Jardin de Jade

It pretty much goes without saying that people from Shanghai have all heard of Jardin de Jade (蘇折匯). It's one of the higher-end restaurants that serves Shanghai cuisine. Sort of the Sam Woo of Shanghai. The food was great, but they're really about the presentation. My pictures don't nearly do them enough justice.

I think these are anchovies, but I'm not sure. Either way, they're deep fried to the point that the fins and bones are edible, and quite delicious.

A little something to whet the appetite before the "real" dishes start coming. Lotus with vinegar, and very sweet kumquat with a special sour sauce.

Slow roasted duck. I know... Just one leg, and I bet it was really expensive. The meat was unbelievably tender. You're supposed to dip it in sweet and sour sauce and wrap it with a bun. I think that would have ruined the texture of the crunchy skin against the soft meat, so I just ate it straight.

Veggies. The stuff in the middle is mushroom. Cathy used to make a dish like this. It just didn't look as good as this.

These noodles were pretty amazing. When the waiter first brought it to our table and set it next to me, I could still smell the dough!

And, of course, 小籠包. I got a scald on my tongue from eating one of these, but it was worth it. The skin on these things are so thin, it's basically see-through. My only complaint is that I wish they put it over cabbage leaves instead of the baking sheet it's on here. Just looks so unauthentic!