OK. So I really miss the old GiangNan that was on S Garfield in Monterey Park. I do like Shanghai No 1 and had a big birthday banquet there when it was appropriate but lots of scouring to get the stuff I like and avoid the pan-Chinese offerings
Went to Shanghai restaurant in the Mall at 140 W Valley (corner Del Mar). Three of us. I had been nursing a craving for chicken with chestnuts in clay pot/casserole. Saw they had it online. The menu has been changed slightly but FOUND the dish.
(finding the restaurant, remember itās suite 212. there is no sign I saw with the word Shanghai, but the chinese characters were ju - mass, as in QUanjude famous Beijing roast duck place, and Fu, fortune. Donāt remember the third - they look like thisā¦ č ē¦ and a third).
Anyway, the food was great. I loved the chicken with chestnuts. We got three dishes and a noodle soup - the chicken with chestnuts, the braised eel shreds (similar sauce, probably same as for the lions head/shizi tou/ meat balls) and the lily buds with pumpkin (kabocha?) nangua baihe. It also has some celery in it. LIght sauce. The soup comes with your choice of toppings (broth and noodles in the bowl, you add individually the topping ) we got xuecai, pickled greens with meat. there is a list of choices.
We got there at 2:30 they closed at three but we got everything we wanted (the sichuan inflected cold potato shreds were on the online menu but no longer offered here) and didnāt feel rushed. Went for dessert at Douhua, nice new idea. Douhua but cold with different flavors and toppings. the original is mild with a FANTASTIC ginger syrup. On Garvey just east of Garfield.
Didnāt order rice, didnāt miss it but iām sure itās good. Sorry I didnāt have the opportunity to try more of the menu but definitely going back