Shanghai Restaurant Review: Hu Hu Tang

By Cristina Ng, September 29, 2019

The Place

With the arrival of Hu Hu Tang, two of the three floors at 50 Tai’an Lu are under the management of restaurateur Betty Ng. Just below her contemporary Chinese fusion joint Dao Jiang Hu, Ng’s latest endeavor takes a crack at hot pot just in time for autumn.

The Food

At Hu Hu Tang you have your choice of five collagen-based, MSG-free soups: Hainan Wenchang chicken fish maw (RMB228 full pot/RMB128 half pot), Yunnan wild morel RMB128 full pot/RMB68 half pot), tomato beef (RMB88 full pot/RMB48 half pot), Sichuan spicy mala pork (RMB88 full pot/RMB48 half pot) and hot sour fish maw (RMB158 full pot/RMB88 half pot). When the pot comes to the table, your stock is still in gelatin form.

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Order a yin-yang pot and you get to try two cooking liquids. Most stocks use bones or fish maw to form the jelly stocks, so vegetarians and vegans will want to opt for the delicate yet tasty mushroom one. In this case, the collagen comes from agar derived from algae.

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Reminiscent of Lou Shang, the chicken and fish maw soup at Hu Hu Tang eschews MSG while adding plenty of ginger for a warming yet light iteration of the popular base. We often subject ourselves to the pain of oily blood-red Sichuan hot pot, but the restrained version here satisfies with much less destruction.

If you like beef, the Wagyu platter (RMB293) is worth it. Dip M7 ribeye, M6 sirloin and M6 round slices into premixed sesame soy (RMB20) or yuzu radish soy (RMB15). While we normally like mixing our sauces for ourselves, we have to admit they do a better job.

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Next, cook a mixed platter of homemade meatballs (RMB98) until they float to the top. The bouncy squid ones are particularly good. Another house specialty are the creative and colorful dumplings. Out of the mix of dumplings (RMB38 small/RMB68 large), the kimchee with vibrant red wrappers and the green pork and Chinese pickle stuffed are clear winners.

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Don’t forget to load up on a healthy mix of hydroponic organic vegetables (RMB68), assorted mushrooms (RMB68) and your choice of tofu (RMB22-38). Hungry diners can also add sides and grilled items such as the addictive mentaiko cream cheese baby potatoes (RMB38).

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You should finish up with ‘risotto cooked at the table’ (RMB48); there’s not much to dislike about rice, cream, butter and parmesan mixed into your remaining stock.

Food Verdict: 2.5/3

The Vibe

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With a funky vibe and décor marking Hu Hu Tang as a clear sibling of Dao Jiang Hu, the ambiance is fantastic. We can easily imagine huddling up over the steaming pots come wintertime. We’ll likely be indulging in several of their innovative Chinese cocktails while we are at it.