Our new favourite restaurant: Lǎo Kè Lè - 老克勒

This restaurant deserves awards. Lots of awards. The menu is essentially Chinese food, but it’s been inspired by the best influences of the West. The concept is described beautifully in the name.

Lǎo Kè Lè is a phonetic transliteration which in English means “Very Colourful”. But Lǎo Kè Lè has another meaning too. This is Shanghainese dialect used to describe a group of Chinese people in Shanghai’s glorious age between the 1920s and the Cultural Revolution. These Lǎo Kè Lè were upper-middle class citizens distinguishable by their refined attitude to life. Be it fashion, travel, home life, food, music or knowledge, these socialites were open minded to the modern influences of the West.

The food is a fitting tribute to the prestige of a bye-gone age. Tommi, the owners' son, explained to us the pride with which the food is produced. Take for example the noodles. Their menu says: “we choose high quality all-purpose flour, milk, eggs, mashed carrots and spinach as basic ingredients for the noodles. Our noodles are kneaded by hand to form a dough…the dough is kneaded for 10 minutes until it is soft and elastic - a key to great taste.” Then, take the fact that in the food preperation there is no MSG used at all. Everything that comes out the kitchen has been lovingly prepared - “it is the food that our family likes to eat”, said Tommi.

We don’t need to explain how to order food here. The well designed menu is translated into English. The staff were excellent, very attentive, warm and welcoming. Best of all, this place is CLEAN. Many readers have been asking for reviews of restaurants where food hygiene is on a similar level with the West - well, here is it!

The best surprise is yet to come. It almost goes without saying that all the food and drinks we’ve tried were exceptionally good. The best part is - the prices are very low. The photo above is Egg-Noodles with Chicken in Spices & Fennel Sauce, just 16 RMB. The chicken was so tender, it falls from the bone and melts in your mouth. The vegetables are fresh and the noodles thick and wholesome. Their fresh fruit juices and smoothies are only 8 RMB. We tried the Banana-Apple-Yogurt, mmmmm, delicious. We recommmend you try some snacks. The Jumping Squid were delicious and a bargain for 12 RMB. Our favourite is the Deep-Fried Mozzaralla Cheese just 10 RMB. The texture of the melted mozzaralla contrasted to the crispy, but not oily, bread crumbs creates a beautiful composition. We’ve also tried the Carrot Noodle With Bolognaise (12 RMB), and the Deep Fried Potato and Beef Cakes (8 RMB) - both were superb, though it’s the Egg Noodle With Chicken and the Mozzaralla Cheese which are our personal favourites so far.

See some photos here.

Located near People's Square at 82 Huánghé lù (黄河路), just to the North of Fèngyáng lù (凤阳路). Open from 08:00 to 24:00. (Also just down the road at number 90 is the formidable Jiā jiā tāng bāo).

Cross-posted from likealocal.