with Dvir from ‘Shanghai Jews’ who can be contacted through his website.  

LUNCHES:

We also enjoyed an authentic and fun Chinese hotpot restaurant, Hai Di Lao Huo Guo Hotpot, which, once you get the hang of how it all works, is a really interesting and delicious experience. And you can have a manicure while you wait for your table.

We found some very good, and, by our judging, the cleanest noodles and dumplings at Din Tai Fung. We went to the Portman branch and loved our meal there.

DINNERS:

I don’t have anything exciting to report here as we were not blown away by anything. I must admit we were pretty stuffed after eating dumplings all day…but…here is my very limited report.

Mr and Mrs Bund – probably the best we tried. It is a fun, nice restaurant with great music and nice enough French-ish food.

Lost Heaven on the Bund – A bit touristy, with average Yunnan cuisine. There must be better Chinese restaurants in this town!

M on the Bund – We didn’t go, but was on my list.

GALLERIES:

Loved the power station of art. It was absolutely amazing. But of course it totally depends what’s on. http://www.powerstationofart.com/en/

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Now for Something Sweet

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On Sunday, we will celebrate the festival of Purim.
Here’s the simple version of the story:
Some time around the 4th C BCE, Esther, the Jewish queen of Persia, was told by Mordechai, her cousin, that Haman, the King’s advisor, 
was planning to kill all the Jews. Esther rallied the King, thwarted the genocide and became a heroine.
We celebrate, wear fancy dress and eat hamantashen, a three cornered pastry that represents evil Haman’s three cornered hat.

In a nutshell,
THEY TRIED TO KILL US,
WE SURVIVED,
LET’S EAT!

This is a phrase that I always said lightly (and almost jokingly!) about the festivals of Pesach, Chanukah and Purim. The stories of those festivals were from times so so so long ago. 
We never imagined that in 2024 we would be fighting to survive all over again.  And it seems we’re not quite ready to eat.

We all need to keep standing up and fighting - for Israel and for the Jewish people.
Am Yisrael Chai. 

P.S. Since it is Purim, eating hamantashen is a must. If you want to make your own (these are a batch of mini hamantashen straight out of the oven) you can find recipes in MMCC books 1 and 4.

There’s also a link in my profile to our MMCC recipe.
And Chag Pesach Sameach.

#purim #amyisraelchai #hamantashen #hamastashen
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Today I turned 60.
Crazy, huh? (Yes I think so too!)

I’m grateful for so many things.
I’m grateful that I live in one of the most beautiful cities in one of the best countries in the world.
I’m especially grateful for my wonderful family and friends (and my dog Winston).

But it’s a really tough time to celebrate as it feels like the world is falling apart.
My country has changed. It feels like a divided nation with so many fuckers just full of so much hate.
And the ongoing hostage situation and war in Gaza is unfathomable and devastating.
I have managed to step away from the news/instagram for the day today to enjoy this HUGE😳milestone. I’ve done all the things I love to do (walk, eat, chat, drink, eat some more and start the day with a spicy bloody Mary) with almost all of the people I love the most. What more could I ask for?

Well, since you asked, I have 3 tiny wishes for my birthday, and unsurprisingly they are all related to Israel:
1/ I wish that each and every one of the hostages comes home now,
2/ I wish that Israel completely demilitarizes Hamas ASAP so the war can end, and
3/ I wish that the Palestinian people acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and just let Israel live in peace.
Not too much to ask?
Am Yisrael chai! 💙💙💙

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#amyisraelchai #istandwithisrael #turning60 #happybirthdaytome #bornin1964 #walkingupanappetite #sydneyfood #sydneyeats
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