The Delicious "Mei Food" at Meilongzhen Restaurant
梅家菜醇·梅龙镇酒家

The traditional Sichuan-Yangzhou cuisine was brought to Shanghai and evolved into a new style of cuisine. It is best represented by "Luyangcun" and "Meilongzhen" restaurant.

Yang cuisine is part of the Jiangsu Cuisine. It consists of the cooking styles from Yangzhou, Zhenjiang and Huai'an, represented typically by Yangzhou cuisine. The region is located at the northern and southern banks of the Yangtze River; with warm climate, heavy precipitation, it has abundant supply of freshwater fish and shrimps and diverse agriculture byproducts. Huaiyang style cuisine was created by using the rich source of natural products. Featuring carefully selected ingredients and meticulous preparation, Huaiyang cuisine places great emphasis on cutting skills, natural flavors and balanced taste. The food tastes refreshing without being bland; warm and rich yet not greasy. The cooking method mainly includes steaming, simmering, braising, roasting, stir-frying, quick-boiling and smoking. Soup base is of high importance. On the other hand, Sichuan cuisine, which originates from the upper valley of the Yangtze River, is predominantly influenced by the cooking style of the cities of Chengdu and Chongqing. Its chief characteristic is marked by liberal use of spices and seasonings, which are claimed to "embrace seven flavors and eight tastes" and "every dish has its own distinctive flavor". The "seven flavors" are sour, sweet, spicy, zesty, biter, pungent and salty. "Eight tastes" (compound flavors) are composed of pungent fishy aroma, hot-and-sour, peppery and tongue-numbing, "complex flavor", fiery hot, chili oil, gingery juice, and indigenous flavor. Over 38 kinds of cooking methods are employed, including deep frying, smoking-and-frying, soaking, simmering, poaching, braising, steaming, roasting, stir-frying and more. Quick-frying, quick-stir-frying, dry-browning and dry-poaching are innovative cooking techniques unique to Sichuan cuisine.

Founded in 1938, Meilongzhen Restaurant was first opened on Weihaiwei Road. It pioneered a "fusion cuisine" of Sichuan and Yangzhou cooking style, combining the culinary traditions from the upper and lower regions of the Yangtze River, setting a new trend in the contemporary Chinese cooking. The remarkable success was relying on the achievements of the master chefs. For example, in the 1940s, chef Shen Zifang created "Pigeon Breast with Golden Celery", a successful transformation from "Turtledove with Celery", which was a classic dish believed to be eaten by Su Dongpo. At one time, the dish is cooked with pig heart rather than dove meat. After numerous tests, experimentation and cooking trials, chef Shen from Meilongzhen Restaurant substituted pig heart to chicken heart, then to quail meat and finally decided on pigeon breast. In order to cook this dish, the chef must have excellent temperature control techniques with carefully selected quality ingredients such as the tender celery hearts. The resultant product is an ever popular dish that people would never grow tired of. "Dragon Ball with Bean Curd" is another Chef Shen's fruit of labor. It was formally called "Dragon Eyes and Peeled Shrimps with Bean Curd." In 1945, celebrities of the Shanghai movie industry had a dinner party at Meilongzhen Restaurant. When "Dragon Eyes and Peeled Shrimps with Bean Curd" was brought to the table, the refreshing aroma rushed forth and the creamy white bean curd was embellished with five colorful supplementary ingredients: red, yellow, green, white and black. Visually stunning and decadently delicious, the dish offered delicate smooth texture and savory taste. The movie stars gave loads of compliments and believed that creating a work of art from plain bean curd was an extremely difficult task. However, the name of the dish was considered a bit too bulky and neither elegant. After some contemplation and discussions over the dining table, the dish was renamed "Dragon Ball Bean Curd" because the peeled shrimps, green peas, Shiitake mushroom and dried scallop all have round shapes. And shrimps are sometimes honorably called "dragon" in China. Ever since then, the dish is called by the new name and it is still in use today.

The name of "Meilongzhen" is actually from a Beijing Opera play "The Dragon Plays with the Phoenix". In the play Emperor Zhende of the Ming Dynasty used to visit a restaurant named Meilongzhen Restaurant. For this reason, the restaurant was decorated in a theme that highlighted the ethic characteristics. After the relocation to West Nanjing Road, the restaurant resides in a classic Chinese style mansionwhich reflects both the sophistication of the national arts andtraditions, and also manifests the deep roots of the Chinese cultural heritage.

Meilongzhen Restaurant has inherited the authentic taste of "Sichuan" cuisine to offer the tongue-numbing, spicy, aromatic, tangy and sweet taste, realizing the claim of "embracing seven flavors and eight tastes" and "distinct style for every dish". Furthermore, the restaurant has promoted the tradition of Yang cuisine by carefully selecting ingredients and meticulously preparing every dish with attention to details and cutting techniques. Natural flavors are not altered and the food has a wonderful balanced flavor. They are non-greasy, light-tasting and yet flavorful and stimulating, and particularly popular among the locals. With the characteristics of "refreshing, flavorful, fragrant, tender and velvety smooth", the extraordinary foods at Meilongzhen restaurant eventually made its own label called "Mei food" and earned excellent reputation in China and abroad. For the past 50 years, Meilongzhen Restaurant has served the general public countless traditional dishes, including "Meilongzhen Chicken", Aromatic Crispy Duck, Duck Stuffed with Eight Treasure and Spiced Salt, "Dragon and Phoenix Combo", Dry Fried Mandarin Fish, Orange Beef, Golden Celery with Pigeon Breast, Dragon Balls with Bean Curd, Gold and Silver Mushrooms, "Golden Dragon Hors D'oeuvres", Dry Fried Eel, Braised Mandarin Fish with Noodles, Dry Fried Prawns, Shark Fin with Crab Roe, Yellow Croaker with Pine Nuts, Sautéed Crystal Shrimp, Spicy Eggplant and more. Recently, Meilongzhen restaurant has compiled a list of over 200 traditional recipes and several hundreds of new creations.

Braised Mandarin Fish with Noodles 鳜鱼镶面

The ingredients include 600g of live Mandarin Fish, soy sauce, scallions, Fragrant Vinegar, Fermented Soybean Sauce, minced pork and Noodles. First, a cleaned Mandarin Fish is rubbed with soy sauce and deep fried until golden. The fish is then drizzled with a few drops of vinegar and topped with finely chopped scallions. It is then transferred onto a serving plate. Finally, cooked noodles are placed on both sides of the fish. Aromatic and spicy, this is a marvelous dish with a hint of sweet-sour flavor.

Dry Fried Prawns 干烧明虾

The ingredients are fresh giant prawns, Shao Wine, Fermented Rice, Tomato Sauce, etc. The giant prawns are first dry-fried in hot oil and then transferred to a serving plate. Then Fermented Rice, Tomato Sauce and other seasonings are cooked together to make a briny sauce to be poured over the fried prawns. The dish features a vibrant golden red color and savory prawn meat with smooth supple texture.

Dry Fried Green Beans 干烧四季豆

This dish uses young pods of sword beans, oil, salt, scallions, ginger and other seasoning spices. The ends and strings of sword bean pods are first removed. The beans are boiled in water till the skin becomes wrinkly, and then stir-fried with seasonings. The beans are fragrant, soft and tender, and have a refreshing taste with well balanced flavor.

Address: Lane 1081 Nanjing Road West, Unit 22

Telephone: 021-62535353

Hours of Operation: 11:00-14:00

17:00-22:00