By Xiao Min (Shanghai Star)
Updated: 2006-10-12 16:18

Yi Zhong Liang Jian (One Cup and Two Dishes) is a new restaurant in the Zhongshan Park area.Surprisingly, in spite of its location in a quiet corner on the fourth floor of a shopping mall, it always seems busy.

It is my third visit to the restaurant,and there is only one table available at 7 pm. I am lucky; others behind me have to queue at the door.

It is even more of a mystery why this restarurant is popular when you consider the service. Nobody shows you to your seat,once seated you have to scream for a menu,and even after you've ordered, whether the food actually arrives at your table is still hit-and-miss. I once waited more than halfan- hour for a dish the waiter then told me the kitchen had forgotten to cook it.

There can only be one reason why I and so many others frequent One Cup and Two Dishes: the food (if it arrives) is excellent. It is prevented from being perfect by the relatively high price - around 80 yuan (US$10) per person.

Specialising in Cantonese cuisine, the name One Cup and Two Dishes refers to the traditional Cantonese breakfast of one cup of tea and two dishes of dim sum.

Generally speaking, Cantonese food has a delicate flavour, but some recommended dishes here have quite strong tastes similar to Shanghai cuisine.

The chef-recommended fish mouth fried in a terrine with special sauce, costs 48 yuan (US$6). Before I saw the dish, I thought it was going to be the famous fish lips which are said to be delicious. Actually, the dish was not just a mouth but the fishes whole head. There were several fish heads in the terrine. According to the chef, the fish heads are preserved first,then fried, then cooked with special sauce, Guangdong gourmet garlic and ginger. The fish head has a rich taste,which to me is a little too salty.

Another good dish is the beef ribs. The ribs are cooked on a hot iron plate with a special sauce. If you have more than two diners,you can order a big dish of ribs for 58 yuan (US$7), a small dish, containing two pieces, costs 20 yuan (US$2.5).

Another popular hot dish is the black poplar mushroom fried with foie gras and chicken, at 58 yuan. Compared with the foie gras and chicken, the mushroom tastes better and is crispy and juicy while the foiegras is a little fishy.

If you're eating Catonese , the barbecueis a must. Here the restaurant provides a mixed dish which includes barbecued pork, goose and pork, for 38 yuan (US$5).The goose is good, I'd never tried it before but I ate the lot.. The barbecued pork, to me, needs to have a little bit more fat with it to make it tastier and juicier.

Another must-have is the dessert which is a Cantonese speciality. The sweet ice tea called Yang Zhi Gan Lu, is actually a mixture of juice and milk. It's served in a lot of restaurants, but I think this is the best I have ever had and it is also not very expensive, 12 yuan (US$1.5). The desert is condensed milk with sago, grapefruit and mango pieces which tastes sweet and sour.

Another desert is almond tea, 16 yuan (US$2), though a little bit too sweet, almond is said to be good for the skin, so is popular with women diners.

Yi Zhong Liang Jian
Location: F4, Cloud Nine Shopping Mall, No.1018, Changning Road (near Kaixuan Road)
Tel: 021-61157058