Speaking of the old half-fast,
Many old Shanghainese know that
It is a place to eat Huaiyang cuisine,
It was already famous before liberation.
To be precise, the old half-fast was founded
Qing Guangxu 31 years (1905),
It has a history of 112 years, focusing on Huaiyang cuisine,
It is one of the few century-old restaurants in Shanghai.
The prototype of the old half-fast is "half-fasting will always be",
At that time, it was a few Yangzhou people who opened banks
Founded a hometown club, serving pasta and small dishes,
Provide home-style food for bank staff.
In the early years of the Republic of China, it was renamed "Hanzhai Restaurant",
Started business with the outside world,
It operates Zhenjiang and Yangzhou-style dishes and dim sum.
Later, someone opened a "new hanzai restaurant" opposite,
Pulled away a lot of business. In order to regain the source of customers,
The restaurant hired a group of famous chefs from Yangzhou and Zhenjiang.
Added famous dishes and improved the quality of dishes,
At the same time, adjust the price to make the price more accessible to the people.
In order to differentiate itself from its competitors,
Renamed "Old Hanzhai Restaurant".
In the decades that followed, the "old half-fast" became
Huaiyang cuisine is synonymous in Shanghai.
Before liberation, Lu Xun, Hu Shi, Liang Shiqiu and other Shanghai celebrities
They are all regular customers of this restaurant.
Knife fish sauce noodles are one of the signature dishes of the old half-jai,
Although this is a bowl without any "toppings" of "glossy surfaces",
But it has been the home of more than 50 years of old half-fasting!
In Shanghai, many people who want to eat knife fish
The first thing that comes to mind is to go to the old half-fast!
Knifefish is the earliest seasonal fish in spring,
There are sea knives, lake knives, and river knives.
Among them, the sea knife only lives in the sea and does not migrate,
The "saury" in Japanese restaurants is sea knife;
The lake knife is settled in the lake during the migration and does not return to the sea,
Jiangdao originally lived in the sea, but in February and March every year
It is necessary to migrate to the Yangtze River to breed the next generation.
The knife fish of the old half-jai is the "river knife",
More expensive than the other two.
In the early years, the number of river knives was also very large, not expensive,
Fishermen also used to feed cats with river knives.
Later, or because the ecological environment was destroyed,
Or because the climate has changed,
or because of overfishing, construction of water conservancy, etc.,
There are fewer and fewer river knives, and the value of the ship will rise.
Coupled with the difficulty of artificial breeding,
There are fewer and fewer river knives,
I am afraid that it will be listed as a protected species.
So the knife fish sauce noodles may really become a masterpiece!
The reason why knifefish is "rare",
It is also related to the fact that its time to market is too short.
Old Banzai's knifefish listed from March,
It will be released from the market in May at the latest,
It only sells for a month or two a year.
Usually, the peak of sales is before the Qingming Festival.
When business is booming,
Sell 900-1000 bowls a day!
Compared to the knife fish that can only be eaten for hundreds of yuan or thousands of dollars,
The price of the knife fish sauce noodles of the old half-jai is very close to the people.
A bowl of noodles with knife fish sauce and a signature crystal dish
is the "standard" of diners now,
If you are not addicted, add another knife fish,
Less than 200 yuan.
So affordable, unique in Shanghai!
Many people mistakenly refer to it as "knife fish noodles",
And its official name is very strict, called "knife fish sauce noodles",
Because there is no fish in it, some of it is the soup made by knife fish.
The soup of knife fish sauce noodles is rich and thick, and the color is white like milk,
Although there is no fish, but the "first fresh in the Yangtze River"
The salty and fresh taste has been incorporated into the noodles.
The knife fish sauce noodles of the old half-jai have a unique secret recipe,
Without adding a little MSG, it is all based on the ingredients to hang out the umami taste.
Due to the complicated process of boiling knife and fish soup,
This old-school meticulousness and elaboration,
The new apprentices are no longer willing to learn,
There are fewer and fewer people passing on their skills.
The difficulty of the old half-jai knife fish juice noodles,
In fact, it is a microcosm of the embarrassing situation of the old half-jai.
In fact, the traditional famous dishes of the old half-fast are now less and less,
Nowadays, you can eat many traditional dishes,
In terms of taste and other aspects, there is also a lack of the previous taste.
According to the manager of the service department of the old banzhai,
All the employees in the past wanted to work here for the rest of their lives.
The only idea is to do your best job,
Even the average waiter,
But now it's not what it used to be,
There are fewer and fewer old employees, and the mobility of new employees is too large,
The newly trained staff has changed another batch...
Such
The quality of the old half-fast is not as good as before, and it is also "forced by the situation".
Last April, a Japanese television station produced a variety show.
Specifically look for "zero-point restaurants" that have extremely poor reviews.
As a result, the old half-jai was "unfortunately" shortlisted.
See how the Japanese describe the old Hanzai ☟☟☟
【Recommended to watch in a WIFI environment】
In fact, the problem of the old half-fasting does exist,
But it is an exaggeration to say that it is a "zero-point restaurant".
After all, it was pushed to the cusp of the storm,
The old half-fasting was painful, suspended business, and internal renovation.
After the renovation, the old half-fast has indeed greatly improved in all aspects,
But it can't completely pull it out of the embarrassing situation.
But this can't all be blamed on the old half-fast.
Because the dining environment has long changed,
Ingredients, tools, craftsmanship and people are changing.
The most critical estimate is people.
For some regular customers,
On the one hand, they only trust "familiar faces",
On the other hand, there is a feeling for "familiar faces" in it.
Personnel "metabolism" too often,
It will make it difficult for them to adapt, and even a little lost.
Some of the dishes used to taste greasy,
Nowadays, people pay attention to healthy eating,
Prefer a lighter diet.
But some people who have eaten in the old half-fast for decades,
The slightest change in the dishes will be eaten immediately.
In the eyes of the old hanzai,
The feelings of old customers can never be hurt,
And new guests are also to attract,
But balancing the two is not easy.
In addition, in today's society,
Everyone has high requirements for service, and they will enjoy it.
But people who can sink their hearts to hone their craft,
There are fewer and fewer people who pursue the ultimate.
I am afraid that this is not a problem of an old half-fast and an industry.
Times change, and the commercial sea is ruthless.
In Shanghai, which has been open for less than 200 years in total,
There are not many century-old shops like Lao Banzhai.
A store is like a person,
It is very difficult to "live" until now,
Because it must go through "life and death" and "hardship and hardship";
And as long as it is still "alive", it will still "live",
We have to face a problem every day, that is, how to "live",
It's a much harder thing to do.
Because the experience of "living" is not necessarily useful.
How will the old half-fast "live"?
We'll see.
If one day we are dying of old age,
Looking back, the old half-fast is still standing proudly in the sunset,
This is also a beautiful thing!