Soup in Shanghai: Chasing chowder

Shanghai's recent spate of shitty weather has gotten us hungry for soup. And when we say "soup," we generally mean the kind of soups we grew up eating during cold Pennsylvania winters. Chunky soups. Soups, to borrow a slogan, that eat like a meal. On a recent trip home, we dined a couple times at Panera Bread Company, which serves, among other things, hearty soups in sourdough bread bowls. We remember thinking Panera would be one of the American chain restaurants we'd like to see exported to China, instead of Applebee's or TGI Friday's.

We like a good chowder (or chowdah — see embedded video), but pickings are slim in Shanghai. Last week, however, we happened upon a Manhattan Clam Chowder (that's the red one) that passed our taste test and, even better during this time of year, came delivered piping hot to our apartment. It comes from Element Fresh, which charges RMB 48 for a bowl (free delivery) that is packed with clams and potatoes (we added some fresh ground pepper on our own, but we do that with almost everything we eat). The "bowl" portion is huge — definitely more than one serving — and it should be noted that we later ordered the "cup" portion (RMB 32) and the serving seemed almost identical to the bowl. Anyway, worth a try — definitely not the best chowder we've ever had, but perhaps the best we've tried in Shanghai.

In the past, we have been big fans of the seafood chowder in a bread bowl at A Future Perfect, and we wanted to be able to recommend it here, so we ordered it via Sherpa's for lunch today. Either we're usually too drunk on wine while eating at AFP to notice our food or something has changed with the chowder. It was runnier than we remember and almost totally devoid of, yes, seafood. While it does come delivered with a bread bowl (if you ask), the serving is about a third the size of what you get from Element Fresh and, once delivery fees are tacked on, it is RMB 57. Disappointing.

But while we definitely enjoy food, we are by no means a foodie. So we posed the "Shanghai soup" question to two guys who get paid to eat and write about it: Former SH food guy Jarrett Wrisley, and his successor Christopher St. Cavish.

"I haven't found a half decent chowder in town yet," said Jarrett. And, tellingly, only one of their soup recommendations is of the Western variety. Well, when in Shanghai ...