Shan Shi Liu (山石榴) is a casual Guizhou restaurant chain founded in 2018. The brand currently has eight locations in Shanghai and one in Suzhou.
All the venues are wildly popular; one of those “go early, get a number, and wait” places. The Maoming Lu flagship is also listed as a Michelin Selected Restaurant.
The newest location is in MixC Suzhou Creek, where they start divvying out numbers for lunch at 10:30am. There were sooo many people queuing! Commentary on Dianping praises the restaurant for being not only delicious but good value for money. And almost all the venues hold a 4.6+ rating. Let’s say, my interest was piqued.
Turns out, everything was delicious, and the average check for food is about ¥140. Worth it in my book—give it a try! As it goes with Chinese food, best way to enjoy it is with a big table.
As for the space, interiors are tasteful with wall fabrics featuring designs that are iconic of Guizhou ethnic minorities, of which there are more than a dozen of, but mainly Miao, Dong, Buyi, Yi, and Tujia. Oh, and the walls are lined with bottles of Maotai, the most famous bajiu in China and the pride of Guizhou.
Complimentary side dish of pickled radishes. Forcefully sour, crunchy, spicy, and appetizing.
Acidity and spice are the defining features of Guizhou cuisine, so if you don’t like sour-fiery foods, maybe this isn’t for you. But it’s not a “burn your face off spice”, rather a flavorful spice. The use of vinegars and pickling originates from the scarcity of salt back in the day, where transportation through the mountainous landscape proved difficult. It is also said that every household has at least one jar of house made pickles fermenting at any given time, and those pickles are then used to flavor dishes.
Fish in Sour Soup (¥108/small; 凯里酸汤鱼) – The signature dish and most popular order. It’s a massive bowl of sour spicy soup with filets of jiangtuan (江团), a type of catfish, pickled vegetables, bright green chilies, and bean sprouts. The broth is more zingy and zesty rather than spicy, sweetened with tomatoes and seasoned with plenty of spices.As if the fish wasn’t flavorful enough, each person gets their own dipping sauce to give the fillets an extra kick. It’s mostly chili, garlic, ginger, spices, and deep-fried legumes. Ladle in some broth and mix it up to dip.Guizhou Cured Meat Platter (¥68; 腊味三拼) – Another Guizhou specialty, cured meats. Salty, fragrant, best paired with rice.Huaxi Beef Noodle (¥48; 花溪牛肉粉) – A heaving bowl of rice noodles in a clear and flavorful beef broth, topped with scallions, pickled mustard greens, and cilantro. Beef from Guizhou/Yunnan, and noodles air-freighted directly from Guizhou. Very satisfying.Rice Tofu with Spicy Oil (¥38; 油辣子米豆腐) – This “rice tofu” is actually made from washing and soaking rice, grinding it into a paste, and boiling it with alkali, to then cool and form into a block of “tofu”. Glutinous sticks drowned in chili oil, spicy ciba pepper (糍粑辣椒), peanuts, and fresh radish.Chili Fried Pork Kidneys (¥98; 黔味爆腰花) – It’s about half and half lean pork and kidneys, stir-fried with a mountain of spicy dried chilies and scallions. Delicious.Spicy Stir-Fried Pork (¥62; 糟辣小炒肉) – Pork stir-fried with Guizhou zaola (糟辣) chili sauce, made with chilies, aromatics, sometimes baijiu, and salt, then fermented in earthen jars. Spicy, slightly sour, fragrant, and fresh.Deep-Fried Lotus Root (¥58; 芝麻脆藕丝) – Lotus root battered and deep-fried, rolled in sesame seeds and doused with a sticky sweet sauce. Crunchy, chewy, and fills you up quick.Broken Ear-Root (¥38, 酸菜拌折耳根) – Broken ear-root, the edible rhizome of the houttuynia cordata plant (yuxingcao, 鱼腥草 “fish-smelling grass”), is widely used in traditional medicine. It’s fresh, slightly spicy, peppery, and very fibrous. It’s served stir-fried with pickled mustard greens. It gives your jaw a workout, but it’s quite an addictive texture.Chinese Kale with Cashew (¥48, 腰果芥兰头) – Something to break up the flurry of fiery dishes.Fried Bean Curd (¥58; 渣男豆腐) – A light dish of crumbled bean curd fried with cured meats, vegetables, and chili paste. It tastes slightly aged, quite complex yet still light.Guai Lu Fried Rice (¥38; 怪鲁炒饭) – A street food favorite that’s just oh-so comforting. Choose spicy or non-spicy.
The busiest location is their flagship and Michelin-listed venue on Maoming Lu in Fengsheng Li. There’s also one at 1000 Trees, K11, MixC Suzhou Creek (the one I went to), and Qiantan Taikoo Li.
Shan Shi Liu 山石榴 Hours: Daily, 11am-2pm, 5pm-9pm Address: Maoming Lu: No. 304, Bldg 13, 281 Maoming Bei Lu, near Weihai Lu 茂名北路281弄16号304室, 近威海路 Tel: 13918306271 Address: MixC Suzhou Creek: LG217, West Block, 100 Fujian Bei Lu, near Bei Suzhou Lu 福建北路100号上海苏河湾万象天地西里负2楼LG217 Tel: 15502158091 Address: K11: L307, 300 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Huangpi Nan Lu 淮海中路300号K11商城L307 Tel: 15601755396
Rachel Gouk has been writing about food and drink in Shanghai since 2011. She is a food critic, writer, photographer, and F&B consultant based in Shanghai. Nomfluence was founded in May 2018 as a means to express her love for the Shanghai F&B scene. Follow her blog www.nomfluence.com or on Instagram @nomfluence.
