Gorge yourself on Dingxi Lu with a week of great eats

Need a new local haunt? Get yourself to Dingxi Lu and follow the milling crowds to a boatload of good eats. Here's a seven-day eating itinerary to get the best out of Dingxi Lu, a chaotic but delicious local food street. 

Monday: A spicy start

Venue: Qiu Qi (球溪鲶鱼馆) 
“Qiu Qi is one of those places I keep going to but only for the food,” says Linda Yee. Disregard the random holes in the tablecloths (moth problem?) and dig into their signature broiled catfish, sour and spicy beef and other Sichuan standbys done affordably. Our favorite is the spicy cold chicken covered in chili oil and toasted sesame.
Try: Mouthwatering Spicy Chicken (口水鸡, RMB 25)
713 Dingxi Lu, near Yan’an Xi Lu 定西路713号, 近延安西路, +86 21 5230 3395

Tuesday: A hot mess (of porridge)

Venue: Chaoshan Sha Guo (潮汕砂锅粥馆)
“You should take everyone here,” says Pan Tang Jia, a friend we tipped off about this 24 hour seafood porridge heaven. Choose your seafood from the first floor tanks and wait 20 minutes as your shrimp, crab, frog, scallops and fish become a creamy, bubbling pot of congee the diameter of an extra large pizza.
Try: Congee with shrimp, eel and scallops (by the kilo, RMB 88-108 for shrimp, RMB 68 for eel, RMB 88 for scallops).
Tip: We think the original location does a slightly better pot of porridge, but in case of long wait times, try the new branch across the street which is more spacious. 
Original location: 805 Dingxi Lu, near Yan’an Xi Lu定西路805号, 近延安西路, +86 21 6282 5882; new location: 784 Dingxi Lu, near Yan’an Xi Lu 定西路784号, 近延安西路, +86 21 6116 9237

Wednesday: Creature comforts

Venue: Bao Bao Jiao (爆爆椒香辣虾干锅三绝)
The theme here is red: screaming red drapes, candy apple red sofas and red Hawaiian-shirted waiters. While the decor is totally jarring, the glossy menu photos of spicy pots full of chicken, shrimp and frog pots will make your mouth water. “Don’t attempt one [of these pots] with less than three people,” patron Kevin Chu warns.
Try: The signature spicy frog pot (干锅牛蛙, RMB 78) and peanut milkshake (RMB 16).
Address: 2-3/F, 1273 Dingxi Lu, near Anhua Lu 定西路1273号2-3楼, 近安化路, +86 21 5239 2227

Thursday: Recovery day

Venue: Tang Si Ling (汤司令土灶煨汤馆)
Soothe your stomach with soup just like your mom would make, if she were a Cantonese soupstress with a way with medicinal herbs. Tang Si Ling is ground zero for Chinese soup lovers (although they have a menu of local dishes) with 30 delicious by-the-bowl soups. “I come here all the time,” says Cathy Ling. “It’s my hangover cure.”
Try: Turtle soup (RMB 30).
Tip: For dessert, stop by Milk Barn, a pastry shop, and grab a delicious Shanghainese snack -- “whipped cream” in a paper cup (guan nai you, but the texture is more like whipped butter, RMB 8).
Tang Si Ling: 799 Dingxi Lu, near Yan’an Xi Lu 定西路799号, 近延安西路, +86 21 6283 3459, +86 21 5258 0591; Milk Barn: 718 Dingxi Lu, near Yan’an Xi Lu 定西路718号, 近牛桥浜

Friday: Hot pot time

Venues: You Ming Tang (有名堂火锅); alternative: Ye Wei (野味打边炉)
“You Ming Tang is the hot pot that everyone in this neighborhood goes to,” says Crystal Wang. “It’s a more basic setup than Dolar Shop but still good.” Alternatively, if you’re looking for a more exotic experience, try Ye Wei, which serves up a medicinal hot pot bubbling with rabbit meat and pig brains. They even have snake, but you’ll pay a princely sum for it.
Try: You Ming Tang: Sour vegetable and fish hot pot (RMB 65); Ye Wei: Snake sashimi for hot pot (RMB 40 per liang).
You Ming Tang: 825 Dingxi Lu, near Yan’an Xi Lu 定西路825号, 近延安西路, +86 21 6281 0849; Ye Wei: 791 Dingxi Lu, near Yan’an Xi Lu 定西路791号, 近延安西路, +86 21 6281 6683

Saturday: Country food

Venue: Hao You (好友汇土菜馆)
Hao You specializes in tu cai (土菜), or simply prepared countryside food. Since we’re still talking about Shanghai, expect a bit of sweetness with the braised fish and marinated vegetables. “The stinky tofu here is easily some of the stinkiest in town,” says Yao Yizhong. And that's a good thing.
Try: Wujiang River Fish (RMB 88), steamed stinky tofu with fermented mi xian stalks (RMB 25). 
2-3/F, 657 Dingxi Lu, near Fahuazhen Lu 定西路657号2-3楼, 近法华镇路, +86 21 5178 6617

Sunday: Vegged out

Venue: Wu Guan Tang (五观堂素食)
End your week of marathon eating with a veggie feast on Wu Guan Tang’s plant-lined third floor terrace. “It’s beautiful out there in the spring time,” says Tracy Hu. Visit Wu Guan Tang’s peaceful ambiance and subtle vegetarian food and you might even see a monk or two passing through.
Try: Faux crab roe (RMB 28), mushroom turnovers (RMB 28 for four). 
349 Xinhua Lu, near Dingxi Lu 新华路349号, 近定西路, +86 21 6281 3695