Xia Restaurant 夏味馆 of Shanghai
If you aren’t comfortable in a restaurant, it won’t matter how good the food is. If you notice loud babies crying, a cockroach, or even just a squeaky chair, you’re going to feel it and affect your judgement on the dining experience. A cockroach could probably mean the death of a restaurant if just a couple of patrons see it scurrying about. Not that I saw anything crawling around, but that was almost the case with 夏味馆 Xia Restaurant.
I had somewhat a uncomfortable chair, the service of slow and questionable, and on top of that – the ventilation was horrible. You can’t possibly have a good time, while you’re sweating. We asked the staff to turn up the AC, but they said, on slow weekdays, the owner likes to save a little money on some of the expenses. Stupefied, we just stay there and took it. I know if you’re at some hole-in-the-wall, sweating at close quarters eating a hot bowl of noodles is expected. But at a reasonably nice place like 夏味馆 Xia, that’s not how it should be. In addition, we’re not even having spicy Sichuan cuisine, just simple Shanghainese fare. But as I said before, it almost ruined my experience.
夏味馆 Xia overcame finely with some great dishes. The Shanghai shelled mini shrimp appetizer wetted our beaks. Of all the typical Shanghai dishes, the shrimp goes against the norm of being sweet or with heavy sauce. In fact, it lacks bold flavors, yet makes up with a nice delicate texture. Tonight, I am feeling sort of lazy, I just wanted my food to be deboned, shelled, and prepared for me.
Side note, there are two types of eaters. Fine dining establishments almost pressure one to properly use utensils with grace and charm. Keeping one’s hand clean while enjoying company and food, can be thought as good taste. While the other school of thought favors a more sensual relationship with what you put in your mouth. When you work hard using your hands, the rewards of something drippingly juicy, tender & supple, and delectable make it all the worthwhile. The animalistic urges are fulfilled when you eat fried chicken, baby back ribs, shrimp, and even just pizza. I like to use my hands
After the mild sweetness of the shrimp, we had a whole chicken soup. This magnificent bowl, could have served a family, rather than just the three of us. Stewed with ginger, garlic, and other goodness, this is not our ordinary chicken soup found in the states. I know most westerners are not keen on having chicken bones in their broth. But I understand bones add flavor to any protein or meat dish. So, when I see bones in soups, I welcome it. Along with the soup, there was a sliced cucumber dish with mushrooms. I didn’t particularly like the heavy sauce, but I do remember enjoying the crispness of the vegetable.
Next came the two entrees – the crab and the pork. I know we weren’t quite into hairy crab season, so this crab was an imported sea one. The hairy crabs or Chinese mitten crab (Da Zha Xie (大闸蟹), found in the Yangcheng Lake, are in season from September and October. We had softshelled crab braised in a thick dark and sweet sauce. Slow cooked so that the shell can be consumed along with the meat, this one was one of the finer dishes I had in a long time. I’ll always remember this dish from Xia. Then we finished off with the braised fatty pork. This pork, almost undistinguishable from the dark sweet sauce – similar to the crab one, is cubed and slightly larger than bite size. This amazing dish, goes excellent with rice, is one of my all time favorites in the world. And Xia does such a great job. I know there’s a large population, westerners as well as asians, that may not like to eat fat with their meats. Aside from the health aspects, in which this type of fat is not bad for you – only negative aspect is the added weight, the fat adds to the flavor, juiciness, and moistness of meats. I embrace and look for it, when I eat pork, beef, and lamb.
夏味馆 Xia restaurant is a local favorite that isn’t frequented by Westerners. I’ve been told that Xia rivals Jesse in many ways. I think I’ll have to Jesse sometime in the future to be the judge of that. It will be fun trying.
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