(Shanghai_Star )
Updated: 2007-03-05 09:51

It is somewhat risky for a restaurant to attract customers by revealing its menu with dish prices outside. Especially if the prices are "a bit high" or not equal to the exterior decor, for many potential diners would immediately stop at the doorway after just one glance at the poster.

The Steamed Food, a Japanese restaurant,is such a "brave" example. From its conspicuous lamp box in front of the doorway and the glass window, you can clearly find both pictures and prices of its signature dishes,mostly steamed dishes as its name indicates. The restaurant is near the Central Huaihai Road and not far from my office building.Every time I pass it by, I usually look through the windows to see if the restaurant is full or not. Actually,it is never as popular as the other eateries located nearby,such as one of its neighbors,a Cantonese cafeteria. One day, my strong curiosity got the better of me so I strolled into the Steamed Food and had a big dinner there with a friend.

The food served at the restaurant is not expensive but mostly comes in very delicate portions. The taste is not bad and diners can choose different flavors, no matter how bland,spicy or medium, following the hint on the menu. For the appetizer we tried a cold dish called "Maitake and Shimeiji mushroom with aonori" (15 yuan), which seemed to be a kind of Japanese mushroom dressed with seaweed sauce. It tasted quite appetizing, refreshing and slightly flagrant. The mushroom is comparatively small but tasted fresh.

Since the restaurant is named "Steamed Food", I deliberately chose two steamed dishes: Steamed spring rolls with pork and rape bubs (20 yuan) and steamed pork ribs with soybean sauce (22 yuan). The two dishes were both served in a bamboo steamer and arrived quickly after we ordered. The former consisted of five spring rolls, had a cute presentation, and tasted good but also rather bland. Unlike the traditional Chinese spring rolls which are usually fired in oil, these steamed ones were more natural and the rice wrapper was really thin and nice.

My personal preference is the steamed pork ribs, which is said to be a must-have at the Steamed Food. The ribs seemed to have been sauteed first and then steamed with oil on fire. But the flavor was never too greasy and was quite delectable, properly salty, and very savory.

The dish chopped chicken with chestnuts (28 yuan) is more like a Chinese dish rather than the Japanese style. The Chinese cuisine,especially the southern style, usually tends to cook chestnuts and meat with soy sauce. The one I sampled there was sweet, with its flavor strongly influenced by the soy sauce. But it will still be a good choice if you get used to the Shanghainese dishes.

The eel fried rice (28 yuan) is especially worthy of recommendation, together with the dessert - green tea ice cream with glutinous rice balls (18 yuan). The fried rice was rich in the eel fillets and well mixed with other ingredients such as eggs. The flavor was quite good and not that oily as other similar fried rice. The dessert was cool and refreshing as the ice cream and glutinous balls made a fantastic combination for our taste buds.

The Steamed Food is a two-story building decorated in a simple but exquisite style. When seated beside the floor-to-ceiling glass window you can enjoy a good view of the busy street. However, the servers are actually not that skilled, nor are they very attentive to diners.

The Steamed Food

Address:77 Songshan Road, by Central Huaihai Road
Tel: 6384-1777