Thanksgiving Dinner, Chinese Style

When in Shanghai, it only seems polite that, on Thanksgiving, one eats Chinese food. This isn't your run of the mill Chinese Chinese food. Fortune Cookie is the love child of two Cornell grad friends (one Chinese-American whose parents own Chinese restaurants in the US) who decided to move to Shanghai and open an American Chinese Restaurant. That's right--American Chinese food is now a genre. And it doesn't disappoint.

Let's start with the menu--a culinary smattering of everything you'd want in a US takeaway from Sweet and Sour to Mooshu to General Tso's, the sauces taste just like what Americans think Chinese food should taste like:

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And the owners are totally charming, totally young, totally getting everything right in what could have been a disastrous business venture.  They're been written up in various huge global publications from CBS news to the BBC and they're taking it all in stride.  The clientele, a curious mix of expats and Chinese, keep coming back for more.

What's not to love? You finish your meal, you get a fortune cookie. You need takeaway? How about those little white boxes so ubiquitous with American television shows that the rest of the world outside the US didn't think they were real. Check and Check! 

Perhaps the best part for me is that this local little gem is a five minute walk from my flat. And if i'm feeling really lazy, ohhhh delivery. For Thanksgiving though, I have a little tradition--find the most unabashed American meal possible and do it justice. Karen, Gemma and I opted against the day's special, mooshu turkey pan fried in a wok, but plenty of other filled the rafters for exactly the same experience.

Any way you look at it, it's winning.