Shanghai: Night Eats

Ever since my trip to Bangkok, I have adored food tours. We ate some of the most delicious food that I never would have found otherwise, and so when I planned my trip to Shanghai, I knew I had to take one. I ended up choosing UnTour, a company run by bi-lingual expats who have combed the city for all kinds of delicious fare. They have a lot of tour options, but I was there during Spring Festival which limited my choices a bit. Big cities like Shanghai and Beijing clear out for about two weeks because everyone goes back home to their families. So, some restaurants and vendors were closed and UnTours didn't run tours for a few days.

I had to wait until my very last night to go on the tour, but it was quite worth the wait. We walked through parts of Shanghai I never would have known about as a visitor, and I ate some of the most delicious food I've had since coming to China {that's saying something. I love Chinese food}.

 In China, things tend to group themselves on streets, so you might have electronics street, or eyeglasses street, or linens street. We started at the seafood street, and boy, was it good. All of the restaurants were holes-in-the-wall, but the service was friendly, and the food was delicious. On the menu were spicy crawfish {Lousiana, y'all have a few things to learn}, garlic grilled eggplant {to-die-for}, and scallops cooked on a clam shell, also smothered in garlic. Delicious!

Then we walked through some of the older parts of the city to reach a street where there were several Muslim noodle places {a common scene everywhere in China}, stinky tofu stands {I didn't try it. That is a line I draw}, and lots of stir fry street food. This food was more familiar to me, but still delicious, and it was cool to watch the noodle restaurant guy hand pull the noodles.

I loved how knowledgeable our tour guide was, and how Untours gave a lot of information on what to do and where to go in Shanghai. It felt like I was chatting with a friend the whole time, not on a paid tour. If you ever find yourself in this wonderful city, please look up Untours. You won't be sorry!

*Disclosure: I wasn't paid or given anything in compensation for this review. I just really loved this tour and I like to spread the word to fellow travelers about great things to do in China.