Wujiang Road

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Since we didn’t really know any locals in the area, we relied a lot on websites to point us in the right direction for good eats.  One of our searches led us to Wujiang Road which was described as the most popular snack district in Shanghai.  Being the diligent foodies that we are, we felt that it was our obligation to check it out

Lillian Cake Shop

Lillian Cake Shop is a little pastry shop that’s at one of the ends of Wujiang Road.  Their specialties are dan tat (egg tarts) and they actually have two varieties that they sell.  Lillian also has a host of other pastries like the typical ham and cheese sandwiches, the hot dog buns, and the pineapple buns.  We weren’t particularly interested in the other pastries so we went straight for the egg tarts. The first thing to note about the egg tarts is that the crust is super flaky.  It practically starts crumbling as soon as you pick it up.  The egg filling is nice and soft and isn’t the unnatural neon color that we sometimes find back state-side.  It also has a very strong egg flavor that’s complemented by some sweetness instead of vice versa.  To top it off, the egg tart looks like it’s finished under a broiler to give a slight caramelization on top.  The other egg tart has a filling that is actually cheese based and reminded us more of a cheesecake than it did of an egg tart.  It was a little heavy for our liking and the texture was so fragile that it was actually a little difficult to eat.

Yang’s Fried Dumpling

This one was actually a little difficult for us to find.  It’s not located on the street side but is actually tucked away on the second floor of a shopping mall-esque structure off to the side.  The line there is pretty long and seating is very scarce so the easiest thing is probably to just order to go.  A neat feature they had was a large window in the wall where the line forms so that you can see the cooks making the dumplings.  I was very impressed to see that the skin and the filling was made from scratch.  The dumplings themselves were amazing and definitely worth the wait.  They’re roughly the size of a xiao long bao but the skin is much thicker so that it can withstand being fried.  There is such a high turnover rate that the dumplings you get are fresh off the fryer.  Our’s were so hot, they started to melt the plastic take out container!  The dumpling has a nice crispy skin and is tossed in sesame seeds to give it an extra crunch.  The meat filling is very flavorful and, like the xiao long bao, has a some piping hot soup so be careful when taking that first bite!