JiangSu Road for Lunch

by Monica Liau
on Friday, March 19, 2010

With the coming of the World Expo, Shanghai is suffering from construction compulsion. Everything is being torn down, built up, and prettied for the impending May deadline. Traffic is clogged worse than an American's arteries. However, I am ecstatic at the attention Shanghai is paying to the new underground subway system. Whether you're an environmentally friendly hippy, a time-crunched business suit, a slave to convenience or just a straight-broke student, the underground is the way to go. Metro Bites is your investigative guide to eating around town, with minimum walking time and maximum bang for your hunger pangs.

The JiangSu Road Station is a stop in the throes of change. Located in the middle of line 2, three months ago it was a mere blip stop on the radar, dwarfed between ZhongShan Park and JingAn Temple. However, with the opening of line 11 and expansion out from the French Concession, it is becoming a diverse foodie focal point. It is also a great place to eat lunch. The intersection of ZhenNing and YuYuan Road has a cluster of excellent cheap eats, including Fuchun - which has some of the best xiaolongbao in the city. If curry suits your fancy, take exit 4, and cross JiangSu Road. On the second floor of the mall, there's a tiny Indian restaurant called Ganesha, which serves up solid lunch specials from 11am-3pm. RMB25 gets you two types of curry, salad and all-you-can-eat bread hot off the griddle. Kiki's has a pretty good, rotating fish set lunch at RMB25. Phoking on the first floor boasts very fresh Vietnamese soup noodles starting at RMB26.

Italian food is also right within reach. Da Marco's, the original restaurant and cornerstone to Shanghai's Italian cuisine, is a block walk to DongZhuAnBang Road. Their pizzas are pretty awesome (less than RMB60), the atmosphere welcoming, and the staff competent. Walking the other way down JiangSu takes you to another antique, Le Bouchon. I hear good and bad things about this cozy bistro, located at the beginning of WuDing West Road. Though I have tried several times during the middle of the week to walk in for dinner, each time I was told the restaurant was full (it wasn't) and turned away. Is it the way I smell or a severe case of restaurant's head up backside?

The area around the JiangSu metro is changing nearly as fast as I type this guide, and several new restaurants are under construction. It's sure to be a place to revisit in the future for fresh eats.

Opening up a new restaurant near a metro line? Get in touch and let me know.