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For a fancy Shanghai feast, head to this Upper East Side Chinese restaurant. My discerning banker friends always call the day before to order the Beggar's Chicken, although when I wandered in off the street with a friend from Shanghai, a feast materialized before our eyes. It was composed of an opening salvo of soup dumplings, followed by tender pieces of carp belly served up in a slightly peppery red sauce. There were nuggets of sugary, crispy-fried baby chicken, that great Shanghai specialty, sauteed snow-pea leaves, and, for dessert, a bite or two of fried soup made with cubes of jellied chestnuts, which look like candy but turn to liquid as they dissolve in the mouth. — Adam Platt

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• Best Chinese Banquet (2005)