Di Shui Dong (滴水洞)

We had dinner at on one of my favorite streets (Maoming street) in one of my favorite areas in Shanghai on Sunday night, to check out a wildy popular Hunan restaurant called Di Shui Dong.

Michael complained about the plentiful number of "laowai's" present in the restaurant - this to him is usually a sign that the food is too commercialized and not sufficiently authentic.  In this instance, I agree with him - the restaurant was overrated. 

In Shanghai's gold star food scene, I am surprised this restaurant has so many followers.  There is of course always the possibility that I just ordered poorly...but I am doubtful.

Appetizer was slivered duck gizzard(?) with marinated sour string beans.  Slightly spicy.  Packed a delightful, tart punch.

We ordered the sticky rice wrapped meatballs - these were tasty and served piping hot, but they pretty much consisted of one flavor - hot meat.

These cumin rubbed and chili-pepper flaked spare ribs were on every food reviewer's list of "must-have's" at the restaurant - however, I found them lacking. All you could taste was the cumin.  My expectations for this dish must have been way too high, because I was completely disappointed.

The "dry" tofu pot with pork slices and mushrooms was okay, but I thought it kind of lacked flavor too (other than the spice)!  The dish would have been made much better with several different kinds of tofu (fried, frozen, tender, tough, etc.) as well as different kinds of mushrooms.  I am usually not a texture eater, but in this instance I think the dish would have improved with more textures to tantalize the tongue.

 

Verdict?  I so wish we had skipped this restaurant and headed to the Anhui restaurant I was considering instead!