The Shanghai West Lao Long Tang is not only a daily haunt for locals but also a great place for many tourists to experience a traditional Shanghai street food culture.
Lao Long Tang is a well-known, traditional noodle shop located in the historic alleyways of the West Shanghai area. It is famous for its authentic Shanghai flavours and classic noodle dishes.
Additionally, the environment and atmosphere of the shop are full of the unique charm of Shanghai’s old alleyways, with small spaces that exude a nostalgic vibe, attracting many food lovers to experience classic Shanghai noodles.
This noodle shop was opened in 2017 at this location by Xu Binghua 徐秉华, a local Shanghainese born in the 80s. His grandma opened a street store in the 80s, and he grew up by the side of his grandma like many of his generation, while his parents worked in factories and offices during the first years of the China economic boom.
Grandma retired in 2010, and the next generation decided not to take over the business. The grandson decided to open this place with his cousin in 2017, and became Dianping “Must Eat” list in 2019. The toppings are all recipes taught by his grandma, representing a flavour of that generation. The only concession? A new topping called spicy cube pork noodles 辣肉面 was created to cater to the younger generation.
To place an order, you pick the doneness of the noodles (soft or hard), soup or dry, and then pick the topping(s) over the noodles. You can order the toppings on the side as some like their noodles plain. The order is then scribbled on piece of paper and you pay via electronic money (not credit card) or cash on the final amount. The duplicate of paper is then passed to the kitchen to prepare your meal.
When I arrived at 10 am right after their opening time, there was no queue outside the store, but inside the store was already full. I placed my order at the cashier and found a seat quickly.
In the beginning, this seating area was not covered, and we had to take shelter when it rained. The lady upstairs predicted they will only survive 6 months, but record shows that this noodle store has survived and thrived, taking over the upstairs for additional seats.
These days, the noodles are made in factories as the demand surge. However, the broth made from boiling pork, chicken and fish bones, fresh ingredients that reflect local characteristics, combined with chewy noodles offer a comforting taste that many old Shanghainese cherish.
There’s no soy sauce 酱油 in this Shanghainese-style hot sauce 辣酱油, which is actually fashioned after Worcestershire sauce 伍斯特醋, aka kay japp 喼汁 in Hong Kong, which is not the same as another kay app 茄汁, which is actually ketchup. No matter what it is called, it is a perfect accompaniment with the Shanghainese fried pork cutlet 炸猪排.
Pig intestines noodles is a challenging choice, either a hit or a miss because it is difficult to clean the intestines properly. To be technically correct, this is the pig’s big intestine, which handles the you know what.
Thankfully, the pig intestines were cleaned properly, braised perfectly with good flavours and soft texture.
This is another topping that I always add to my noodles despite it being another strong smelling pig’s organ. The kidney is one of more difficult offal to process and requires deep cleaning to remove the stench. And then when you got rid of the smell, it cooks so quickly that most chefs would get it all wrong. So it has to be prepared a la minute unlike some of the rest of toppings that can be prepared beforehand.
For those who are afraid of the smell of pork kidney, don’t worry! The pork kidney was crunchy and did not smell funky at all.
Mix it with the noodles and the flavours go together very well with the intestines. The kidney was cooked to the perfect temperature and the knife skills were very delicate. BTW, their pig’s liver is also very good, but that’s too much internal organs for one meal.
The dry noodles were the highlight — springy and perfectly cooked, lightly coated in a fragrant scallion soy sauce that brought out their natural texture. You can add free noodles if you are not full. Just tell the staff.
Deep fried braised egg 虎皮蛋 is a simple delicacy popular in the Jiangzhe 江浙region. Two steps are needed to make this savoury hard boiled egg – braising and deep frying. I was surprised how well the yolk kept its yellow outlook despite all those cooking.
Large, flattened piece of fried pork cutlet 炸猪排, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, recommended to be eaten with dry noodles mixed with delicious Worcestershire sauce from Tai Kang.
Fried to a fragrant aroma but not greasy, to what we say in Chinese, 油而不腻. However, the pork cutlet was no where near the juicy, tender tonkatsu from Japan. The pork quality was average and flattened for effect.
Everything was served in generous portions, with a comforting, home-style touch. They are open from 10am in the morning until 8.30pm, seven days a week. And since then, they have expanded to two other places, serving the same consistently good noodles and toppings. But the vibes here are the best.
Lao Long Tang 沪西老弄堂面馆(定西路店)
685 Dingxi Rd, 685, Changning District, China, 200031
上海市长宁区定西路685号101室
Tel : +86 13641898598
Visited Apr 2025
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