A World of Gourmet Tastes Meiyuancun Restaurant
美食天地·梅园村

Meiyuancun Restaurant is an acknowledged leader in Shanghai's food and beverage industry. As one of the Top 100 Private Companies in Shanghai, Meiyuancun is a well-known household name and the company has 8 restaurants. Its products were awarded "Highly Recommended Products of the Year 2000" by the Shanghai Municipal Commerce Committee and also won the title of "China's Famous Restaurant". In 2000, the restaurant won the "Shanghai Famous Trademark" award and became the top privately operated restaurant.

However, who would expect that Meiyuancun Restaurant started in an alleyway on West Beijing Road on February 28th 1993 in the former residence of its owner Chen Youliang. The restaurant was set up in a tiny space converted from a groundlevel living room and a courtyard. At that time, it could only fit eight small tables, and the kitchen and the cold room only occupied 18 square meters. At the beginning, Chen wanted to name the restaurant "Shuanglong Restaurant", which means "a pair of dragons" in Chinese because both he and his daughter were born in the Year of the Dragon. Ever since the birth of his daughter, Chen's business was on the rise. But later, he learned from the older generation that the alleyway was originally called "Mei-dong-xing-cun", which was built by an extremely successful businesswoman Ms. Mei. Chen also found out that his restaurant was located at Ms. Mei's former residence. Naturally the character "Mei" became part of the restaurant's name. Apparently Chen wanted to borrow some of Ms. Mei's luck. Then Chen thought about the character "Cun", which means plaza or village in Chinese. In his mind, restaurants that had the character "Cun" in the name were all very successful, such as Luyan-cun Restaurant, Youyi-cun Restaurant. Lastly, in the hopes of bringing fortune in the future, Chen picked the character "Yuan", which symbolizes perfection in Chinese. Hence "Mei-Yuan-Cun" Restaurant was born.

The new Meiyuancun restaurant achieved astounding success immediately after the opening with its sales increasing every day. During this period of rapid growth, "Meiyuancun" created several miracles. The kitchen stayed open until 5 o'clock in the morning and customers had to wait in line for tables. Customers must make a reservation 1 to 2 weeks in advance or it would be impossible to get a table. Every night 40 to 50 taxis were waiting in front of the restaurant. The long lineup of taxis was about 200 to 300 meters, extending from the alleyway of West Beijing Road to the corner of Huanghe Road. The phenomenal success of the restaurant not only attracted countless customers, but also many celebrities, including renowned entrepreneur Bao Yuegang, and famous Chinese artist Liu Haisu, the owner of Wharf Holdings in Hongkong.

A tiny restaurant in a small alleyway suddenly gained great fame in Shanghai. It was also appearing in the newspaper for the good food. The reporter wrote about the delicious taste of Stinky Bean Curd and Boiled Crab. Just by reading it, it makes one mouth watering. The humble restaurant is so prosperous to the point where you cannot enjoy a meal without a reservation. Undeniably this is a miracle in Shanghai's food industry.

In order to improve the business and not let the eager customers wait for too long, owner Chen Youliang spent the profit saved and bought the neighbors' old house to expand the restaurant. However, even when the restaurant was expanded to 480 square meters, not only the long lineups did not disappear, but rather they grew even longer than before. Famous Chinese artist Liu Haishu's wife, famous Indonesian Chinese Mrs. Xia Yiqiao and the younger brother of famous oversea Chinese Mr. Chen Jiageng, and the president of Japanese Kobe Overseas Chinese Association and many other celebrities all have brought friends to wait in line at the restaurant. Facing this issue, Chen Youliang decided to make the restaurant even bigger.

In order to find the best location for his new restaurant, Chen Youliang inspected many locations. Finally when he was drinking coffee with his wife in the Park Hotel, he incidentally stepped on a newspaper. He picked it up and it was an advertisement of a property for sale: "Yulong Plaza" on West Dalian Road. Immediately the couple rushed over to the property and discovered that it was located in a nice neighborhood with convenient transportations and upscale residences. Most importantly there was not any upscale restaurant in the area. Suddenly Chen realized this would be the best location for Meiyuancun. The next day Chen purchased the 4-storey 14000-square-meter skirt building at the bottom of the plaza with a 20-car parking lot space at the front. In next to no time, a brand new Meiyuancun Restaurant opened at the location, it had over 20 private dining rooms and the capacity to serve more than 600 guests at one time. The good news brought in new and old customers and the monthly sales increased consistently. The restaurant's capital grew from the initial investment of 30000 Yuan to 4500000 Yuan, which marked the second stage of the restaurant's development from sole proprietorship to Meiyuancun Development Limited Company. Since then, the company entered a period of rapid growth and today it has 8 franchised stores. Chen Youliang's goal is to open 10 locations at downtown Shanghai. And later on, he plans to implement the third stage to expand the company to Beijing, Hongkong and Taiwan...

In Shanghai's competitive food and beverage market, Meiyuancun has achieved significant development in the past 13 years. The secret ingredient to its success is to adopt the strengths of fellow restaurants and strive for perfection in ingredients selection, meticulous preparation process and retaining prominent chefs. The company seamlessly integrated traditional cooking with creativity and developed a distinguished cooperate characteristic. When Chen started the business, he employed skilled chefs by paying high salaries twice as much as other restaurants. Afterward Chen spared no cost in hiring first-class chefs and encouraged them to explore the best features of fusion food and to develop new and innovative culinary products. Chen's army of talented chefs conjured up several dozen tasty food series and hundreds of mouth-watering dishes, including Sautéed River Shrimps, Pine Nuts with Perch, Eight-Treasure Bottle-Gourd Duck, Sichuan Flavor Stinky Bean Curd, Stewed Duck with Aweto, Special Grilled Eel, Drunken Chicken, Stewed Pigeon In Brown Sauce, Roasted Cuttlefish, Aromatic Crispy-Fried Crucian Carp and many more dishes. Meiyuancun Restaurant has broadened the culinary horizon and created a new world of gourmet tastes. To further enhance and improve the quality of the food, the restaurant also formed a culinary research team and hired famous chefs as consultants. Mr. Chen has a special bonus award for chefs who develop new dishes, especially for the winners of culinary competitions. Meiyuancun has consecutively won prizes in competitions. Especially in the "2000 Shanghai Fusion Food Show", Meiyuancun earned praise from former Deputy Secretary of Shanghai Municipal Party Committee Gong Xueping, Shanghai Deputy Mayor Zhou Mu Yao. Singapore Consul General and his wife also complimented the great food at Meiyuancun, saying that although they have been to many countries they had never tasted such delicious dishes.

Thousand Island Longevity Noodles in Fish Soup
千岛湖长寿鱼面汤

This fish head noodle soup is served hot in a foot-long clay pot. Once brought to the table and the lid is lifted off, the delicious fragrance of the fish rushes out of the pot. Gently pushing aside the emeraldgreen cilantro leaves floating on the surface, you can see thin strands of white noodles bathed in the creamy white fish broth. First, scoop the soup in a bowl and sip it slowly to savor the sweet and delightful flavor. Then eat the noodles, which charm your taste bud with a faint fish flavor. Actually the noodles are made from fish paste flour dough. After eating the noodle, you may enjoy more soup, nibble on the fish bone or eat the fish lips or the brain. It is a satisfying experience indeed.

Sautéed Crystal River Shrimp 清炒水晶河虾仁

The Sauteed Crystal River Shrimp at Meiyuancun was awarded "Shanghai's Famous Food" in 2001, which is made with special large river shrimps. The cooked shrimps are pale pink, translucent and crystalline, like stunning "dragon's eyes" and the dish is truly a feast for the eyes. The savory shrimps are silky smooth, slightly chewy and has a refreshing taste. It is very popular in Shanghai. In 2005, the restaurant sold an astonishing 20 tons of river shrimps.

Pan-Fried Corn Pie 玉米烙

This desert won "Shanghai's Famous Food" award in 2001. Using American sweet corn as the main ingredient, the pie mixture also has corn kernel, cashew, shredded coconut, green pea, high quality corn starch and sugar. The mixture is made into a sweet batter and then fried in a pan.

The Pan-Fried Corn Pie features a soft, delicate color and moderately sweet taste. With the creamy tender texture of the corn and green peas, this desert is ideal for elderly and young children.

The Ultimate Pork Bone 天下第一骨

This one-of-a-kind highly nutritious dish was awarded "Shanghai's Famous Dish" in 2004.

The main ingredient is pork leg bone which the marrow is extracted and cooked in a savory soup base until well dissolved. The pork bone is rich in calcium and the marrow tastes sweet and considered to be a "yin" or "cold" food (in Chinese medicine), which is believed to help replenish "yin" and nourish bone marrow.

At the table, each guest is served with one pork bone with its top-end open and bottom closed. The hollow pork bone is filled with abalone sauce and a straw is provided for sucking out the delicious sauce. With its unique charm, this dish is gaining popularity among consumers.

American Style Broiled Jumbo Shrimp 美式大虾

This dish uses Asian Bamboo Shrimp. The shrimps are mixed with sesame powder, potato flour and butter and then broiled in oven. This innovative culinary masterpiece has perfectly combined the Chinese and the western cooking style, and it was awarded "Shanghai's Famous Food" in 2004.

Vegetarian Crucian Carp Fins 鲫鱼扒素翅

This is a fabulous vegetarian dish which won "Shanghai's Famous Food" in 2004. The main ingredient, Winter Bamboo Shoots, are cleaned and peeled, and then carefully carved into the shape of Crucian Carp and thinly sliced to resemble the fish fin. Finally the bamboo is cooked in a savory soup until well done. This distinctive dish not only demonstrates the chef's incredible cutting and carving skills, it is also extremely nutritious.

Crispy Seafood Dumplings
海味脆饺

This exquisite cold appetizer earned the title of "Shanghai's Famous Food" in 2004. It uses thinly sliced white radish as the dumpling wrapper to encase the delicious filling prepared from finely chopped seasoned seaweed, jelly fish and other seafood. The dumplings are beautifully arranged in a circular pattern on a serving plate. The delicate paper-thin dumpling skin is so transparent you can almost see its content. Crunchy, delightful and refreshing, the savory dumpling is best eaten with the vinegar dipping sauce which adds a slight tartness.

Steamed Shad Fish 清蒸鲥鱼

While the freshwater shad fish from the Yongtzi River is almost extinct, the Shad Fish dish served at Meiyuancun is prepared from ocean Shad. To prepare this dish, the fish is cleaned first but the scale remains intact, and then it is cut in half and marinated in a famous wine called "Gu Yue Long Shan". The fish is then steamed with Chinese ham, chicken fat and savory soup to give a sweet-and-salty flavor. The fish scale displays the beautiful silver shimmer and the fish meat tastes absolutely delicious with the aroma of the wine. The dish won the title of "Shanghai's Famous Food" in 2004 because it tastes almost as good as the Shad from the Yongtzi River.

Address: 841 Middle Yanan Road

Telephone: 62477979

Hours of operation: 11:00-14:00

17:00-22:00