Ask anybody in Chinatown who Tony Hu is. "Oh, yes, Tony Hu. He has many restaurants around here."
Indeed, he does. Hu is a one-man culinary firecracker -- Chinese-style. Lao Sze Chuan, Lao Beijing and now Lao Shanghai are the trio of restaurants that have exploded on the Chinatown scene in a short period of time and form the core of the Tony Gourmet Group.
If you were to add up all of the dishes available at all three of Hu's restaurants, the number would be staggering. The menus are different in many ways, though, as each restaurant has its own regional focus. I gave a short rundown on Lao Sze Chuan (Szechuan specialties) a while back, and I have yet to see what's going on at Lao Beijing.
The menu at Lao Shanghai has a lot to do with the regional specialties of Shanghai (but wanders around a bit, too, considering that "the General's chicken" is more Hunan than Shanghai). However, there are more than enough choices (with seafood dishes taking center stage) to allow even the pickiest of eaters to ease into an enjoyable comfort zone.
I have always been a fan of sizzling soup, and Lao Shanghai offers two versions -- one with shrimp and one with chicken. I went for the chicken. Pleasure came with each spoonful in this snap, crackle and pop soup, the broth rich and flavorful and packed with chicken and mushrooms.
Who doesn't love a dumpling? Xiao long bao (little basket buns) was another good dish to start with. These were Shanghai soup dumplings, nicely plumped up, that were stuffed with pork and chicken stock. You eat these beauties with a spoon (instead of chopsticks), catching the broth as it flows into your mouth.
Dumplings too tame for your tastes? How about stewed sea cucumber? (You really have to be an adventuresome eater to tackle this bit of seafood.) Or stewed grass carp? Or stir-fried yellow eel? No? OK, then, let's focus on some of the other seafood dishes the faint of heart will find more attractive, like shrimp and scallop and many fillets of fish.
"Salt and pepper fish fillets" were sauteed with garlic, scallions, crushed red peppers and "spicy salt." It was an incredibly flavorful dish.
Shrimp can be had in so many ways: kung bao (stir-fried with hot pepper and peanuts), sweet and sour or, my favorite, in which sauteed shrimp (cooked to perfection) was gussied up with onion, bell peppers and pineapple.
Scallops also can be had "salt and pepper" style in which the pan-fried scallops take on a golden tan, get a hint of garlic and "spicy salt" followed by a full-blown heat treatment using jalapenos. If it were up to me, I'd call this dish "Spa Scallops."
If seafood doesn't hook you, there are plenty of chicken dishes -- lemon, sweet and sour, sesame, and cashew. I favor the crispy sesame with its meaty chunks of chicken, crispy on the outside and nicely moist after that, gently coated with a sesame-enhanced sauce that's a bit on the sweet side yet quite enjoyable. And there is no shortage of beef, pork and noodle choices, either. Vegetarians also will find at least 20 dishes in which vegetables are the star attraction.
Unless you are really desperate, you can skip dessert at Lao Shanghai. Unless, of course you are hot for bean curd Jell-O.
Pat Bruno is a free-lance writer, critic and author. Email brunoeats@aol.com.
Have you recently dined at Lao Shanghai? Let us know what you thought. E-mail weekendplus@suntimes.com with a 75-word (or less) review of your dining experience. Please include your first name and city.
