As soon as I sat down I got served tea and two small cold dishes right away. One was clearly roast peanuts and the other, upon closer inspection, was tofu and shrimps swimming in some kind of broth. I tried the peanuts and they were smokey and not very crunchy. Maybe that's how they were supposed to be?
I decided to be adventurous and gave the chicken in chili oil a try. It's a cold appetizer of Sichuan origin and I naively believed that the chicken would be boneless. I was wrong. The sauce was mainly chili oil and sesame oil. There was also a hint of a peanuty taste in there - just like the sauce in dan dan noodles, which I am not a big fan of. The skin and the bones came off relatively easily, but it was a bit of a drag. The chicken itself didn't have a lot of taste, and the sauce was not spicy (I assume it should be spicy?). By the way the Chinese name for this dish is Saliva Chicken - no idea. Don't think I'll be in a hurry to order it again, at least not until we are in a Sichuanese place. 
We had more success with the deep fried mandarin fish. I am not sure what mandarin fish is - it is for sure NOT the tropical variety you see in an aquarium. My guess is that it's a fresh water fish of whatever in season and fried in butter. Yum! It was crispy and piping hot. The sweet soya based sauce complemented the meat very well. 
Next dish : stir-fried lily bulbs. We never knew lily bulbs were edible until we tried it here. Silly us. The dish was pretty plain but it was a good 'buffer dish' as our other selections were pretty strong tasting. The texture of the bulbs were interesting enough as they were starchy but semi-firm at the same time. A refreshing dish nonetheless.
Another popular Sichuan dish: beef in chili oil. I know...it's a disgrace to order Sichuan food in a Shanghaiese place...but hey it's so good we couldn't say no. :-) The beef was so tender and it practically gave us that melt-in-the-mouth feel. The sauce was numbingly spicy with Suchuan peppers. Smokey!
And finally a Shanghaiese special: pork ribs cooked in vinegar and brown sugar. The meat was lean and tender once again, and the sauce had the perfect tangy yet sweet blend. It was pretty thick and caramelised so we got the right amount of sauce on each bite. Totally the reason to come back to this place.
And last but not least the Shanghai fried noodles. Someone told me that the noodles should be thicker? But then this someone may be having the export version in Hong Kong. Will need to ask a real local. The noodles was nicely fried to perfection with veg and strips of pork, and not overly greasy. A good dish to help wash down all the meaty dishes we had.
The bill came to RMB390, I suspect you could have the same things at a local establishment for much less. Oh well. I guess you do pay for hygiene.
Xin Tian Di branch. Tel: 6336-4746
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