Shanghai-Kung Pao Chicken (Gong Bao Ji Ding)

[mcmal]

Ok, this should be a pretty simple request, as it's an extremely common dish. Does anybody know where I can find a good Kung Pao chicken in Shanghai? I mean a real honest tasting one that resembles what I'd get in Sichuan. I've been to many Sichuan restaurants in Shanghai, and my current go to place is Yuxin, which generally provides good food. But their Gong Bao isn't really any good and I haven't been able to find one in this city that impresses me. Suggestions?

[exsta]

I see this post is more than a year old, I wonder whether your quest had a happy ending. I just came back to Shanghai after 3 years and the two places where I used to eat decent Gong bao ji ding are gone. Both were very basic "jia chang cai" restaurants, but the Expo related development tsunami took them with it... I am now on a new quest myself, will let you know if I m successful :)

[modernleifeng]

Its very hard to find a decent version done in Shanghai and I've given up ordering it there as its never spicy enough and too often then not you find all sorts of things (cucumber, carrots, and even baby bok choy) thrown into the dish.

[mcmal]

I've noticed. But I still think it's strange that an otherwise pretty good Sichuan restaurant like Yuxin doesn't make a good one (and honestly, the only problem with theirs is not the flavor or the preparation, it's the chicken). There is a Sichuan restaurant on Xingfu Lu that I ate at a few times and discovered it had real gongbao. But the last time I went it had turned terrible and am hesitant to give it another shot. I guess I just better get myself to Chengdu for a good food binge.

[Xiao Yang]

If la zi ji will do, try Dong Tian Jiu Jia (196 Guangyuan Lu, near Jiaotong University).

http://is.gd/1mqV6

[mcmal]

I know the place, I live a block away. I love la zi ji, and eat if frequently. But I'm really craving a good gong bao, which for some reason I can't find in Shanghai.

[Xiao Yang]

Golng bao ji ding is really a Guizhou or Sichuan (with peanuts) dish, not native to Shanghai. Would you expect extraordinary hongshao tipang in Sichuan? Maybe gong bao ji ding is so frequently ordered by Americans in Shanghai they make it to American expectations rather than Sichuanese expectations.

[mcmal]

I'm not looking for extraodinary. I'm merely looking for good. I can find good examples of this dish at Sichuan restaurants in Taipei, in Hong Kong, , in Beijing in Los Angeles even. But for some reason I can't here. I find this odd because I can get perfectly acceptable water boiled beef/fish, mapo dofu, etc. Just not this one dish. And it's not a problem of going to restaurants frequented by Americans, which I rarely do.