[Shanghai] The Grandma’s 外婆家
外婆家 The Grandma’s | Dianping
Address: 南京西路818号818广场701室 – 818 West Nanjing Road, 7th floor inside MUJI Mall (静安区 Jing’an District)
Date visited: 2013.05
Total bill: ~RMB$150 for two people (but we could have fed four people)
Will return: Yes
No, I am not reviewing my grandma’s food. This is actually the name of a popular family-style chain restaurant in China. Although I imagine this is what a home cooked meal by grandma would taste like if my grandma actually cooked. Like 上海人家 Shanghai Ren Jia, this is a good place to bring friends who want to experience Chinese food without having to go to a hole-in-the-wall that looks like it barely passed the health inspection or even worse, subject them to my cooking.
All the dishes offered here are very typical Chinese dishes. My friend has been here dozens of times during his lunch hour so I left everything up to him. The food tasted up to standard good. You can argue that you can cook half of these dishes at home, but some things taste ever so slightly better at restaurants because they have better cooking equipment (and larger fires). Also, it’s a lot cheaper to get a dish here than to actually buy all the ingredients that go into the dish and make it yourself. Econ 101.
花枝招展 Organic Cauliflower (RMB¥18)
Recommend: yes
Who knows if it was actually organic but it was pretty good.
外婆小牛肉 Grandma’s Veal (RMB¥39)
Recommend: yes
Super tender baby cattle. Moo.
青菜钵钵 Vegetables Bowl (RMB¥12)
Recommend: maybe
Obligatory green dish. The vegetable is actually Chinese cabbage, which is written out in the Chinese but not English description. This was pretty average and I think it would have tasted the same if I cooked it myself but again, it costs more to buy this raw and cook it at home than to get this at the restaurant.
水煮肉片 Pork Slices in Chili Oil (RMB¥30)
Recommend: must get
My favorite dish–I would come here just to get this with a bowl of rice. It’s slightly spicy.
外婆芋儿 Taro Rolls in Thick Soup (RMB¥15)
Recommend: yes
This dish is very reminiscent of home cooked Chinese food by family. Delicious.
港式奶茶 HK Milk Tea (RMB¥15)
Recommend: yes
Served warm and had the right flavor.
