A Menu for the Pleasure of the Palate Laitianhua Restaurant
适口者珍·来天华酒楼

Shanghai Laitianhua Food and Beverage Industry Corporation operates six luxury restaurants and one food distribution center. The company has received numerous prestigious awards including "China Famous Restaurant", "China Top 100 Catering Enterprises", "China Famous Brand Enterprise" and "China Green Food Manufactures". It is hard to imagine that only 20 years ago, the large and successful company was started off as a small eatery in a former residential house on Huanghe Road. In 1987, newly wed couple Ruan Dawei (husband) and Miao Fuzhen (wife) were salespersons in a department store in Huangpu District. Someone liked the street-front location of their home and offered to rent the house to open a small restaurant. After giving careful considerations, the couple decided to open a restaurant themselves. Then they quit their jobs and used entire savings of 3000 Yuan plus 10000 Yuan borrowed from relatives to set up an eatery. The family had to move into the small attic above the store to make room for the restaurant. A 6 square-meter of addition was built to make the kitchen, and the small restaurant only had 6 tables. The grand opening of Laitianhua Restaurant took place in the autumn of that year, which was celebrated with the loud noise of the firecrackers.

In 1987, thanks to Deng Xiaoping's economic reform and opening-up policy, rapid economic growth and expansion gave rise to consumerism, which helped fuel the rebirth of the catering industry to provide meeting planning and public relation services. Laitianhua restaurant was opened at the right moment. Moreover, Huanghe Road was at the heart of the Nanjing Road commercial district, which is a hustle-and-bustle place with lots of traffic and pedestrians. Driven by a fierce ambition to find a way out of poverty, the couple worked from dawn till dusk every day. Ruan and Miao knew very well that the success of a restaurant relied on good taste of its food, and only a real taste of gourmet could satisfy the customers and keep them coming back. Laitianhua adhered to the business practice of cooking anything that pleases the customer's palate and was not bound by any culinary traditions. They created an innovative menu based on the native Shanghainese food, featuring Sauna Shrimp, Warm Crab, Hairy Crab Stir-Fried with Rice Cakes, Glutinous Rice Steamed with Tortoise, Butter Crayfish, Korean Rice Noodle Stew and Ningpo Style Aromatic Winter Melon. These innovative food items won praise from many customers and they were called "prototype dishes", or "New Style Shanghainese Cuisine". Although these dishes were considered "unconventional approach to Chinese cooking", they have embodied the quintessence of Chinese culinary culture which declares that "the making of a fine food is not determined by recipe, but by the pleasure of the palate". Knowing that good taste is what the customers value the most, Laitianhua Restaurant prepares the most delicious foods to satisfy everyone's taste buds.

By 1992, Laitianhua had already earned great reputation, and the "gourmet market" on Huanghe Road has also achieved significant growth. Base on the commercial development and zoning pattern in Huangpu District, Laitianhua Restaurant was asked to demonstrate a leadership role in expanding the gourmet market. Hence, the couple paid high prices to relocate a dozen or so houses in the neighborhood and expanded the restaurant's seating area to 50 square meters. Two years later, they found it was still hard to accommodate the fast growing customer volume, The couple gathered all the funds for another expansion project. By offering high "relocation compensations", the restaurant was able to move ten households in the neighborhood, and then entire building was gutted to its shell and brand new elevators were installed. When the third renovation and expansion project was completed, the grant Laitianhua Restaurant stood majestically on Huanghe Road, capturing a lot of attention. Its royal customers always come to Laitianhua Restaurant when passing by Huanghe Road and also the guests from the Park Hotel. Famous Hong Kong movie stars like Tan Yongling and Liu Jialing are its regular customers. Chess grandmaster Nie Weiping once ate more than ten hairy crabs in the restaurant. During that era, business boomed at Laitianhua and its kitchen was kept busy until four or five o'clock in the morning.

Laitianhua is neighbor to some of the other prominent restaurants in Shanghai, including Shanghai Park Hotel, Shanghai Pacific Hotel, Gongdelin Restaurant and People's Hotel. Without a doubt, Miao Fuzhen knew that a restaurant cannot survive the competition without having an edge of its own. By following the belief that "food is appreciated for the pleasure of the palate", Miao led a team of chefs and went everywhere to taste all kinds of food. After the tour, the team researched cooking methods and created new innovative dishes. Consequently, the restaurant received excellent reviews from customers and many celebrities became its VIP clients. Someone wrote in praise of Laitianhua restaurant: "The delicious taste of the unique style of the food has made everyone its regular customer."

In Novermber 1999, the Fourth National Culinary Competition held in Hongzhou West Lake, master chef Chang Shalong was sent to compete with more than 2000 culinary masters from all over the country. The two dishes prepared by Chef Chang, Fresh Giant Abalone Stewed in Brown Sauce and Crystal River Shrimp, won two gold medals in the individual competitions. In addition, the dim sums made by Laitianhua team were also rated outstanding. The Pan Fried Bun and the Puffy Egg Tart have won special awards in the national Dim Sum Competitions.

Today's Laitianhua is incomparable to the company 20 years ago. Apart from the first restaurant established on Huanghe Road, 5 more locations were opened closely following one another in Hongkou, Hongqiao, Qibao and Changning District. Furthermore, a modern, large scale product distribution center was built outside downtown. In order to better satisfy consumers, Miao Fuzhen raised the standard of its gourmet food. Today Laitianhua offers a menu that consists of more than 100 hors d'oevures and a wide variety of ever changing hot dishes. In winter, the restaurant serves its original creation of Drunken Shrimp and Drunken Crab. In summer, Chicken Pickled in Fermented Wine Sauce, Goose in Wine Sauce and Wine Soakes Soy Beans were served. In the autumn when fish and crab are in season, the restaurant serves Herring Jaw, Tail and Fish Maw and Black Carp. Relying on the high sales volume, the restaurant is able to lower the profit margin and sells half-Jing (Chinese weight unit equivalent to 500gm) hair crabs at a fair price. The restaurant not only maintains the tradition of cooking delicious homemade meals, but also it has specialty sea food available, such as lobster, geoduck clam, abalone, shark fins and other fine foods. As Miao Fuzhen has once said, at Laitianhua, high quality item is not necessarily expensive, but the expensive items must be of high quality.

Gold Medal Fresh Giant Abalone 金奖大活鲍

This is a signature dish at Laitianhua, which has won a gold Medal in the Fourth National Culinary Competition.

Freshly slaughtered abalone is used in this dish. Abalone has also been regarded as one of the "Eight Sea Food Delicacies" since ancient times. Its value and preciousness arises from the lengthy and difficult harvesting process. Abalone grows extremely slow. It takes 1 to 4 years or even longer to grow from a fertilized egg to the standard size of 6-8 centimeters. Due to this reason, the demand always exceeds the supply in the abalone market. However, abalone does not have much flavor in itself. To make a tasty abalone dish requires a complex culinary process called "imparting flavors", a technique of braising abalone in a savory soup made from chicken, duck, smoked ham, pork knuckles and dried scallop. The resulting product is an extraordinary delectable dish.

At Laitianhua Restaurant, the Gold Medal Abalone displays an attractive dark copper color. The abalone meat is sliced paper-thin and neatly arranged on a serving platter, and then surrounded by fresh green vegetables. The savory abalone has a delicate flavor and a slightly supple texture. It imparts a unique subtle aroma and a delicious aftertaste that seems to linger endlessly.

Gold Medal River Shrimp 金奖河虾仁

Another signature dish at Laitianhua, it has also won a gold Medal in the Fourth National Culinary Competition.

Stir-Frying is a world-renowned cooking technique. President Jiang Xi of the International Culinary Association said: "Stir-frying was a culinary technique created one thousand years ago and it has made distinctive contributions to the culinary world." Famous writer Ling Yutang also stated: "stir-frying is a distinctive Chinese cooking technique that is second to none."

Laitianhuan Restaurant has brilliantly mastered the stir-frying technique to produce a dish without excess soup, oil or corn starch mixture. The aromatic shrimps have a stunning visual appeal, and each shrimp is translucent, crystalline and slightly pink. Smooth, tender and savory, these slightly chewy shrimps offer an endless aftertaste.

Grandma Style Braised Pork 外婆红烧肉

This dish is Laitianhua's model dish. It was inspired by a recipe originally created by the Song Dynasty poet Su Dongpo, who described the cooking process as: "The delicious flavor of the pork is brought out naturally by simmering the pork with little water and over ample time." Ever since its first day of opening, Grandma Style Braised Pork has always been a gourmet dish at Laitianhua. The dark amber-colored braised pork is so tender that it melts in your mouth. Not only it tastes great, it is also believed to nourish Yin, reduce excess dryness of the body and other beneficial effects on the skin.

Pan Fried Bun 生煎馒头

The Pan Fried Bun at Laitianhua was awarded "famous Shanghai Dim Sum". Not-fully raised dough is used to make the pastry skin. Sesame seeds are pasted onto the bottle of the buns, which is then placed in a skillet and pan-fried in oil. The buns are sprinkled with water several times and garnished with finely chopped scallions. When placed in the mouth, the scallion gives a subtle fresh aroma. The pork filling is succulent and juicy which goes down the throat with an exquisite richness. Slow chewing and careful savoring enables the diner to taste the distinct flavors of the sesame seeds, scallions and the pork fillings.

Address: 159 Huanghe Road

Telephone: 021-63273204

Hours of Operation: 11:00-23:00