A stool, a street, and some noodles

I awoke my first morning in Shanghai to find that Max had done some pre-explorations of our neighborhood. "There's a noodle shop right up the street" were literally the first words he said to me. We're going to travel great together, I thought. We headed down our street for a handful of blocks.

We came to the corner noodle shop. There was an awning, but no sign. A simple sandwich board had a list of noodle dishes with prices for large and small versions. We guessed, pointed at two that looked different, and sat down.

Random dish number one turned into noodles with pork and green peppers, with a side of yellow broth. These noodles were fabulous, a little al dente. The green peppers (or capsicum, coming from my Singapore days...) were snappy and sliced thin, a great complement to the meat. And the pork was appropriately meager for the morning meal, just accenting the flavor. It was accompanied by a side of broth that a strong flavor of tumeric (and perhaps other flavors often mixed in to get "curry" powder). It was a nice drink, especially after I added some chillies to the noodles and things got a little spicy.

The second was a beef brisket noodle soup. This wasn't as superb but still totally likeable. The noodles and broth were similarly excellent. The beef brought the dish down a little, as some of the pieces were too thick and too gamey (and somehow a bit dry). But the flavors were spot on and so it was easy to eat, enjoy, and look past the minor flaws.

A great breakfast, on the cheap, and we were energized for our first day in the big city!