The menu at the Soup Expert is huge and bound into two booklets, but you’ll find it full of polished, homestyle Cantonese fare. The only downside is that it takes some effort to ignore the ostentatious glinting chandeliers and bright sateen tablecloths.

We immediately went for the double boiled field chicken with pork meat and Chinese herbs (RMB28). It comes in an adorable single serving pot with a soup cup and is set up to be poured like tea. We slurped down the piquant broth and attacked the tender chicken at the bottom.

We also tried, but enjoyed less, the double boiled pork with apple soup (RMB28). It has a strong cider aftertaste, the sweet fruit and pork flavors stubbornly refuse to meld and the pork is tough. An additional herb or vegetable might have helped.

We then tackled a sizzling hot plate of tea tree mushrooms and flowering garlic shoots (RMB32), stir-fried prime beef (RMB78) and fried garlic crab (RMB58). All three of these winning dishes are generously portioned, but we still failed at our attempt to hold back enough to take home some leftovers. The stir-fried prime beef combines medium-rare chunks of tender and juicy steak with crisp, sweet yellow and red peppers and leeks, all of which soak up the well-seasoned soy-based brown gravy. While you might not want to deal with the crab shell of the last dish, the high heat of the wok softens the shells just enough for a soft and sweet reward. Crispy fried garlic puts this dish over the top.

Soup Expert is a local favorite thanks to its well-done Cantonese comfort food. Most things are like your grandma does them—if she were from Guangdong. And in the case of some dishes, they’re even better.

DETAILS

What: Soup Expert

Where: Rm. 403, Infiniti Plaza, 138 Huaihai Zhong Lu 淮海中路138号无限度广场403室

Tel: 6375-6680