In the summer of 2007, a little-known but secret favorite Yunnan restaurant called Southern Barbarian moved from the north of town to a central location near Maoming Lu and Changle Lu. The new location, unfortunately, is hidden from the street, tucked up in the back of a very cheesy art mall -- you know, the kind with paintings of topless minority women carrying broken pottery in rural rice fields. Who buys this stuff? But Southern Barbarian is the total opposite to that nonsense.

The furnishings are bare-bones, almost minimal, with professional, for-sale black and white art photography on the walls, and the sincerity of the staff bringing respectability to the mini-mall -- far from barbaric!

If you haven't found it yet, this little restaurant is what you've been looking for. And if you do know it, chances are you're not happy that I'm giving the semi-secret Southern Barbarian more exposure. Well here we go -- after nearly a year at this location, Southern Barbarian remains one of our favorite places to eat in Shanghai.

Food from Yunnan Province has always been under-represented in Shanghai -- Lost Heaven being the only other one that comes to mind -- and Southern Barbarian's menu is a joy to explore and discover, especially if you're bored with other Chinese cuisines. Start with the ever popular "Yunnan ham with goat cheese" (38rmb), and you'll wonder if you're not actually eating Italian. Grab a few of the expertly BBQ'd skewer items, like the chicken wings (25rmb), which are always lightly spiced, juicy, and just slightly charred. Don't even think of passing on the "Grandma's mashed potatoes with pickled vegetables" (18rmb), which are, frankly, better than your grandma's version. Another comfort dish we like is "Yunnan sauerkraut with minced pork," (22rmb) which can be gobbled up by the spoonful.

One of Yunnan's specialties is "Crossing the bridge noodles" and Southern Barbarian's version is a decent standard. This is a subtle dish, and like Vietnamese Pho, should be appreciated for its delicate, fresh flavors. There are several versions on the menu, from 25 to 45rmb, depending on how many toppings you want.

We could list another 20 items on the menu here that we're excited about, but that would give us less space to talk about the beer selection. As a rule of thumb, anything with a picture on the English-language menu is a sure-fire hit, with the restaurant recommendations listed in bold font.

As for beer, I don't think there's a better selection in any Chinese restaurant in Shanghai. Along with the usuals, there's the entire selection of beers from the Craft Beer guys who've done a heroic job of bringing over some of the best American independent beers, like Acme and Rouge. In fact, on our recent visit, Southern Barbarian was just finishing up a new upstairs room that will serve as an extra dining space on busy weekends, and a beer tasting lounge on week days, with regular tasting events.

The one drawback we'd like to see improved at Southern Barbarian is some soft décor features to dampen the sound. With all hard surfaces, the noise can be a little jarring, and difficult to focus on your own table's conversation.

But the points lost there are regained with the gregarious charm of owner Mr. Feng. He's put a lot of energy and care into making the food quality the top priority, and he's always on hand making sure things are going smoothly in the house. After a couple visits, he's like an old friend. And guess what, he's got the best taste in music -- playing albums by Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, U2, Belle and Sebastian, and REM.

We wanted to try the new Rouge Hazelnut Beer from Oregon, but Mr. Feng said, "It's sold out. I drank it all, it's so good!" We trust a proprietor who loves his own stock as much as we do.

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