Shanghai Shanghai 紅豆食府 @ Taipei (2025)

This restaurant is famous for 2 things: the daughter of the owner is married to a very prominent Taiwanese politician, and they served very good Shanghainese cuisine.

The Far East Mall store of Shanghai Shanghai has been in operation for over 22 years, so the decor has seen better times although it has been renovated. As this store is frequented by government officials and businessmen around the area, it has private rooms that are very discrete. During the festivals and the year end dinner 尾牙 period, this place is almost always full.

To be fair, they were famous for their Shanghainese cuisine before the matchmade in heaven. The daughter is a beauty and the lucky man is from a prominent family that is equivalent to the Kennedys of Taiwan (matriarch was a beauty queen, patriarch was VP and nearly became P).

Mountain Yam in Plum Juice 冰梅山藥

The first appetiser was criss-cut mountain yam drizzled with a sour plum sauce. It was a refreshing start to the meal, and welcoming after a hot day in the sun.

Fern Salad 涼拌過貓

Lady ferns 過貓, aka vegetable fern 過溝菜蕨 (Diplazium esculentum), is an edible fern that can be found in the diets of the Pacific Islanders and mountain people of Indochina. If you were to order only one appetiser, then I would recommend this vegetable fern. This is actually the edible buds of the lady ferns, lightly blanched and dressed with a Chinese-style vinaigrette. The vegetable fern here was crunchy and not fibrous, one of the best place to eat this dish in Taipei IMHO.

Spring Bamboo Shoots with Deep Fried Pickled Mustard Green 乾炸老鹹菜春筍

The climate in Taiwan helps in the growth of bamboos of all kinds. Hence in spring and winter, you get a lot of bamboo shoots. And because of the island climate, the bamboo shoots in Taiwan are sweeter than those I get in China. To accentuate the natural sweetness, the bamboo shoots were paired with deep fried preserved mustard greenthat gave the dish a smoky, savoury taste.

Chopped Shrimp with Lettuce 生菜蝦鬆

This dish is made up of two parts – a sautéed chopped shrimp with celery and water chestnut bits, and lettuce cups used to wrap the ingredients. To eat it, you scoop some of the sautéed ingredients and placed it on the lettuce cup. You then fold it up and eat it like a really light and delicious taco.

Stinky Tofu Casserole 砂鍋臭豆腐

You may be familiar with stinky tofu, but it is usually served deep fried and in a night market. When it was served the folks next table turned around and looked at us – yes, it stinks but it TASTES GOOD! Stinky tofu casserole 砂鍋臭豆腐 used “fresh” stinky tofu and cooked them with spicy fermented bean paste inside a casserole. It smelled like a sewer but it tasted like entirely different.

Braised Pig Intestine in Red Sauce 紅燒肥腸

Chinese has a tendency to take discarded ingredients in the eyes of the foreigners like these pig’s big intestines. They are cleaned thoroughly and then cooked in a red sauce until tender and full of flavours of the sauce. The fatty intestines were a rice-killer.

Tofu Skin, Salted Pork and Bamboo Shoot Soup 醃篤鮮

Yāndǔxiān is a classic dish from Jiangnan cuisine made from a combination of cured pork and fresh pork with fresh bamboo shoots boiled in chicken stock and finished with Shanghai green (aka bokchoy) and beancurd skin. Seemingly simple dish, the technique requires everything to be prepare and done right. Too much cured pork, the soup becomes too salty. Too little, you cannot get the creamy colour. Their version I always enjoy every time I come for a meal.

Candied Lotus Roots with Osmanthus Syrup 桂花糖藕

We were so full that we packed this back for later. The lotus root has been stuffed with glutinous rice and cooked in osmanthus syrup. The dessert was served hot, but it tasted better when chilled.

The service staff was fantastic and attentive. They were not pushy even though we didn’t order the expensive stuff. And the food was really of a very high standard.

Shanghai Shanghai 紅豆食府 遠企店
The Mall by Far Eastern, B2 F., No. 203, Sec. 2, Dunhua S. Rd., Da’an Dist., Taipei
台北市敦化南路二段203號B2 (遠企購物中心)
Tel : +886 (0)2 8732 1536 (Reservations)

Visited Aug 2025