Very Shanghai: "Outta my way!" food

One of the things that will take me a while to get used to... It's hard to explain. In the US, you go to a restaurant, you wait to get seated. If there's no wait, the receptionist at the counter takes you to your table. If there is a wait, you're likely told how long it's probably going to take, or you're given a pager that vibrates when your table is ready. You can throw all that out the window when you're in Shanghai!

If you want a table here and it requires waiting, you look around the restaurant for people who are about done with their food, and you stand next to them waiting for them to finish so you can grab their seat as soon as they stand up. More likely than not, especially if it's a popular local eatery, you'll be jostling for position with other people who are after the same seat. And you better be on the ready like hitting that button in Jeopardy! As soon as those guys even look like they're ready to get going, you either gotta put your hand on the table, throw something of yours down on that table, or give the guy standing next to you a fierce glare as if to say, "You're dead meat if you think you're sittin' down before me!" Basically, anything to mark your territory.

I haven't quite perfected my glare yet, so I've pretty much been the chump every time I've had to wait to get a table. Nonetheless, if an establishment warrants this kind of behavior, it probably means it's got decent food at economical cost.

Alas...

Numbingly spicy beef noodle soup at YongHeDaWang. This place is down the street from where I live at the corner of YongJia Road and RuiJing Road. It's actually best known for its soy milk and baked sesame seed coated cake and deep-fried breadstick combos.

The name of this place escapes me, but it's basically Chinese fast food. This simmer-fried pork lunch combo comes with veggies, rice, steamed egg, and chicken wings; all for less than $3.00 USD.

I LOOOOVE egg tarts! And this place, Lillian Cake Shop, under a pedestrian bridge in the central shopping district of XuJiaHui makes the best egg tarts and cheese tarts (left) that I've ever had. They're roughly $0.50 cents each, so not that cheap. But absolutely mouthwatering!

Think steamed pork dumplings at DinTaiFung are the best? You're probably right. But this place at 1500 ZhongShan South Road is just as good and cost one-tenth as much. They also do a pretty crazy spicy stir-fried threaded pork noodle!