Dinner in Shanghai

There are some great restaurants in Shanghai, and not only serving Shanghainese cuisine. One of the most enjoyable ones I visited was a Thai restaurant called Lan Na in the Rui Jin Hotel and Garden Complex (Can Ling You (no. 4) building). Built in 1936 as an independent garden residence belonging to the Mitsui Trading Co. and later hosting such communist-era luminaries as Chou En-lai and Ho Cho Minh, the complex is beautiful inside and out. And its finery is matched by the quality of chef Thipa Suajamsil's menu.
Shanghai also has a number of excellent all-you-can eat Japanese restaurants, where for 150 RMB (approximately 15 euros) you can have your fill of sushi, sashimi, tempura, etc. as well as hot sake, ice tea and 650 ml bottles of Asahi beer.
For local fare, the Jade Garden in Pudong is hard to beat, both for quality and price. The hairy crab sauteed in soy sauce was delicious if, like any crab, a little awkward to handle.
Probably the most interesting restaurant I visited was a place called 'Sea Port', also in Pudong. Here, you get to choose what you want to eat from a series of tanks holding lobsters, crabs, turtles, snakes, and various, hard-to-identify fish. As well as the main dining area, there are also corridors full of private dining rooms (and a small army of staff - eight people greeted us as we entered and left the building). Among the delights I sampled were chrysanthemum tea, baby tuna fish, stir-fried ostrich, turnip-shaped pastries with sweet noodles inside, solid coconut milk shapes and gelatinous green balls filled with black sesame sauce (delicious).