Dai Feast! Yunnan Food at Ronglek in Jing’an, Shanghai

Tucked away on the sleepy part of Yanping Lu in Jing’an is Ronglek, a humble Yunnan restaurant specializes in dishes from Shangri-La and Xishuangbanna.

Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence.

About Ronglek

The Ronglek name has actually been around for a while—I first visited their now-closed original location on Pingwu Lu in 2017. In addition to the new Jing’an location, they also have another branch in Hongkou.

Founder/operator Tashi Chotso hails from Shangri-La, and takes great pride in sourcing fresh mushrooms, air-dried yak, goat cheese, and spices, flown in regularly from her home province.

The chef, also from Yunnan, churns out a multitude of dishes heaving with a kaleidoscope of dried and fresh chilies, slow-simmered soups, Dai Feast platters, butterflied whole fish, and grilled mushrooms of all kinds.

As for the restaurant itself, the space isn’t very big. The main dining room seats about 40 people, and there are two private rooms, one seats up to 10 and the other seats 14 people around round tables.

There’s always room for more Yunnanese in Shanghai, especially if it’s as affordable as Ronglek. And so, without further ado, here are some a ton of dishes you can get at this cozy restaurant.

Yunnan Food at Ronglek: A Taste of Shangri-La & Xishuangbanna

I went through a lot at Ronglek. So I’m going to break this down into a couple sections. I can attest that (despite having about 1-2 bites each) it was all great and I’m looking forward to returning.

Dai Feast Platter

Dai Platter at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Dai Feast Platter (¥218)** – This is a common street food in Xishuangbanna. Ronglek’s version has grilled pork neck, served with a sweet tomato sauce made with 树番茄 (tree tomato), fried Baojiang tofu (more on this tofu below), potatoes, mushrooms, lemongrass marinated chicken, beef, and zucchini.

Pork neck at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — Pork neck

Lemongrass chicken at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — Baked lemongrass chicken

Beef at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — Uber tender beef

Mushrooms at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — And the platter also has **Grilled Mushrooms (¥38/a la carte)**. These mushrooms are flown in direct from Yunnan, slow-roasted in the oven. There’s an almost floral fragrance to these earthy mushrooms. Excellent.

Classic Yunnan Dishes

La Zi Ji chicken at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Yunnan La Zi Ji Chili Chicken (¥68)** – Chicken perfumed with cumin and spices, stir-fried with potato and piled high with dried chilies. A huge portion, like most things at Ronglek. A classic dish, excellent to share.

Stir-fried bullfrog at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Stir-Fried Bullfrog (¥138)** – There’s also a “mountain chicken” version, same as above, but with bullfrog.

Fried yak jerky at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Fried Yak Jerky (¥108)** – Air-dried yak shipped in from Shangri-La, sliced thin and fried with dried chilies on a bed of fried mint. Crispy and addictive.

Baojiang tofu at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Fried Baojiang Tofu (¥48, 香酥包浆豆腐)** – A lightly fermented tofu that’s made by soaking the tofu cubes in water and baking soda to achieve its light coat and custardy center. It’s like biting into a cloud of cream.

Fried potatoes at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Fried Potatoes (¥42)** served with a spice dip of chili and cumin.

Black truffle chicken at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Black Truffle Hand-Shredded Chicken (¥118)** – Baked chicken tossed with black truffles from Yunnan.

Grilled cheese at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Grilled Feta (Goat) Cheese (¥48)** – Ah, the classic. Served with salt and pepper.

Dali fried cheese at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Dali Fried Cheese (¥58)** with rose jam

Fried matsutake mushrooms Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Fried Matsutake (¥188)** – Gloriously earthy mushrooms from Yunnan. A treat for people who love mushrooms.

Lemongrass grilled fish at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Lemongrass Grilled Fish (¥88)** – A whole butterflied fish cooked with lemongrass and coriander, served with a spicy fish sauce dip. The fish is tilapia, delivered live to the restaurant and is prepared fresh daily.

Noodles & Soups

Yunnan rice noodles at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Yunnan Rice Noodles (¥42, 小锅米线)** – This dish is as good, if not better than when I first had it at the original Ronglek. It’s a heaving bowl of rice noodles in a sour-spicy broth laden with pickled cabbage from Yunnan, fermented chilies and minced pork.

Matsutake chicken soup at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Matsutake Chicken Soup (¥68)** – A comforting pot of black chicken and matsutake mushroom soup.

Peanut cabbage soup at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Cabbage Peanut Soup (¥36)** – This is a divisive dish, but the combination of light peanut soup and cabbage reminds me of home/south Asia. It’s a salty, slighty sweet soup that’s very comforting.

Crayfish at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Lemongrass Crayfish (¥128/1kg)** – And they have lemongrass seasoned crayfish for the season.

Highland barley cakes at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — **Highland Barley Cakes (¥38)** – For dessert, they have these pancakes made with highland barley, doused in condensed milk and honey. The cakes have a lovely chewy texture, and tastes little chocolaty and grassy. (Gluten-free!)

To Drink

Ronglek has beers from Shangri-La Brewery, who use all-natural Tibetan mountain spring water, heirloom Qingker (highland) barley and imported German hops to brew their beer.

Shangri-la Brewery beers at Ronglek, a cheap Yunnan restaurant in Shanghai. Photo by Rachel Gouk @ Nomfluence. — Fat Dolma (8.2%)

There’s three from the brewery, Fat Dolma (a strong lager), Tibetan Pale Ale, and Black Yak (like a chocolate stout), all ¥48. They also have Tsingtao, but why drink that when you can have beer from Yunnan.

Other drinks include wines, Yunnan coffee, cocktails, juices and teas.

Favorite dishes: Stir-fried bullfrog, grilled mushrooms, matsutake mushrooms, baojiang tofu, grilled feta (goat) cheese, lemongrass grilled fish, Yunnan rice noodles, highland barley cakes.

Ronglek
Click here to view the listing.