Head to Lung’s (and a little further down in the anatomy of
well-being)
Thus sits an eclectic, swish eatery on the now right side of Yongkang
Lu – Xiangyang Lu (away from the madding crowds of Le Café des Stagiaires and
the rest of the café-by-day and bar-by-night spots on the busy side of that
stretch). This stretch is quieter, far more homey, and just right for that
Sunday afternoon meal where you spent the previous night dancing off your soles
and drowning yourself in the signature cocktails at Bar Rouge or M1NT and then
rounded it off at Hollywood or Flamingo, finally dragging yourself home at 6:00
in the morning, or, if you were a little decent, 4:00 in the morning.
The fact that it has only about six 2 to 3-seater tables inside, and two 3-seaters
outside, means that your desire to drown in your post-hangover ‘don’t-talk-to-me’
wish is comprehensively fulfilled.
There is also a South-east Asian section on the menu, with Singaporean
laksa, Burmese khowsue and Thai red curry (duck, chicken or prawn) – all of
them done to perfection.
Here’s where to find this Comfort Zone on a 'don't-you-talk-to-me' Sunday:
Xuhui district
Bell them at:
186 1628 2121
Well Hungry Lung’s will most definitely take care of your midriff,
other internal organs be damned. And take care of it, he does!
All you want for the morning after, then, is to be left alone – to not
be spoken to, or at. And a nice place for comfort food with unobtrusive signage
and the perfect staff that understand you had a rough night. That is Hungry
Lung’s for me. COMFORT.
In neon lettering. And Lung himself, when he is not busy in the kitchen – so you
can have a relaxed chat with him on occasion when you feel like one.
The décor is quirky – with white open brick walls and quirky posters of
Coca-Cola and Dishwashing cleaner ads in the 70’s to Andy Warhol prints to
anything that impressed Lung enough. And it’s all thrown together with an
antique record player in a corner whose entire purpose is to add character to
the place!
Run by Canadian-born Lung Liu, Hungry Lung’s is fusion done just
right. The mark of Hungry Lung’s is that the menu board is single-sided, with
just a handful of signature and classic dishes, which are done just right,
consistently well, and with a hint of something-lovely-that-doesn’t-belong-to-this-dish
every time, that makes you keep going back there.
I love restaurants which don’t send you into a frenzy of forced, confused
choices with a menu book that needs a Table of Contents and an in-built metal
bookmarker to flip to the right page. Let’s just focus on doing a few small
things really, really, really well, shall we? That is Lung’s kitchen for you.
Because he went after his own version of “comfort” when thinking up the menu.
And hit the nail squarely on the head with the rest of us too!
The grilled lemongrass chicken in wasabi aioli is one just such dish.
Perfect from the word “Go”. For poutine lovers, Lung’s does it just right – a plateload
of fries smothered in Monterey Jack cheese and just the right amount of brown
meaty gravy. Again, food of the comfort kind.
My favorite and most frequent order is the set of 3 sliders – Korean beef,
lemongrass chicken and beef-and-bacon. The sliders are just the right size each
and the side salad is absolutely fusionly delish, a coleslaw and baby radish salad
made very interesting with a tempering of sesame and mustard seeds. Who would
have thought, eh? Who, but Lung!
And the tab? Very very easy on the pocket for the lovely food he
serves. Nearly everything is between 60-80RMB and portions are generous. With
beers clocking in from 12-30RMB for the most expensive one, well, here’s
looking at you, Fat Kid! And yes, for every Bloody Mary, Lung has his own spin on the male version with a Bloody Caesar (after all, Rome wasn't built in a day)!
Here’s where to find this Comfort Zone on a 'don't-you-talk-to-me' Sunday:
144 Yongkang Lu,
near Xiangyang Nan Lu, Xuhui district
