Pearls From The Orient Archive: Madame Zhu's Kitchen

Originally posted 4th March 2015

Entrance to Madame Zhu’s kitchen

We were recommended Madam Zhu’s kitchen as a place to eat some out of the ordinary Chinese food. There are two branches – we chose the one on Changshou Lu in Jingan district as it is closer to us. Situated in a shopping centre – you take the outside escalator directly to the eatery – its surroundings are a state of the art shopping centre, but that didn’t affect the atmosphere of the place. We had gone to eat there during the Spring Festival, so the restaurant

was decorated with red lanterns and there were large

Diners at Madam Zhu’s Kitchen

family groups – as many as 12 – already well into their meal by the time we arrived. The table next to ours were evidently enjoying themselves; a multigenerational group all out dining together and having a seriously good time. The toddlers in their high chairs were allowed to get down and play with the presents they had been given, even if that did mean just banging loudly on the packaging. It’s something you don’t really see in the UK, a huge family group, eating with gusto, evidently enjoying each other’s company. The Chinese are very good at family. It’s a concept that permeates into the work place and means far more than working in a team.

The welcoming staff spoke to us in Mandarin. Being the numpties we are, we didn’t understand. (We had had the same problem booking a table in the first place). They kindly tried ever so hard to communicate, in the end they resorted to translating what they wanted to say using their computer: “You go away now”, which actually meant your table is not ready for you, but if you sit here and read the menu and have some hot water and watermelon we’ll come and take your order shortly.

Beef with Thai Basil

We had a cold starter – a kind of coleslaw made from needle thin strips of red cabbage, mouli and carrots smothered in a delicious dressing, followed by beef with basil. This was in fact Thai basil, not the Italian version which has a completely different taste. This has an aniseed flavour. In addition we had a pork and cod dish in a brown sauce with slices of red and green chilies, a braised lettuce dish and (yet another) hot pot to keep Richard happy. It is a Sichuan specialist restaurant after all, and Richard does like hot spicy food. This hot pot had a smoky flavour and I wasn’t over-enamoured with it, but I think that was just personal taste. The stand out dishes for me were the delicious colourful cold dish at the start and the beef with basil.