A Guide to What to Avoid at Zizhu Third Restaurant

Detailed address: Zizhu High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, Minhang District, Shanghai — Zizhu Third Restaurant

Because the author's first job was at Wicresoft in Zizhu, I went to this restaurant many times with my colleague jiuqi while working there. These are some notes and experiences we summarized from those visits. I only included dishes I have personally eaten; dishes I have not tried are not listed here.

Noodles

The noodle stall is in a relatively out-of-the-way spot, so you may need to look carefully or ask someone. Noodle menu:

Note that there are extra menu items on the small blackboard, but I have not tried any of them.

Recommended

Pork Oil-Splashed Noodles (Wide Noodles)

The wide noodles are hand-pulled on-site from dough by the chef, and I personally think they taste better. The thin noodles are not made on-site; they are ready-made, and feel more like something bought from a market.

Beef Oil-Splashed Noodles (Wide Noodles)

jiuqi said the flavor was decent, but compared with its price of 27 CNY, the pork oil-splashed noodles are better value.

I tried a bit. The beef is all lean meat, so it is actually a little dry. It would taste better with a bit of fat. The pork is also lean, but it is softer.

Pork oil-splashed noodles are the GOAT.

The peanuts in the bowl are an extra add-on and cost 2 CNY.

Not Recommended

Saozi noodles (thin noodles): including Qishan saozi noodles and dry-mixed saozi noodles. After both jiuqi and I tried them, neither of us recommends them.

Roujiamo: jiuqi tried it and does not recommend it. The filling is minced pork knuckle.

Rice Plates

Menu:

Recommended

Chicken cutlet rice (18 CNY). Affordable and tasty, but the tasty part is only the freshly pan-fried chicken cutlet.

Average

Pork Stomach Chicken

I feel only the chicken tastes decent; everything else is average. At 30 CNY, its value is not even as good as the beef oil-splashed noodles.

The dry-pot chicken wings are actually also pretty good. I feel the chicken quality at this restaurant is generally quite good.

Grilled Fish

Menu:

There are three kinds of grilled fish: tilapia (28 CNY), snakehead fish (32 CNY), and sea bass (35 CNY). They all taste decent.

Green Sichuan Pepper Grilled Sea Bass

Dry Pot

Menu:

Dry-Pot Beef

The taste is average, and how good it is depends on the side ingredients. Sometimes it comes with garlic scapes, which I do not like. Sometimes it comes with potatoes, onions, and green and red peppers, which tastes pretty decent.

Dry-Pot Chicken Wings

The taste is good. The chicken is very fresh, and most of the pieces are wing drumettes. There are quite a lot of bones, and it is rather salty.

Sometimes the side ingredients are quite plain, with only green peppers, but the flavor is still the same.

Dry-Pot Bullfrog

I feel the taste is average and do not recommend it. The large pieces of bullfrog meat are not very flavorful. Compared with the price of 28 CNY, it is not really worth it.

Well, actually I realized that I might just not like eating bullfrog very much. So far, whenever I have tried it, I have not really liked the texture of bullfrog meat.

Clay Pot

I feel the taste is generally very average. They all seem to have glass noodles? I do not really like glass noodles.

Lamb Clay Pot

The lamb clay pot has such a strong mutton smell that it is basically impossible to eat. Definitely do not order it.

Fast-Food Counter

I do not know what this dish is called either. After jiuqi tried it, it was probably minced meat wrapped in sticky rice with salted egg yolk. In any case, jiuqi's review was that it did not taste very good.

Fried small chicken drumsticks. Extremely tasty, very flavorful, very fresh. Absolutely excellent.

Fried taro paste balls. Tasty.