Catshanghai

Crystal Jade Restaurant: House 6-7, Ln. 123, Xingye Lu ,South Block Xintiandi, Shanghai
Telephone Number: 63858752
Type of Food: Cantonese
English Website: N/A

When you arrive in Shanghai, you will be pleased to find out that much of the Chinese food you come across will be far more varied and tasty than the bland and oily takeaways you may experience in the UK.

Shanghai has thousands of places to go for all sorts of Chinese cooking, anything from cheap roadside dumpling stalls to five star hotels. Eating Chinese food in Shanghai is generally very reasonably priced especially if you go out with a few pals and share all the dishes, which is a great Chinese tradition. I recommend making friends or falling in love with a local so they can take to you the best places. Trust me! They know better than you. Foreigners arriving in shanghai are like children and left to their own devices may end up congregating in Western bars and restaurants.

The Chinese restaurant I am going to review today is actually quite elegant and Western friendly. It is a Cantonese restaurant called the Crystal Jade in Shanghai’s Covent Garden, Xintiandi. My wife introduced me to this restaurant when we first started dating over two years ago. We’ve been there a few times and have never been disappointed.

Cantonese food is not quite as sweet and oily as Shanghai cuisine. It is often a little spicier, but not as much as Thai food. We shared a tofu-egg dish and some crab roe on broccoli. The vegetables tasted fresh and were not overcooked. We also shared some noodle-dumpling soup and eel. Eel may not sound very appetising, but it is more fleshy than other fish and has a sweet, slightly barbecued taste. The bones are also easy to manage so you don’t end up choking like you do when you eat freshwater fish. I don’t eat meat but my wife and friends ate a stewed beef dish that they were very happy with. We ended our meal with tasty hot buns filled with bean paste.

The service was also excellent. The food arrived promptly and in staggered fashion so new dishes of fresh hot food arrived at appropriate intervals. The staff always responded immediately to our requests and they kept filling up our tea cups without being prompted.

The restaurant is always busy and bustling with lively chatter. There was a healthy balance of affluent Chinese and foreigners, businessmen and tourists, old and young, but no children. It is a good place to go on a relaxed date, with your family or friends. Crystal Jade looks modern without being too cool and the lighting is a little on the dark side, which I am perfectly happy with.

Expect to pay under 500 RMB for four people including beer. There are cheaper alternatives to be found in Shanghai, but Crystal Jade is one of my favourites. Other people like it too, so you will need to book a table.