A Weekday Lunch at "Cafeteria" 在“食堂”吃的工作日午饭

It is as common to have weekday lunch at such small diners usually called "Cafeteria". Lots of ready to serve small dishes to choose, you just take the dishes you like and check out at the cashier. Fast, variety and yummy, it is Shanghai's typical weekday option.

继咸豆浆和甜豆浆引发的南北大讨论后买菜这件事竟然也上升到了南北差异的高度。事情是这样的，某位东北同学跟随南方同学在菜市买菜以个为单位买了一个胡萝卜一个番茄一把豆芽后，又震惊又害怕地说以为老板会拍桌子削你, 还以为你是去砸场子的。这件事情我是深有体会的，作为生活在以小气闻名全国的城市，当我的北方人婆婆来上海的时候她敏锐的发现了这一点然后问我：为什么那些老太婆一大早就买菜结果就买两根黄瓜几根青菜就回家了。我想了一下只好说，反正老太婆也没事干整天跑菜市场。不过在上海生活了一段时间后她也觉得非！常！方！便！再也不用买一大堆菜在家里放坏了，吃多少买多少新鲜~

但是当我们去餐厅吃饭的时候她还是经常被分量的迷你程度震惊了，我还没好意思告诉她上海不少餐厅还可以点半份。。。还有经常叫“食堂”或者“蒸菜”的快餐店，一份可能真的只有两筷子，不多点个几份真的吃不饱~~~

比如这样的一顿中饭，分量通常都比较迷你所以必须要多点几份
Lunch set: rice, soup with some side dishes

香菇烧油面筋，这是典型的本帮菜
Fried gluten puff ball stew with shiitake mushroom.

Fried gluten puff ball stew

This is freshly fried gluten puff ball, but usually they are not eaten directly but cooked in a stew. Credit: Baidu

Shredded potato stir-fry with peppers

Deep fried hairtail fish

Pickled cowpea and pork minces

Cold noodles with spicy potato and bean curd stir-fry