Cantonese-Shanghainese

This place is listed in a book about "cool" restaurants in Shanghai. I'm not really sure what makes it so much more special than some of the other places I've been, but I thought this entryway window into the kitchen was pretty nifty. I'm not sure whether it's below chef-neck height so that you can't see who's cooking your food, or so that they can't see who's going to be eating it.
I ended up at this place twice in one week due to rotating sets of family members in town. This restaurant is part of a Singapore-owned chain, so they know it both by name and repute (it's generally considered one of the best places in Shanghai for dimsum). It's also large and does pretty quick turnover, so when you're looking for somewhere to eat on short notice, you usually don't have to wait as long as at some of the other places. All of which is just to say that I didn't eat all of the dishes below in one sitting, but some of them I did eat twice!
Appetizers

White radish and red beans: this was the first dish to come out one night. It looked about as unappetizing in person, and didn't taste that much better -- dry and bland. As soon as other food started arriving, this one was abandoned.

Fried shrimp in mayonnaise. This is, believe it or not, something of a traditional dish. There's a thin layer of breading under the mayonnaise coating, as if you needed it to be more unhealthy. Most of us scraped off at least half the mayonnaise, but otherwise it's a good dish.
Peking duck

I'm told that the Cantonese version of Peking duck usually features more skin and less actual meat than the Beijing version. In any case, the main features are the same: you put some roasted duck skin & meat inside a little pancake, add some spring onion and plum sauce, maybe a slice of celery, carrot or cucumber, and then wrap it up and eat it. This is the first time I've seen an entire plate presented pre-rolled like this; at most, they're usually rolled in front of you at the table and distributed to each diner. The disadvantage here is that you have no control over how much plum sauce goes on, and for me it was a bit too much. Still, Peking duck is Peking duck, and that means yummy.
Pigeon

I don't know what the proper name for this dish is, so I refer to it as Mushu Pigeon. It's diced pigeon, celery, carrot, and mushroom, topped with pine nuts (which I diligently picked out of my portion). You spoon it into a lettuce leaf, add some hoisin (?) sauce if you like, and roll it up like a fresh spring roll. I thought it was delicious, even without the sauce -- it's lightly spiced, probably soy sauce or something similarly dark -- salty if you eat it plain, but the lettuce helps to cut the saltiness. I also continue to like the juxtaposition of cold and hot/warm in a single dish.
Hotpots

We got one sizzling hotpot dish per meal, though neither was a traditional soupy hotpot... more like fajita pots... sort of. The one at right featured chicken (I think; it's hard to remember now!), vegetables, and bean thread, which is probably my favorite kind of noodle. They're sometimes referred to as crystal or glass noodle (they're translucent when cooked), and made from mung bean (bean sprouts). I don't think it makes them any healthier for you, but I love the texture.

The other hotpot consisted of tofu (the big blocks), shrimp, and beef. For all I know, there might have been pork in there too; by the time it came, there was so much food on the table I only ended up sampling a shrimp.
Fish

Again with the squirrelfish. I do like this dish, even though they've basically negated all of the nutritional value of the fish. Anyway, this one was oodles better than the one in Hangzhou.
Noodles

This wasn't a particularly exciting dish, but it's pretty common, so I thought I'd share. It probably doesn't look that different from something you've had before. Also, it was neat to see it put together at the table -- they slide the vegetables and dark, thick (starchy) sauce on just before serving so that the crispy noodles don't turn soggy.
Soup dumplings

This is the quintessential Shanghai dumpling -- xiao long bao. Inside is a small ball of pork and a not insignificant amount of soup. They're always shaped more or less like this, with the skin twisted up to form a small opening at the top. Some people say you're supposed to use the hole at the top to suck out the soup before you eat the dumpling. I don't think I've ever actually seen anyone do this. Most people use chopsticks to hold the dumpling over a soup spoon, bite into one side, and then suck the soup out. This has the distinct advantages of (a) looking less silly, and (b) allowing more air in to cool down the soup a bit -- if you don't, and the dumpling is any good, you're guaranteed to burn your tongue. This one was acceptable, but not up to the standard set by the place about 300 feet away, which is supposed to have some of the best dumplings in the city (I've had theirs as well, and they are indeed better than these, but I have yet to try the ones at an even better-known street-style place in the Old City).