Dahuchun

One of the cuisines you should not miss when visiting Shanghai is the pan-fried pork buns. More commonly known as Sheng Jian Bao, they are classic Chinese street food featuring a fluffy yeasted dough, a savoury and juicy minced pork filling, and a crispy golden-brown bottom crust

As Suzhou was the birthplace of Sheng Jiao Bao, it was not surprising to find a tonne of authentic Sheng Jian Bao historic heritage restaurants in Shanghai, which is the neighbouring city to Suzhou. The most famous historic Sheng Jian Bao restaurant in Shanghai is Da Hu Chun (大壶春), which has nearly 100 years of history

While there are many outlets for this restaurant, I chose to visit the oldest flagship store at Sichuan Zhong Lu. This flagship branch dates back to the brand’s founding in 1932. It is also the specific location that holds the prestigious Michelin Bib Gourmand status. You get to see the open kitchen the moment you enter and put in your order at the cashier counter right up front

After putting in your order, you get a chit, and you collect your order from the kitchen window when your chit number is called. Everything was pretty much self-service. The utensils were also placed at the side, where you can find chopsticks and a spoon

The restaurant did undergo renovations, so the interiors are fairly new and modern, with a traditional decor of Chinese wooden furniture and hanging lanterns. You can find condiments like vinegar and chilli oil on the table for your dumplings or sheng jian bao

The menu was fairly simple, with prices generally ranging from ¥10 to ¥35 per portion. They have the classic sheng jian bao in pork, pork with shrimp, crab roe and pork, foie gras and also a mixed option where you get to try the different flavours. They also have other items like curry beef soup, tofu skin wonton soup and meat or shrimp wonton soup. Other mains include Shanghainese noodles, fried spring roll and pork with rice cake

Since I was dining alone, I ordered the pork sheng jiao bao in a set of 4, which had a perfect golden, crispy bottom and a generous chunk of meat inside. The first time I had Sheng Jian Bao in Shanghai was from Xiao Yang Sheng Jian, and with that flavour still in my memory, I have to say that I am disappointed with the ones from Da Hu Chun. Firstly, the dough was quite thick and tough to bite into, and the meat was dry with hardly any meat juices. The buns were also lukewarm. Compared to the ones at Xiaoyang, which were bursting with juices the moment you took a bite, I would rate this a rather mediocre experience

I also had the tofu wonton soup to help me keep the meal moist; the soup was bland, with mostly a light bean flavour, and the tofu skin was a nice difference from the tough dough from the Sheng Jian Bao. I did not finish the soup or the wonton, as they were extremely bland for me, and I had to use quite a bit of chilli oil to give the wonton more flavours

Overall, I was disappointed with the meal I had here. Other than being a historic restaurant which probably stayed true to the ancient recipe, it paled in comparison when compared to the newer establishments. I thought this was a personal preference, but when I chatted with my Shanghai colleagues, it turned out that the locals also did not really like Da Hun Chun’s version of the Sheng Jian Bao. Try them if you really have a list to tick off, but keep your expectations low

Address: 145-147 Sichuan Middle Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai (靠近广东路 / near Guangdong Road)

Opening hours: 8 am to 9 pm