Xiao Nan Guo

Xiao Nan Guo is one of the better restaurants serving ‘Shanghainese’ cuisine in the capital, a cooking style that favours less oil and a lighter taste. Particularly good appetisers include malantou xianggan, finely chopped bean curd mixed with a wild grass that resembles fennel in taste.

Malantou baiye juan is another variation, in which the vegetables are rolled in a tofu sheet. The food here is rich in vegetables. Among the more unusual, jicai, a wild vegetable similar to coriander, is stir-fried with bamboo shoots or stir-fried pea shoots.

Laoya bao, or duck soup, and braised beancurd with crab roe, are typical Shanghai dishes; for a more energising meal try fried snake meat and stewed turtle. The dark, low-key decor makes for a quiet setting.