The Astronomer and I arrived on the shores of Shanghai ready to feast—thirteen straight hours of idleness and bad airplane food had us feeling ravenous.

Our initial plan was to grab some grub on Shouning Road, a stretch of stalls famous for its seafood, but the hootin’ and hollerin’ that we received while perusing the options was a total appetite killer. This unfortunately turned out to be the case at all of the city’s advertised street food meccas on the trip. I should’ve taken my own advice circa 2008!

Fortunately, we found what we were looking for—a slice of real Shanghai life and cookin’—while strolling down nearby Renmin Road. Down-home food served without fuss? Yes, please.

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