Hong Kong Lao Shang Hai Restaurant Ltd.

A traditional Shanghainese dining room on the first floor of a Wan Chai tower, carrying on from a house founded in 1955, with a head chef who has worked the same stoves since 1978 and floor staff of similar vintage. The cooking holds to the rich, dark, soy-and-sugar style: pork belly braised with red fermented bean curd, lion's head meatballs, sweet and sour fish, and a milky salted pork and bamboo shoot soup. Cold starters lead with jellied pork terrine, drunken chicken and crystal smoked egg. Spring onion pancake, stir-fried rice cakes and fried mantou with condensed milk are what regulars insist on.