When I see a restaurant says it specialises in 融合菜 (mixed cuisine), it means they are not good at anything. It was the high rating among patrons that attracted me in then.
定西路 Dingxi Road is a 2km stretch of road in Shanghai’s Changning District split in the middle by Yan’an Viaduct. The stretch towards the south (bordered by Yuyuan Road) are lined with restaurants. The north stretch (bordered by Zhongshan Park) is also busy, but not as much. Bao Ji 宝记 is located in the middle of the northern stretch and hence has much lesser foot traffic.
Walking southward from Hyatt Centric for about 5 mins, you will come to the entrance of Bao Ji 宝记. It looks legit with aquarium tanks of live seafood and an open kitchen selling Cantonese siewmei 烧味. Usually I will not look for restaurant when I am dining alone. But this time, the price looks reasonable.
Once seated and you have placed your order, they would serve a bowl of 银耳羹 white wood fungus soup. This heartwarming gesture was really welcomed when the temperature outside had dropped.
酒糟三品 Three types of wine marinated snacks was the only appetiser that looked like I can finish on my own. In the end, I had to takeaway the delicious food. The tiger prawns were of a good size and well marinated. The edamame was infused with the Shaoxing wine, and pig’s tongue was also nice.
One of my favourite street food, I ordered a portion as a starter and got startled by the size of the portion. 麻辣鸭血臭豆腐 Szechuan blood jelly and stinky tofu was a large portion and enough to share for 2-4 person. While the portion was generous, they have not skimped on the ingredients or tastes. It was a really delicious casserole.
When I saw the price, I thought it would be for maximum two persons. But there was enough 酸辣汤 sour and spicy soup for four. It was not because it was really runny and without ingredients, au contraire! They packed the soup with shredded black wood fungus, tofu, pork and egg that every spoonful was choked with ingredients. It was difficult to pick through the thickened soup, and I gave up after two small bowls.
红烧甲鱼 Turtle in red sauce was the dish I came for. It was priced almost the same as a single portion of turtle soup in Singapore, but they actually stewed a whole turtle (around 1.2kg) in the casserole. Once again, I was impressed with the red sauce (which I chomped through a whole bowl of rice because of it), and there was enough turtle for 2-4 persons, depending if you are ordering other dishes.
I went away satisfied with everything I ordered. The bill came to be less than if I ordered room service in the hotel. They packed the turtle and wine marinated snacks, which I enjoyed the next day. Thank goodness for the hotel room fridge. Will definitely go again when I am back in Shanghai.
宝记本帮融合菜(中山公园店)
上海市长宁区定西路1273号
Visited Oct 2024
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