About

What is Shanghai Girl Eats?
A Shanghai food blog by me, Shanghai Girl.

Who am I?
Shanghai Girl who likes to eat.

What ethnicity am I?
Shanghainese. Chinese. American.

Where do I live?
Born in Shanghai, raised in the US, and currently live in Shanghai.

Why did I start this blog?
So my future boyfriend can read it and figure out where to take or not take me to dinner. You think I am joking.

Why do I eat so much?
Why not? Might as well take advantage of Asian metabolism.

Do you have any culinary background?
I am not a professional food critic or chef or anything. I don’t even know where the kitchen is. But I enjoy a good meal and I know what I like and what I don’t like. If your taste preferences align with mine, then you will find your next meal here.

Do I get paid to eat at places?
Most of the meals here are everyday meals I eat with friends or family paid for by ourselves. Sometimes I get invited to restaurant tastings or events where I don’t need to pull out my wallet; those will be indicated at the beginning of the review something to the extent of “this was an invited tasting” and I express my own opinions. I’ll let you know if a place is good or bad regardless of who pays for it.

What is my favorite type of of food?
I eat anything from hole-in-the-walls all the way to the top of hotels on the Bund. Good food is good food no matter what is is or where it is. But at the end of the day, there is nothing like home-cooked Chinese food and by home-cooked I mean by my parents, not me. With that said, as I am a Shanghai girl, I can’t resist xiaolongbao 小笼包, shengjianbao 生煎包, little wontons 小馄饨, and scallion oil noodles 葱油拌面.

What are some dishes I have to get if I see them on the menu?
Foie gras, uni, truffle, and bone marrow.

What don’t I like to eat?
Too many things. Cherries, cherry-flavored anything, raisins, peanut butter, and ginger chunks. Ginger flavor is okay but If I bite into a piece of ginger, it is game over for that dish. My parents have long figured out to sear the ginger in oil first to get the flavor and remove it before actually cooking any of the food. You can figure out a lot of my eating habits through my posts. Again, good food is good food and there are dishes that I enjoy even when these ingredients make it in there. Those are the truly well-executed dishes right?

Noodles or rice?
A bowl of rice beats noodles any time, any day. I have a pretty typical Jiangnan (Southern China) palate.

What kind of camera I use?
I try to use my iPhone 4S camera as much as possible. If it requires a flash, I am using a Sony Cyber-shot point and shoot that I have owned since the Stone Age. Nothing too fancy. I think a DSLR would embarrass my friends even more. I now also own an Olympus E-P3. Friends, sorry in advance.

How to contact me?
Email shanghaigirleats (at) gmail (dot) com or leave a comment here (if you would like a direct response, please leave a website or contact information). I am also on Instagram as @shanghaigirleats and Facebook. Don’t creep on me thx.

I would like to thank all the food in the world for existing. Just kidding (but not really). In all seriousness, thank you to all my friends who have ever suffered through dinner with me.