La Rou Si Mian Guan

This tiny noodle joint is just a few tables, a diminutive kitchen and a spartan assortment of condiments and utensils. There's zero eye candy, besides the sight of happy, slurping customers. But out of this simple arrangement come some of the best noodles in town.

The signature order -- spicy pork shred noodles -- is hand-pulled noodles topped with lusciously wide strips of lean pork seasoned with chili and green onion. The pork is actually thicker than the noodles. It's wonderful. And just RMB 16.

The noodles are firm and full of green onion and tender pork strips. If you have a big appetite, you will wolf it down in minutes.

While pork shred noodles are offered at too many places to count, other locales prepare their pork topping in large batches, while La Rou Si Mian flash-sautées your pork portion individually to guarantee that everyone gets the freshest, most flavorful pork in their bowl. Now that's a gourmet bowl.

Not a fan of pork? Try the dry-fried eel noodles (RMB 20) for a departure from your regular eel soup noodles.

Few noodle shops still prepare eel noodles this way, since it requires cooking each order individually to do it right. The quality really shows in the huangsan (yellow eel), which is fried crispy and fragrant with a jumble of green onions and piled on top of fresh noodles.

Did we mention that you'll spend under RMB 20? At times like these, we really love Shanghai.