The Pizza Tour: Epilogue

My recent pizza tour in New York was a really fun way to catch up with friends, visit various parts of the City and gorge myself on the best that pizza has to offer. Its funny how I never thought of doing these kinds of things when I was still living there. Now that I only go back once a year, there is incentive to think of creative ways to explore the city that I was raised and see the familiar as well as the changes. In some ways, I feel that the quality of the time I spend in those two weeks in NY as being better than while I was living there. This pizza tour was just one of the many wonderful experiences for me this time back.

Now, to summarize my findings over this pizza tour. My rankings of the 7 pizzerias that I visited:

1. Keste
2. Co.
3. Luzzo's
4. Grimaldi's
5. Veloce
6. Artichoke's
7. Posto

Considering that the number 1 pizzeria in my book prior to this tour was Grimaldi's and I discovered my top 3 pizzerias on this tour I would consider this was a very enlightening experience.

The only problem is now my standards has been raised, its back to Shanghai where Papa John's is considered good pizza. Oh, the pain....

Pizza Tour III

On one of my last days back in NYC last month I met up with my buddy Joe, another pizza lover to taste the number 1 pizzeria rated by New Yorker Magazine. During my trips back to NYC in recent years me and Joe have always had pizza when we meet. I feel like he is my kindred spirit when it comes to the humble bread from Italy.


Keste Pizza & Vino
271 Bleeker Street
New York, NY 10014
212-243-1511


http://www.kestepizzeria.com/menu.html






So I met up with Joe at 6PM after a day of last minute shopping before going back to Shanghai. Joe just got off work and insisted on meeting early because he heard that the lines at Keste was really long after 6:30. Keste is in the heart of Greenwich Village surrounded by restaurants and bars. That area has some of the best that NYC had to offer. I've always wondered how students of NYU can focus on their studies in an area like that.

I walked into Keste and I realized why Joe was probably right. Even though there were a few empty tables, the place was fairly long but narrow with seating for about 15-20 people. If this is indeed the best pizzeria in NY then it is probably too small to accomodate the hordes of pizza lovers. In a place like Manhattan you find ways to make things fit into small spaces.

Joe showed up about 10 minutes after I arrived and we proceed to order two personal pies - my standard Magharita and Joe orders a butternut squash pizza. During our wait, I inquired about the making of our pies. Our server informed me that these pies are cooked in 900 degree ovens in a brisk 57 seconds. Our pies arrived and it looked strikingly similar to the other two Neopolitan discoveries - Luzzo and Co. I took a bite into my Magharita and it was just as I expected, crispy and airy crust, sweet tomato sauce and just the right amount of mozzarella and basil. I was in heaven again, savoring every bite. I sampled Joe's butternut squash pizza and it was quite interesting to say the least. It was quite sweet but the butternut squash sauce just didn't feel quite right being on top of a pizza. I think I will stick with my Magharita. Its a classic for a reason. After washing it down with a cold Italian beer, I was content. Hard to beat great pizza and a cold beer on a spring day on vacation in New York.

Pizza Tour Part II

My first weekend in NYC in a long while rolled around, and I sold the idea of the pizza tour to my buddies Ari and Bryan. Ari is more adventurous when it comes to food while Bryan pretty much disqualified himself from enjoying meals with a myriad of self-created food allergies. Of course being allergic to tomatoes does not bode well for a pizza tour but Bryan accompanied us anyway because he hasn't seen his buddy in about a year.

The day started with me and Ari traveling to Manhattan from our suburban enclave of Little Neck. The plan is to hit a pizza joint before meeting up with Bryan for the rest of the day.



Co.
230 Ninth Ave. (near 24th St.)
New York, NY 10001
212-243-1105

http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/co/menus/main.html




After getting out of Penn Station we headed to the nearest restaurant on my list - Co. The restaurant's layout was wide and open, the walls were of wood paneling. There was a contemporary showroom feel to it. The menu consisted of soups, salads and of course pizza. We decide to share a personal Margherita pie since we plan on going to about 4 other pizza places throughout the day. Our waitress was very friendly and we discovered that she was from Chicago and an aspiring actress. We told her that our plan for the day was to hit as many pizza joints as possible and she joked that she wanted to join us for the day. When our pizza came, it looked very much like Luzzo's. The crust was slightly burn and the crust is airier than Luzzo's. Again, it was the classic Neapolitan pizza cooked under a very hot (700F) oven for a short period of time. The mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil were all perfect toppings for the crispy but airy crust. I think so far, Co has taken over as my favorite pizza with Luzzo's a close second.



Posto Pizza
310 2nd Avenue (18th street)
New York, NY 10003-2724
(212) 716-1200

http://www.postothincrust.com/inhousemenu.html

After a delightful snack at Co. we got a surprise call by my other buddy Qi. Qi had told us he was expecting to work on that Saturday but he called us at around lunch time to take a break for his midday meal. Instead of going to one of our other planned destinations, we detoured to a Zagat rated pizzeria - Posto's. Posto's was to be a very different pizza experience. I read that they specialized in ultra thin crust pizza. The restaurant was on the corner of 18th and 2nd and from the outside it looked like a cafe with outdoor seating but the interior looked like a bar. I didn't pay attention, but this place probably doubles as a bar in the evening. We proceeded to order 3 personal pies. These pies were a bit of an anomaly. The crust was indeed very crispy and thin, but they were so thin that it crumble under the weight of the toppings. The taste was well, disappointing. After experiencing my 2 favorite pizzas in the past 2 days, expectations were running high for a new pizza experience ultra thin style. The experience, well crumble under the weight of expectations.



Artichoke
328 East 14th Street (1st ave)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 228-2004

http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/artichoke-pizza/menu






We said our goodbyes to our friend Qi as he returned to the Saturday grind and we proceeded to meet our other buddy Bryan on the L train station at 14th and 1st. There we hit Artichokes Pizza. Unlike all of the other pizzerias that I have reviewed so far this was not a sit down place. It was basically a store front with a cash register with guys kneading pizza doughs next to pizza ovens in the back. There was very basic foyer before the cash register counter. A nondescript place by all descriptions, except for one thing: the line. The line was just as long as two nights ago when I passed by and it was about 20 people deep. Normally I would just leave upon seeing such a line, but what the heck it was a lazy Saturday afternoon hanging with my two buddies and our mission was a search for good pizza. When you have three guys debating about the Mets and Yankees time really flies.

When it came to our turn to order, I stuck to my methodology of Margherita. Ari went off the deep end ordering a slice - yes by the slice - of crab. There wasn't much to choose from anyway - the other choices were artichoke and Sicilian. There was no seating in the place so we went out to 14 street to eat al fresco. The slice was actually kind of sloppy, a thick dense crust with mozzarella and oil dripping off the side. I was a bit apprehensive as I prepared to take my first bite. The first bite met my tempered expectations. The crust was dense as I expected (almost Sicilian like) and the toppings was very greasy and the oil exuded probably from the mediocre mozzarella. I took another bite for confirmation and I proceeded to throw the rest of the slice into the garbage bin. I did not dispose of the majority of my slice because it was so bad, but my belly was already full of pizza and I had one more place to go so there was no space for any more mediocre pizza - Posto had already taken up enough room. For 4 bucks a slice, I am not entirely sure if it was worth the price. I did have a chance to sample Ari's crab slice and to be honest it was interesting. Maybe next time when I am not as full maybe I will give the crab slice a chance. Honestly, if I had this pizza last year, I think I would have been quite satisfied with it but after having tasted Luzzo's and Co.....



Veloce Pizzeria
103 First Ave., nr. 6th St.
New York, NY 10003
212-777-6677

http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/veloce-pizzeria/menus/main.html






As we approach our next destination - Veloce I was already quite full. Veloce rated very high on New Yorker Magazine's survey - and the reviews were that it was a different type of Sicilian pizza. The three of us walk into the restaurant and the entire restaurant was adorned with bottles of wine on wine racks. It felt like a wine bar and as expected as we ordered, the waiter recommended wine to go with our pizza. Not me, I think beer is better with pizza - leave the wine for steak. Me and Ari proceeded to order a $15 12 inch square pan Margherita while my tomato allergic friend ordered an order of calamari.

The pie comes and it looked a bit different than the normal Sicilian. I take a bite into it and it was indeed quite different. The texture of the crust was crispy on the outside but quite dense and spongy at the same time. The bread had the texture of Ethiopian bread that is used to sop up sauce with. It was actually quite interesting. I asked the waiter what accounts for this interesting texture and he informed me that potatoes had been added to the flour. The sauce and cheese were just OK so overall I would give this pizza a good effort to be different but probably would not make my list of favorites. Its not that it tasted bad, but the taste did not stand out from the crowd.

That concluded my day of pizza gorging, and overall I was very enlightened with the possibilities of pizza. The classic "New York style" pizza will never be the same.

Pizza Tour - Part 1

I consider this the beginning of my pizza tour. The first place I went to was Grimaldi's - a place that I was familiar with and the standard up to this point. Going back there and re-familiarizing myself got me prepared for the real tour. Let's get started!!

Luzzo's
211 1st Ave
(between 12th St & 13th St)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 473-7447
www.luzzos.com

On my second day back, I met up with my buddy Siu at a bar near Union Square in the early evening for some catching up and talked about the state of world affairs and other interesting topics. After a couple of hours and a few beers we decided to search for some real food. Since it was my time back, Siu deferred to me to choose a restaurant for the night. I told him briefly about the pizza excursion that I was to embark on. He was OK with it and I thought it would be a good idea to find the place closest to Union Square. Luzzo's was only a few blocks from where we were and it became the destination for the night.

The restaurant was small and cramp - typical by Manhattan standards. I noticed the hostess and many of the servers spoke Italian and for me that was a good sign. I ordered a personal size Funghi ( tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, basil) for $18. The large version was $23. It was a bit pricey for a personal size but being that we are in Manhattan, my only trip to NY this year and a for taste of the future, I happily plunked down the money for it.

When my pie came, I immediately noticed that this was very different from what I am use to. The crust was the first thing that I noticed... it was not dense like the typical New York pizza but airy and light, enveloped by a crispy exterior. There were some burnt spots on the crust which I expected from reading about 900 degree oven that these pies cook under for about 1 minute. I took my first bite into it and immediately entered my personal pizza nirvana. I feel as if I had broken out of consuming mediocre pizza and realized a new realm of possibilities. The crust was as it appeared - crispy and yet light and airy on the inside. The texture reminded me of my favorite bread - nan. I had always imagine that pizza made on nan bread would be a marriage made in heaven and I think this was close. The mozzarella was just enough in quantity and not piled on thick like some pies and most importantly it tasted fresh. The sauce, fresh basil and mushroom just enhanced the whole experience.




The one thing that spoiled the whole experience a bit was the service. They were friendly most of the night, but by the time we were close to finishing up our meal they were kept coming by trying to clear our tables. It became quite annoying as we were still trying to finish up our conversation while this was happening. It really gave the evening a bad ending. However, I was not going to allow the service get in the way of my evaluation of the food since these are separate aspects of the experience.

Here is a link to the menu of Luzzo's

http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/luzzos/menus/main.html

Pizza, the next frontier.....

During my preparation for my trip back to NYC, I decided that I have to get my share of quality pizza in NYC that the Shanghaiese can't seem to get right. I spotted the following articles during my research:

http://nymag.com/restaurants/cheapeats/2009/57893/

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/dining/08pizza.html


I decided to take a pizza tour this time back. I was determined to squeeze as many of these restaurants between family reunions and meals at Sushi Yasuda and Peter Luger. As it turns out I was able to eat at 5 of the top 20 from New Yorker Magazine (http://nymag.com/restaurants/cheapeats/2009/57893/) and a two others not on the list which includes a New York institution - Grimaldi's. My mission was clear - to try the "new guard" pizza that has pervaded Gotham while I have been away. Before I go into details of each restaurant, I will say that these excursions have rendered my personal top 10 list obsolete. It is safe to say that my expectations of pizza have changed forever. That really sucks since this elevated sense of pizza does not bode well living in the barren wasteland of pizza known as Shanghai.

The methodology was simple, I will use the standard margherita pizza as the barometer since this represents the essence of pizza. Just the crust, mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce and basil for a dash of seasoning. No pizza on steroids and whacked out toppings to interfere with the essence. Maybe the next trip I will venture into alternative pizzas but this time I will start with the basics.

I will introduce each pizza joint in the chronological order of my visit.

Grimaldi's
718.819.2133
242-02 61st Avenue
Douglaston, NY 11362

My first night back in NY, I took the family out to a NY institution - Grimaldi's. Everybody knows the original location in Brooklyn under the Brooklyn Bridge, but the one that we went to was in Douglaston, Queens - only a 5 minute drive from my parent's house. This is a place that I am familiar with since to me it represents one of the pillars of pizza in NY, and is a place I have visited every time back to NY since I left for Shanghai. When it came time to order, I had to compromise a bit on my methodology since we had a wide spectrum of palates at the table. From my 5 year old nephew Spencer to my 87 year old father, compromise was a necessity. We ordered 3 pies for a table of 8 - one sausage and two mushroom/onion:





I enjoyed the thin crust, slightly burnt and the fresh but slightly tough cheese. The crust has a bit of crunch to it and the sauce was nice and sweet. It satisfied me but I must admit, it was not as good as I remembered. Even though I was a tad disappointed, to me it still served as the stardard that all other pizzas be compared to. I looked forward to exploring the next frontier now that I had a belly full of good quality pizza.

food of malaysia

Another Chinese New Year means another trip to Malaysia, the homeland of my wife. Other than the family reunions and the well needed break from Shanghai, one of the joys of this trip is to indulge in the rich diversity of cuisines that exists in this country. One type of food that I really have a hankering for when I come here is distinctly Malaysian - Mamak food.

To explain what Mamak food is, a very abridged version of Malaysia's history and culture is in store. Malaysia is a diverse country with three main races - the indigenous Malays, the Southern Chinese and the Tamil Indians. Obviously the latter two are immigrants to this country and accounts for a minority in this mostly Muslim country. The Tamil Indians are the purveyors of the delicious but rustic fare known as Mamak.

Mamak establishments started out as inexpensive street food enjoyed by the masses, and has now evolved into an integral part of the Malaysian food scene. Now many popular Mamak fare is served in a more established restaurant partially indoor, partially al fresco. It still has its place as a cheap, informal dining alternative. Many establishments are opened 24 hours a day and becomes a great place to watch football games while enjoying a late snack (there is a 8 hour difference between Malaysia and Western Europe making it a perfect time to catch European Football matches during after hours). This is the type of ambiance that I really enjoy here in Malaysia. As a lover of food and the outdoors, there are few things better than eating roti canai, sipping on a ice lemon tea and watching Arsenal-Manchester United in 25 degrees (77F) nights of Kuala Lumpur along with other football fans that I surreptitiously met that night.

As for some of the favorite dishes that I would order are roti canai, paper dosai, fried chicken, fried fish,satay and nan. Most of these dishes are high in fat and are not authentic Indian food (Malaysianized), but who cares - its cheap, unpretentious and delicious.

Shanghai Comfort Food 生煎包

So the other day, I had some spare time and decided to head over to one of my favorite restaurant that specializes in a Shanghaiese type of pot sticker pork bun (生煎包）. The restaurant is located near the biggest square in Shanghai - People's Square (人民广场）and the famous pedestrian shopping street - Nanjing Road. The restaurant is called Yang's Fried Dumpling (小杨生煎）。

The first thing you have to realize about these buns is that it does not pretend to be healthy. It is pan fried and has lots of soup with pork and some pork fat, but the taste is very satisfying. The bun is slightly larger than the size of a golf ball and the bottom of the bun is fried to a perfect crispy texture but the top half has a doughy soft texture - a nice contrast. When you bite into one of these - like its soup dumpling brethren which I will profile in a later entry - you have to be careful because it encases a nice size pork ball along with copious amounts of soup from the pork itself. You would be advised to take a small careful bite, just enough to open up a hole on its soft top side so you don't blind one of your fellow diners with hot pork soup squirting out of your bun. Then you should suck out a good amount of the soup before continuing on to finish off the bun. The price of these are a minimum purchase of 4 pot sticker buns for 4RMB - 58 cents (exchange rate of 6.84) with each additional bun at 1RMB apiece.

The restaurant itself is basically a hole in the wall with a bare minimum of service and decor. The menu contains some complementary dishes such as beef soup with soy bean noodles , duck blood soup (another topic for another day), fried tofu soup, etc. But make no mistake about it, the star of the menu is the pot sticker bun. For the uninitiated, in order to get your buns, you have to pay for the meal first at the cashier then proceed to the line to get your buns located next to the front entrance of the restaurant. After getting your buns, if you have any other complementary dishes, you need to present your receipt to the servers inside the restaurant. Finding a table is another adventure, as during dining hours the place is normally packed. You can either wait for about 5 to 10 minutes, take out and eat on the street, or find an empty seat on an occupied table (there is no sanctuary here).

I am not a big fan of Shanghai style food, but if it is known for anything it is this pot sticker bun (生煎包）。

The particulars of the restaurant:

Yang's Fried Dumpling (小杨生煎）
97 Huang He Road (near People's Square) 黄浦区黄河路97号

Other locations include:
54-60 Wu Jiang Road (near West Nanjing Road) 静安区吴江路54-60号(近南京西路)
720 East Nanjing Road 黄浦区南京东路720号食品一店内

The Sanctuary

Its funny at how much more tolerant I am of certain things now that I have lived in China for a while now. Being a Chinese-American, I am able to somewhat penetrate the realm of the local Chinese. Therefore, unlike other expatriates here in China I am able to get a better sense of what life is like for a local. It also helps that I am open minded enough to try things that would have made me uncomfortable in America.

One such example is embedded in the dining experience. In America, dining is very much a social event especially when dining out. It is a time when one relaxes with food, drink and conversation with friends or family members. There is an expectation of privacy in order for that ambiance to pervade. This is true no matter if you are dining in McDonalds or Lutece.

Here in China, there is a somewhat different expectation from the dining experience. It is more about the eating that is emphasized rather than the social interaction especially at the mid to lower price of the spectrum. It seems its all about getting seated and having your food, therefore it is very common for people to share tables in restaurants during peak dining hours. I had experiences where I have sat at a table for 4 and every person at the table is a stranger to one another. Since everyone is a stranger there is an aura of awkwardness where no conversation is taking place. This leads to a strange dynamic of just putting your head down and eating your food as fast as possible to get out of that awkward situation. Its almost akin to the experience in the men's urinal where every man is staring at the wall in front of him so he doesn't accidentally look at the private parts of the man standing next to him.

Sharing tables would have been something that I would never consider in America and its something that I would still avoid even here in China, but sometimes during peak dining hours and my stomach is growling I will make the sacrifice. Besides, you really can't control the situation if a stranger plops himself next to you while you are in the middle of your braised pork.

Of course, this is not to say that this is true in every restaurant in China. First, business has to be good enough where table sharing becomes necessary. Second, this is less true as your move up the price spectrum. Therefore, the sanctuary of your own table in a restaurant can still be had here in most cases.

The invasion of the American Fast Food

You didn't think it could happen in China, but yes even the Chinese have succumbed to the fast food addiction. Take a look at this video:



The business model that McDonalds has is absolutely brilliant because it is so deceptive to their customers. In the modern world where everyone is busy, McDonalds has created a convenient, children-friendly dining environment. Make food that kids like, have facilities where they can play and you have weaned a whole generation of people on their products.

This model has worked well in many parts of the world and it is doing the same in a place where one would not think it would work since the traditional eating habits doesn't seem to be lend itself to McDonalds.

Street food

I think one of the things that really gives a city an identity is its cuisine. This is something that I always enjoy sampling where ever I go. It can tell you quite a bit about a city.

I think if you really want to know the heart and soul of a city you just need to sample its street food. This is where you get to see the composition of a city. Just like any urban centers anywhere in the world Shanghai has a variety of people residing here. It may not be as diverse than New York City but Shanghai has people from all over China and many parts of the world. You will find international food in proper restaurants but if you want to know about the kind of people who have come to Shanghai from other parts of China just check out their street food.

Here are some pictures of some of the street food that are available here in Shanghai:



Various meat and vegetables on wooden skewers being pan fried over a metal plate. Love that recycled oil!!





This one is a flat bread that is being "baked" in a home made oven. The oven appears to be a commercial metal drum that has been reincarnated.




Another home made oven used to make baked yams.

Shanghai Hairy Crabs - 大闸蟹

Going forward, I will periodically profile the different types of food that can be found in Shanghai. Some will be good, others will be bad.

For today's post, I am introducing a type of seafood that is in season right now in the Shanghai region - the Shanghai Hairy Crab or in Chinese - 大闸蟹。 This type of crab differs from the blue crab that is found in the Northeastern part of the US (this is the type that I was familiar with in my days in New York). Physically, the hairy is somewhat smaller than the blue crab. The main distinction is the very bushy hair that grows on its front large claws.

The hairy crab has a reputation of near religious proportions. This time of the year, nearly all good restaurants will be serving them, and every market will be selling live ones. You couldn't go a day this time of the year without seeing them a few times a day.

Having had both the hairy crab and the blue crab I can say that the blue crab's meat tastes better and there is more of it than the hairy crab. The meat of the blue crab has a sweet flavor to it while the hairy crab has a neutral taste. It is also not as difficult to get to the meat in the blue compared to the hairy. If the hairy crab has a tougher shell, less meat, and less flavorful meat than the blue why does it receive so much attention here in Shanghai? It is the brain and the egg of this crab. Since this is the peak time that this crab breeds, there is plenty of eggs to be had in the females and that is why it is so ubiquitous right now.

The hairy crab is not cheap this time of the year, they go for 100RMB for a pair of live ones (a male and a female). This is the equivalent of $13. I can get 6 live blue crabs in NY for about $8 so you can see how expensive the hairy crab is. Think of it another way, 100RMB means a lot more to a Chinese living in China than $13 means to an American living in America.

I personally think that the hairy crab's brain and egg are just sublime, but after you consume that part you will expend a lot of time and energy going after the little meat that it has.

The topic of food takes on such importance here in China. You can bring out the topic of food and get into a serious discussion with anybody over here. This is one of the things that I really enjoy about living here.

Popcorn caution

OK, this blog is not about China, but then again not everything on my mind is.

I was perusing the New York Times website today and found a shocking headline. "Doctor Links a Man’s Illness to a Microwave Popcorn Habit". Was this some sort of microwave oven problem? I remember when I was a child when the first microwave ovens hit the kitchens of Americans I had heard of horror stories of people getting their flesh cooked because of faulty switches that did not shut off the microwave ovens when the doors opened. That may have been an urban legend but you tend to remember things that you hear as a child no matter how irrational it was. Perhaps the article was about somebody's weight related illnesses from eating too much microwave popcorn.

So I proceeded to the article as you can:

www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/us/05popcorn.html?em&ex=1189483200&en=0ba2a1d76e6b4409&ei=5087%0A

Hmm, the guy got sick from heated diacetyl - an additive to enhance the butter flavor of popcorn?!! This is certainly the first time that I have heard of this issue.

There is actually an occupational hazard namely "Popcorn Worker's Lung" and it can be fatal!

My goodness, what has the world come to where one cannot even enjoy the pleasures of popcorn without some health hazard. This just show you that our civilization has gotten to the point where we are so far removed from the natural world and are in this synthetic world that we are creating hazards for ourselves. We humans think we are smart, but unfortunately I think we are just smart enough to get ourselves into trouble.

Restaurant Blues

After living in NY for so many years I have been spoiled by the endless variety of cuisines available in Gotham. So that was a bit of an adjustment when I came to Shanghai. Not that there aren't any good food here, quite on the contrary food here is quite good. Its just that the good food are of the various styles of Chinese food (Sichuan, Shanghaiese, Cantonese, Northern China etc) which are somewhat unique to each other but are fundamentally similar. In NYC one can enjoy good food from all corners of the world prepared by immigrants from those countries. Therefore authenticity of the food is preserved. Here in Shanghai, many foreign restaurants are owned by the Chinese, therefore authenticity is compromised. These small differences makes me think, " hmm something is just not right with this sushi".

Of course, it makes sense why this is the case. For most people around the world who want to make it big, America is still the big attraction and for immigrants the place to go is NYC. Flat out, there is just more money flowing through the US economy so that attracts some of the best talent and that includes chefs.

Anyway, my biggest disappointment is the dearth of quality Japanese food. There are plenty of mediocre Japanese restaurants, but very few are of the quality that exists in NYC. Most Japanese restaurants in Shanghai are of the buffet variety. Usually 150 RMB (around $20) gets you unlimited amount of freshly prepared food off the menu. This is not the buffet that one is familiar with in the US, you don't go to the buffet table and pick through cooked food under heat lamps. Here, you basically are handed a menu and you order anything off the menu in unlimited quantity. So the food at these places are better than your typical buffet, but it is still mediocre. When you are talking about 150 RMB a person for a meal you are talking about quite an expensive meal for an average person in Shanghai. This is a city where the average salary is in the neighborhood of 3000RMB a month. So imagine you make $36,000 in the States and you have to pay for a $150 meal.

What I miss are places like Seki Sushi, Sushi Yasuda, or Sushi of Gari in NYC. Don't get me thinking about the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo. That is where I had the best sushi in my life behind a counter in a setting that would make a luncheonette proud.

Pizza is a similar story. I did not think that I would miss pizza when I left NY, but did I ever. And a lot has to do with the fact that the best pizza establishments in Shanghai is Pizza Hut or Papa John's. These are places that one would eat in the States when you can't decide where to eat. A large pie at these places would cost 75-110 RMB depending on the topping. That comes to $10 - $15 - around what you would pay in the States for a large pie. What this means is that these places are somewhat upscale here in China. Overall, the pizza scene in Shanghai is pretty grim. Boy, do I long for places like Grimaldi's in Garden City (haven't been to the original in Brooklyn), Nick's in Forest Hills and heck even the pizzeria by my parent's house.

Sigh, these are some of the things that one must adjust to when you leave a place like NYC.