Ningbo is a city in Zhejiang, an Eastern Chinese province. It is a manufacturing powerhouse and boasts its own cuisine. In Shanghai Yong Fu restaurant was awarded one star in the 2019 Michelin Guide and serves Ningbo cuisine.
The visit
The restaurant is located on the 12th floor of the historic Jin Jiang hotel (the building on the back in the first picture above). It is a very Chinese restaurant. To make a booking I had to go there and nobody would speak English. Initially they just asked me to leave. Eventually I was able to make a reservation.
As usual, they have a lot of private rooms (“boxes”) and a hall where I had my dinner. Their menu, as you might expect, is focused on Ningbo delicacies. The decor is in line with the vintage atmosphere of the hotel.
I started with a taro and crankling soup that was recommended by the manager (the only person speaking some English) as very typical of Ningbo. It was a very dense soup, very good.
Then I had marinated bamboo shoots that came in a weird bowl inside another bowl with two small fishes happily swimming.
A piece of bamboo fell into the water and one fish seemed to like it.
My main dish was supposed to be yellow croaker in a casserole with soy sauce and some braised pork. Yello coraker is indeed a fish coming from the waters of Zhejiang. However, it turned out to be cuttlefish! The translation on the menu was wrong, but they insisted it was croaker. It was not.
At least it was very tender. Overall a nice dish for two or three people to share.
Finally, I had two glutinous rice balls (Tang Yuan) with a filling made of sesame paste. It is a traditional sweet from Ningbo very popular durinh Spring Festival.
The final dish with seedless grapes was complimentary.
The check
I spent 389 RMB (around 54 USD) for a big dinner. Of course, this kind of Chinese restaurant is best experienced in a group that can order several main dishes. The yellow croaker, for example, could have been split between two people. Of course you could easily spend more if you start to order more expensive seafood.
I must say that all the staff was very professional and friendly and willing to try to explain me things. It is a nice restaurant and if you are looking for something different in terms of Chinese dishes, it is a very good place where to go.
Where in Shanghai:
59 Maoming Road, 12th Floor Jin Jiang Hotel.