A-meigo 梅果 Bistro @ Shanghai

At first glance I thought it was a Mexican restaurant; then I realised it wasn’t Amigo.

A-meigo is a wordplay on the Chinese words, meiguo 梅果, which is the word for nectarines. 雲貴川 is the shortened form for Yunnan-Guizhou-Szechuan is an amalgamation of cuisines of Yunnan 滇, Guizhou 黔 and Szechuan 川. Sour and spicy are the common characteristics of the first two, but there is a little more to Yunnan cuisine that involves the use of natural spices.

黑松露绣球菌沙拉 Black Truffle Cauliflower Fungus Salad

Yunnan is famous for its production and consumption of wild mushrooms. Because of the mountainous and subtropical climate, they can be foraged easily and many non common species are consumed which can result in poisoning. Cauliflower fungus 绣球菌 looks like maitake mushroom but is usually white and larger that it can be mistaken as white wood fungus. The salad had been dressed with black truffle oil and sprinkled with shaved parmigiana. Definitely not a cooking style of the region.

皱皮椒炒牛肚菌 Sautéed Morel Mushrooms with Dried Chilli

It was supposed to be morel mushrooms 牛肚菌, but there were only a few pieces of it. It was mainly king oyster mushrooms 杏鲍菇. Nevertheless it was still delicious and was not as spicy as it looked.

厚烤滇南黑猪五花 Grilled Thick Cut South Yunnan Pork Belly

When one talks about Yunnan-Guizhou cuisine 滇黔菜, wild pork will come to mind. 滇南 South Yunnan is home to many indigenous tribes and grilling meat is very common. Eaten with a variety of pickles and chilli, the dish is rustic and comforting.

云腿焖烧姜柄瓜 Yunnan Pumpkin Braised with Yunnan Ham

姜柄瓜 Yunnan pumpkin is a native varietal of hairy vines and small fruits that shaped like a flattened pumpkin. Unlike regular pumpkin, the skin is quite thin and you can cook the squash without removing the skin. The texture is like courgette but with a pumpkin taste. 云南火腿 Yunnan cured ham is famous around the world, with 宣威火腿 Xuanwei ham being the most famous. They are like the prosciutto of China, except it could be eaten raw. This dish has not other taste except the savoury, smokiness of the cured ham.

花溪牛肉粉 Huaxi Beef Thick Vermicelli

花溪 Huaxi is the name of the river that flows through the township of the same name in 贵阳 Guiyang. Normally this place would not be on the tourist map, but because of this Gaudi style sculptures that look like something from Sanxingdui, they put the sleepy town in the focus of the social media.

花溪牛肉粉 Huaxi beef thick vermicelli became famous as a result of the Internet, as photos of this local bowl of noodles started appearing in social media. Unlike pho, the beef brisket has been braised and sliced beforehand. But like pho, the stock is rich as a result of hours of boiling the beef bones.

毛辣果酸汤鱼 Freshwater Fish in Sour Tomato Soup

This next dish hails from Guizhou. Maolaguo 毛辣果 is the colloquial term in Yunnan for native cherry tomatoes which are extremely sour. They are combined with chilli to form a base red sauce that is used in soup and other concoction. Here, the freshwater fish is cooked with the red sauce in a casserole. If not for this wonderfully tangy and spicy red sauce, the fish would have been tasteless and muddy tasting.

Guizhou cuisine 黔菜 shares many features with Sichuan cuisine, especially in bringing the sensation of spiciness and pungency. What makes Guizhou cuisine unique is the emphasis of a mixed sour-and-spicy taste, as compared to the numbing-and-hot sensation 麻辣 featured in Sichuan cuisine.

This is one of the least known cuisine for me. Couldn’t say I really enjoyed the food, but it was quite good and appetising.

A-meigo 梅果 Bistro (Raffles Changning)
1191 Changning Rd, Changning District, Shanghai, China, 200050

Visited Apr 2025