Jennifer from Adventurous Appetite joined UnTour Shanghai for our Night Markets tour. Here’s a taste of what she had to say:
I recently discovered a food tour group that has made this desire a bit more feasible. UnTour was founded in 2010 by a woman named Jamie Barys, a food writer and longtime Shanghai expat. She says, “More and more people rank eating local foods in authentic settings as their number one priority when traveling, but discovering where the locals eat can be difficult in an unfamiliar location.” She states that Shanghai especially can be overwhelming with the language barrier and street food options.
I personally hadn’t eaten much street food before joining Barys’ night tour last month. Stories of recycled oil and ingredient sourcing had scared me away. Plus, I wasn’t sure what to order and where to order from. But in just one night, I made up for it.
Along with about ten others, I met the Untour team on Shouning Lu to experience our first night market of the evening. It began with an explanation of the market, along with identifying all of the items being grilled and barbecued. Then it was off to a local restaurant to eat all the street food after it was prepared. Crawfish, lamb kebabs, garlic scallops, lotus root skewers, green bean skewers, snake, and roasted garlic eggplant filled the table. “Make sure not to fill up, guys!” our tour guide warned. But it was hard to show restraint, and the food kept coming.
After sampling a variety of fruit puddings and custards, we waddled over to a hole-in-the-wall noodle shop on Fangbang Lu for beef noodle soup, hand-sliced noodles with lamb and peppers, and noodles with egg and tomato. The chefs welcomed us into the kitchen and dazzled us with their flour pulling and knife skills. We finished with pepper cookies and beer.
Read the whole post here to check out her mouthwatering pictures!
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