The entrance of MIT Catering on Lancun Road

Neighboring Pudong New Area's Tangqiao community, Lancun Road is a lively and bustling street lined with shops and stores selling miscellaneous everyday goods. However, the thoroughfare has managed to forge its name as a popular food street thanks to a slew of small hole-in-the-wall eateries and enticing food stalls. The Global Times recently traveled to Lancun Road by metro Line 6 and discovered not only a few hidden gems for foodies, but also a fascinating but forgotten facet of the Tangqiao area's cultural heritage.

The entrance of MIT Catering on Lancun Road Photos: Yang Zhenqi/GT

Chongqing barbequed fish 

Emerging from at exit 3 of Lancun Road Station, travelers won't miss MIT Catering (2/F, 1486 Dongfang Road, 6891-0517). Nestled on the second floor of a building located at the intersection of Dongfang Road and Lancun Road, MIT Catering is a small restaurant specializing in kaoyu, or barbequed fish.

Appointed with wooden tables and chairs, unpolished pottery wares and lush green plants, the restaurant exudes a cozy ambiance. It also boasts an extensive menu ranging from cold appetizers to desserts.

For first-time patrons, the restaurant's waitstaff recommend their signature barbequed fish head served in a fish-shaped dish, priced at 58 yuan ($9.58) per jin (500 grams). Originating from Chongqing, kaoyu involves first grilling and then simmering the fish in sauce with additional ingredients added like in a hotpot. The combination of cooking techniques imparts the fish with the smoky flavor of barbeque and leaves the flesh tender and moist.

Diners can choose one of five choices of fish (starting from 32 yuan per jin) and the flavor of sauce from options such as chili and black bean. Add extras like mushrooms and vegetables for an additional 4 yuan.

Other popular dishes are pork lungs in chili sauce, fruit salad, tiramisu and matcha pancakes.

Pan-fried dumplings stuffed with pork from Xiyongji

Suzhou dumplings

A couple of minutes' walk west of exit 3 is Xiyongji Suzhou Dumpling Shop (468 Lancun Road, 5881-3524). Xiyongji is a well-established chain, mostly noted for its shengjianbao (pan-fried dumplings stuffed with pork) and xiaolongbao (steamed dumplings with pork).

One of a dozen Xiyongji dumpling outlets in Shanghai, the two-story eatery on Lancun Road has become a popular choice for residents of the Tangqiao neighborhood since it opened in mid-2012.

The shop offers a wide selection of traditional Chinese light bites, ranging from wontons and spring rolls to dumplings and noodles. One of the shop's cooks told the Global Times that every morning there's a long queue outside of people waiting to buy shengjianbao (5.5 yuan for four) and xiaolongbao (6 yuan for six).

Another popular dish, according to users of dianping.com, China's Yelp-like site, is the zha zhupai, or deep-fried pork chop (15 yuan). Reviews tout the "super-size" steak's crispy exterior and tender meat. 

Stir-fried rice noodles with beef from Keshan Restaurant

Cantonese chacanting

Although there are plenty of other dining options, including barbeque stalls, cafés and alleyway eateries, on the busy western section of Lancun Road, there are a couple of places worth a visit on the quieter eastern section of the street.

Keshan Restaurant (1367 Dongfang Road, 5881-9900), at the corner of Dongfang and Lancun roads, is a homey chacanting, a Cantonese diner. Run by a group of Shanghai locals, Keshan has been a fixture of the neighborhood for more than seven years now.

The menu ranges from traditional Cantonese staples and dim sum to drinks and desserts. Some recommended dishes here are congee with minced pork and preserved egg, shrimp wonton soup, buttered pineapple bun, claypot rice, roasted goose, shrimp dumplings, and milk tea.

While food can be hit or miss, service is prompt and the portions are hearty. We found the lotus root and rib soup (12 yuan) overly salty, but the reasonably priced stir-fried rice noodles with beef (23 yuan) were chewy and delicious.

Keshan offers wallet-friendly set lunches all priced between 25 yuan and 30 yuan on weekdays. The set meal includes a main course, the soup of the day and a soft drink. Afternoon tea sets are also available.

Tangqiao Community Cultural Center has an exhibition hall dedicated to the development of Shanghai dock workers' songs.

Tangqiao Community Cultural Center

Facing Keshan Restaurant on the other side of the road stands a five-story glass and brick building, which is home to Tangqiao's community center (86 Lancun Road, 5089-6942).

The multi-functional space has two libraries, a bookstore, a public information parlor, a small theater and a multimedia room. The center is also home to a community school where residents can choose from a large selection of cultural and arts courses including singing and dancing, calligraphy and carving, musical instruments and foreign languages.

Of the center's diverse facilities and services, an exhibition hall dedicated to the development of Shanghai dock workers' songs (matou haozi) is a highlight. (The Tangqiao area used to be a busy dock along the bank of the Huangpu River).

Featuring an extensive collection of exhibits including photographs, videos, documents and used items, the showroom chronicles the rise and fall of matou haozi, a style of singing accompanied by strong beats and unified movements that was once popular among the city's dock workers who toiled on the wharves in the late 19th century.

Varied in dialects, forms and styles, matou haozi vividly demonstrate Shanghai dock workers' daily drudgery and hard life, recording the city's fascinating history since it was forced to open as a treaty port in 1843. Matou haozi was listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

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