Pudong puts paid to that old chestnut about location, location, location. Buried in the drab, echoing bowels of a shopping centre, it’s almost always packed. On weekends, bookings are essential. At first glance you do wonder why, given the surly service and peeling wallpaper, but after the first bite of the lushly fatty, fabulously braised pork that’s accompanied by small hard-boiled eggs, you wonder no more. Then the perfectly cooked noodles arrive, fragrant with nothing more than onion-flavoured oil, and they’re just delicious. This is not refined food, but it’s honest and homey.
Main courses $12-$38.