Baoluo Jiulou Description

Baoluo Jiulou, or, 'Polo' in English, is an old school Shanghainese restaurant serving classic examples of benbang cai ('local cuisine,' 本帮菜). Particular favorites of ours include the shengjian bao (fried soup dumplings, 生煎包), made with a fluffy, leavened dough rather than the more common steamed variety, 'oil exploded' shrimps juxtaposed with delicate steamed and peeled ones, and eggplants marinated in soysauce. 

For a real taste of the past, one that hails all the way back to when foreign cuisine first influenced Shanghai in the early 20th century, order a serving of the 'Swiss steak' (ruishi xiao niupai, 瑞士小牛排) – a hammered steak slathered in a sweet, dark sauce, and served with a jelly-like fruity dip. Clearly a world away from the European version from which it shares its name, but a fascinating piece of cross-cultural culinary history that lives on today.