The New Jersey Foodhound™

I must have passed this restaurant at least two dozen times before my girlfriend's reminders sparked a trip one hungry evening. Admittedly we should have stopped sooner. ShangHai Restaurant is one of those great little hidden gems - nestled on the quiet portion of an otherwise busy street in Fort Lee, NJ.  Their menu offers a number of fantastic, simple, authentic Chinese dishes that will keep me coming back a few times a month into the foreseeable future. The Grub: You already know that they serve Chinese food, but let me give you a few suggestions for your inaugural trip. First, I would definitely start with their Scallion Pancakes and an order, or perhaps two orders of their soup dumplings. Both are some of the best I have ever had, and I'm counting a number of really good places in Flushing and Manhattan's Chinatown. After that, as an entree I would definitely suggest the Braised Pork Belly or Pan Fried Beef Udon which again represent the pinnacle of what Ch...

After moving to Cliffside Park I was on a savage hunt for some good, authentic Chinese food. New Jersey seems to come up short nearly every time in this category, and my former home of North Bergen was no exception. Having spent quite a bit of time in Flushing, Queens one tends to become spoiled quite quickly. I can say I was extremely pleased to find the Petite Soo Chow Chinese Restaurant. The Grub: This is hands down the most authentic Chinese food I have found in New Jersey - most everything else boils down to the Americanized Chinese food we all grew up eating. Petite serves up classics like scallion pancakes, fried rice cakes, Chow Fun and Chow Mein. I really encourage everyone to try their Pork Soup Dumplings - little steamed dumplings full of magical, flavorful pork soup and filling which, in my opinion are insanely good. Damn near close too, or exceeding anything I could find in Flushing or Chinatown. While a number of their noodle dishes are extremely good,...