Wu Guan Tang Su Shi - Shanghai

Maybe I was just unhappy with my decisions because there are no pictures in the menu and the descriptions were not really clear to me. the employees do not speak much English, but they can get an English menu when they ask. I choose the potatoes that were very oily and they use an oil with a taste I don't like. the other court were some tofu strips; very dry and I ate only a quarter of them. I left the place hungry. Maybe you need to go there in a group to have more options and bring someone who speaks Chinese.

I am not sure what the facility is with the two restaurants, we went to the first, but were two doors directed down? the room is beautiful, very traditional with a hefty handwritten menu that contains English descriptions. the staff was very helpful and friendly. we ordered the baked kartoffel, an evaluation said, it tastes buttery, we think it's just that the kartoffels here in china are quite buttery, they don't use any butter in the cookies they sell, so I doubt that they use it in this dish, but I don't know for certain. it was delicious, it came in a small baking sheet cut, very fluffy and slightly seasonal. we also ordered some greens that were just ok, the lotus root steamed in rice flour vegetables curry. the curry was the next one in the taste I know in Chinese chippies in many, it came from some ground served in a brot. the pot of the lotus root was also great, but so delicious, sticky, without being too sweet. the rice changes every day, which is a beautiful note. we said we'd go back with more people so we can try more dishes.

Absolutely loved this place. We went on a Monday night without a booking and had to wait half an hour for a table. Well worth it though. I'd say make a booking but you will probably have trouble doing that unless you can speak the lingo because they have negligible English here. Very extensive menu in a handwritten book. There's an English version of the menu. Dishes are around 25-30RMB and not huge so you'd probably want three for two people, as we ordered. We had a braised cauli/broccoli dish which came in a delicious broth, some house-made noodles with mushrooms and a plate of vegie dumplings. Plus we had tea. They have quite a range of teas as well. These weren't cheap but they seem to take tea quite seriously here and the tea we had was quality. This is a really classy place and we couldn't fault it. My only regret is going there on our last night as I would've loved to have sampled heaps more things on the menu. I don't think you would get into repeats until you'd been there at least 4-5 times. Staff were very friendly too. Undoubtedly, we'll be going here again whenever we're in Shanghai. Updated from previous review on Sunday April 14, 2013

Take subway line 10. We took off at Hongqiao Rd station. Near Jiaotong University and Hongqiao Rd subway station. I cannot find my notes about the restaurant itself. I only remember we enjoyed it. As we went to so many Vegetarian restaurants in this trip, I have a hard time remembering what was what, unless I have my notes. Sorry about that. Still, I thought I can help with the technical info of getting there.

Traditional eating, feel. most foods are vegan asking for English menu if they don't speak Chinese, ingredients are correctly specified. only a few dishes included a egg, but they were in separate section of the menu. Eating was rich in taste, well boiled (no excess oil or something). good Chinese food experience for vegans and do not forget to check the fantastic tea selection.