“No cockroaches, no bugs, no insects, no frogs, nothing that lives in the street that I stepped on yesterday. Oh. And definitely no snake!”
These were the conditions I outlined when I signed up for a ‘street food’ tour of Shanghai’s famous (or infamous…) night markets. I wanted to experience good food, with maybe a dash of adventure…but nothing that, if it were alive, would make me scream, or give me a desire to kill it.
I’d booked a ‘Street Food’ tour with Unfood Tours Shanghai, wanting to experience local street food, but having no knowledge of any remotely useful Asian languages, and strongly desiring to eat at basically safe places…well, lets just say a tour was a good way to go.
The tour started with a small group of about five of us, and a guide, Topher, who, although wasn’t originally from Shanghai, had been living there for the last decade, and had spent years cultivating relationships with local vendors, restaurants, and markets, bringing his guests truly the best of the area.
The evening started off great…until Topher mentioned the first stop.
‘Alright everyone. Our first stop is one of my favourites, and definitely a fan favourite. You can’t go to China without trying something different. And tonight, we’ll start with fresh Water Snake’.
Gag. And nope. The dish didn’t come to us pre-cooked and looking and tasting like chicken. Oh no. That would be too easy to ignore. We walked over to a tiny restaurant and the chef pulled a slithering black water snack out of a container, maneuvered it into a bowl and proceeded to…prepare the meal.
Dinner is served. Pre-meal.
We ducked into the tiny restaurant where we had amazing appetizers, including crayfish, eggplant, mushrooms, various cooked vegetables, and then finally, the piece de resistance…breaded and fried snake.
Food Alley 
Appetizer one; crayfish Eggplant, mushrooms, vegetables and dumplings
Don’t ask me how I managed to do it, but somehow, I was able to ignore the fact that the main course had been happily slithering around a snake farm (or wherever they are raised…or found…) not long ago. I had watched it come to its untimely demise not even 20 minutes prior. And now, it was sitting in front of me (looking decidedly not very snake-like…more like a salad with crescent-moon shaped onion rings). And somehow…I did it!
Taste? Really, like chicken. Granted, bony, and very little meat-to-work-required ratio, but covered with breading and spices, it was actually almost…delicious!
After this first stop, the rest of the tour passed in a delicious three hours of dumplings, beer, soups, sauces, vegetable dishes, and too many more to count. The restaurants ranged from large grills propped up the side of buildings, to second-story-of-a-house restaurants, to a grill on top of a canister, looking suspiciously like a garbage can fire…
In each place, we were obviously almost the only non-local people around. While the owners and families were obviously familiar with our guide and welcomed us happily into their homes and businesses, it was obviously a (very positive and incredible) local experience.
Restaurant and market store. This family restaurant beside their apartment. The location changes about every 3-6 months, due to recent government crackdowns on unlicensed restaurants serving street-style food.
The best dumpling stove and restaurant in town. 
No seating available, but seriously delicious.
Sanitized and packaged for your protection.
Our final stop. Beer and too many delicious courses to count.
To make a long story short, these are definitely stops that you should make in Shanghai. If you can take the tour, it’s best. Especially if you are lost with the language, have only a short time, or are up for an incredible food-venture.
And who knows. If you try the snake, it might end up just being your new favourite.
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