The restaurant is called "Cang Le Tang Fang," which means a place of
concealed happiness. It also means a place that serves excellent soup. The name
is a bit confusing for many Chinese as two characters in the name are
polyphonies.
The manager of the restaurant, who was very kind and smiling, explained to me
that they had invented the name because they expected their diners to enjoy
their time here secretly, in whatever way they want.
The dining hall, situated on the fourth floor of a new shopping mall in
Pudong, is large, cozy and splendidly decorated in refined Chinese style. The
restaurant also contains several private rooms, although these are a bit small
and less appealing than the dining room. Fortunately, we had a six-seat table
next to the window with a chance to enjoy a really good view of the busy
downtown streets.
Several rows of porcelain pots containing soup were placed prominently near
the entrance. It was surprising to see so many pots arranged in lines, bubbling
and emitting steam.
We were told by the manager that many of the pots had been heated since 5 am,
with no spices or sauces added to the soup during the cooking process. This
culinary method of long stewing without any seasonings is said to produce soup
whose ingredients maintain their original and natural flavours.
Each dining table was provided with a saltcellar, so diners could add flavour
to the soup according to their preferences.
We first ordered a slow-cooked soup made with pigeon and a Chinese herb
called "wu zhi mao tao" (59 yuan, US$7). It arrived in a big pot containing a
really big portion.
It is commonly thought that the liquid of the Cantonese soup is its main
attraction, with the solid ingredients usually thrown away after the soup is
fully cooked.
The "Cang Le Tang Fang" has adopted a different approach. A pot of soup was
served beside the dining table while waitresses helped diners to fill their
bowls with the clear broth and then extracted the solid ingredients -- in this
case the pigeon meat -- which was served separately on a big plate.
The broth tasted very bland without salt, suffused with a flavour resembling
that of raw meat. After adding some spices, the taste became much better while
still delicate. The pigeon meat was also very tender and mild-tasting after
being simmered for nearly 10 hours.
In addition to the soup, Cang Le Tang Fang offers a diverse menu of Cantonese
dishes, most in home style, using many ingredients commonly seen in the market.
Soy-preserved radish was an appetizing cold dish (9 yuan, US$1), crispy and
well seasoned. The barbecued sparerib in honey (19 yuan, US$2) was another
delicacy, with sweet and salty tastes combining harmoniously, but served in
quite a small portion.