"The old style is different from the new style" - this line of small characters marked under the sign of the old Ningbo store expresses the theme of the restaurant: no improvement, no improvement, only the old-school Ningbo cuisine that follows the old and clumsy. This Ningbo restaurant has been open for 30 years, and has moved four times, and is now hidden in a row of small shops near Jiangsu Road next to the Yan'an Viaduct.

Yan Xinmin, the owner of the old Ningbo store, is a native of Shanghai, about 60 years old, and the proprietress is from Ningbo. Ningbo cuisine is famous for its salty taste, often salty and fresh, and expensive restaurants such as Yongfu are naturally refined and improved, while the old Ningbo store is an ancient method that cannot be beaten, and the natural saltiness is not low. However, the saltiness of Ningbo cuisine focuses on choking and pickling, not salty, and the old-school heavy mouth method also seems to have a bright and vigorous taste, which is unique. The usual menu in the restaurant is about 100 dishes, and there is a full menu of more than 600 dishes, which can be obtained from the owner if necessary.

Fried bamboo shoots are the popular star of the old Ningbo store, the tender heads of winter bamboo shoots are cut into thin slices, fried and roasted in an oil pan, boiled with light soy sugar, salty and fresh and fragrant, the dried bamboo shoots are fragrant and tough, and the tips of the bamboo shoots are filled with sugar grains, crispy and sweet, just suitable for sipping two sips of old wine. The practice of old Ningbo is to stir-fry directly, or take in the snow cabbage, nothing else, 48 yuan a case, and the restaurant often recommends that diners stir-fry with shrimp, dried scallops and ginkgo seeds, although the taste and taste are a lot richer, but the price of the dish has also doubled. Moss yellow croaker is also a must-order dish in the store, different from the common moss strip paste practice, the old Ningbo store only wraps the yellow croaker in a layer of light pulp, deep-fried in the pot, and the moss strip is fried separately, the two do not match the side, only in the last plate with the plate. It seems to be done casually, but in fact it is amazing, the yellow croaker is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, the moss needles are distinct, a plate is loose and hot, and the seafood is full, but the taste is oily, and the vinegar can be slightly relieved of greasy.

Salted fish mouth strip pot is recommended by the restaurant owner, the mouth strip is the pig's tongue, a large piece of mouth strip with small pieces of salted fish and cuttlefish dice, plus a large amount of coriander, the small pot is thick and burned, salty and fresh into the flavor, the meat has a peculiar fragrance, and the salted fish is a little too old. The salted fish is homemade by the store, and the cuttlefish is marinated for two weeks, salty and fragrant, and the flavor is unique. The roast pork is also an ancient delicacy in eastern Zhejiang, the eel and the moth (cuttlefish fish) dried by the store are burned into a small piece of pork belly, and the sauce sugar and meat oil go hand in hand, and the fragrance is fragrant, and the taste is very heavy.

Yongbang cuisine is famous for its salty and smelly, and likes to eat the taste of rotten freshness, while the stinky winter melon and stinky amaranth tube of the old Ningbo store are generally in color, and the stinky winter melon is still foaming on the table, the fresh water is bubbling, the umami is scorching, and the sour tone is insufficient. Steamed stinky tofu with fish balls is much safer, and the two flavors are added together, and the taste is strong. The fish balls in the old Ningbo store are in good condition, steamed, stewed with meatloaf, and steamed with pickles, all of which are orthodox Ningbo flavors, salty and fresh.

There are also a lot of raw seafood, all of which are typical rice hammers, which are heavy and salty to build up umami. The drunken shrimp is the flower carving drunk for two days, and the wine flavor is stronger, and the boiled shrimp is the live shrimp and the flavor of fermented bean curd is stronger. The salty crab is full of paste, but the freshness of the crab is not stable, and occasionally the crab meat is scattered and invisible, and it is no longer a vivid live meat, although it is marinated and soaked thoroughly, but the taste is not pleasant. The freshness of the cockles is also quite problematic, and the heat of the scalded cockles is not neat. Stir-fried sea melon seeds, clams, etc., are not big, and they are fresh with sugar, and the seasoning is not brilliant.

The environment of the old Ningbo store is really pickled, the door is suffocated and narrow, and the space inside is also crowded and messy. There are three or four tables on the upper and lower floors, and the large table on the second floor can be booked for chartering, but there are no windows on the second floor, and the ventilation of the whole store is not smooth, and the smell of oil smoke is very heavy. The service attitude is enthusiastic, the words are more impulsive, the boss is quite personal, the meal is only cash, mobile phone payment, credit card payment and invoices are all owed. The products of the old Ningbo store have bright spots, but they are by no means outstanding, and the taste is generally heavy, so it is recommended to lower the expectations when trying the new ones.