In Which We Upscale Ourselves

Shanghai Cuisine (88 Bayard St., at Mulberry) is an upscale Chinese restaurant, lauded for their eats by upscale publications like New York Magazine and Gourmet, but left alone by the more downtown ones like the Voice.

Ordered Pork with Garlic Sauce, in lunch special format, sided by Hot and Sour Soup (included) and Scallion Pancakes. Admittedly rather down-market dishes, so I don’t know if I’m judging wrongly. There is, I know, a world of difference between sitting down in the restaurant to eat the chef’s best, and grabbing a quick cheapie and eating at a desk in an office. So take this with a grain of salt.

But the rice was lousy. I was unaware that was possible, in these days of hi-tech rice cookers, but my lunch came with a small portion of crappy rice. It was alternately dry and sticky, with an unpleasant “plastic” thing going on. Say what you will about the el-cheapo places I frequent, they always pony up impressive portions of first-rate rice when called upon to do so.

Lousy rice kicked off an uninteresting meal in thorough fashion. The pork itself was fine, sauteed in a rich and garlicky sauce with strips of Chinese celery, and the scallion pancakes were nice also (crisp, not very greasy). The Hot and Sour Soup would have been fantastic were it not for the profusion of shreds of stewed pork, but that’s a style thing (I prefer mine with just veggies) so I won’t get involved.

So it was all okay, but in the end the whole presentation just seemed uncared for. I can only assume it’s because I ordered cheap food in an upscale joint. Bottom line – stick to cheap dives for cheap meals, and maybe hit up Shanghai Cuisine for Tong Po Pork, Lion’s Head Meatballs or Yellow Fish when yer feeling flush.