*** Mom food. Honesty on a plate. Mom food never explores the frontiers of gastronomy, nor are regards given to the aesthetics of plating and presentation. Mom food is safe, comfortable, and utilitarian. But when done up right with love, mom food can fill a void in your soul akin to a hot shower after shoveling snow all afternoon. Mom food brings me to this small shop in Gubei helmed by Mrs. Baek Hye (Gabriella) Jung. She's been slinging legit Korean mom cuisine for nine years and things still look strong. Mrs. Jung opened up Duo Wei Xiao Chi Dian when she expatriated from South Korea to Shanghai with her husband in 2008. The couple traveled frequently, and often noticed how the Korean restaurants they found in cities around the world were always on the outskirts. As a competent cook, she pledged that one day, if they settled down in one city long enough, she would open a Korean restaurant in a central location. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that Gubei isn’t really considered central, but compared to Koreatown, I guess it is much closer. I found this gem about six years back while rummaging for pirated DVDs on the adjacent Huangjincheng Lu. It’s a small, hard to spot takeaway kitchen tucked in a row of other small F&B venues in a residential complex on Ronghua Dong Lu. Back then, it was exclusively a takeout/delivery spot. Now, there is seating for 10 out on the covered sidewalk. The first time I met the camera shy Mrs. Jung, she struck me as an Asian Paula Dean without the casual racism. If central casting somewhere called for the stereotypical Korean mother who's a great cook with a big personality, she’d be a shoo-in. She makes you feel welcome despite a communication barrier, and you can tell she's firmly in charge of the recipes of everything made in her kitchen. She also kept trying to feed me as I took photographs. Bulgogi dosirak, 45RMB Basically, they run an Indian tiffin (delivery) service for the Korean expat community out west. Duo Wei delivers dozens of lunch boxes everyday to people too busy to cook or eat out, but still want to dine on that mom food. She's built her business by word-of-mouth and, today, is something of a neighborhood matriarch celebrity figure in the Korean community. When Korean pop stars or dignitaries visit Shanghai, she is the woman called upon by the consulate to make their lunch boxes. The highlight of her career in Shanghai is probably when she was tapped to cater to not one, but two South Korean presidents and their staff when they visited Shanghai. All of this you would never know if you paid her run-of-the-mill shop a visit. No pictures of celebrities hang on the walls, and everything is laid out in a methodical, matter of fact way. She says she does not wish for much publicity, and just wants to make good home-style Korean cooking without MSG. Currently, the main thing is the lunch boxes (40rmb-45rmb), with the rest as takeaways of cold or raw dishes to heat up at home. Their in-house kimchee (25rmb/KG) is bomb, as are their marinated raw bulgogi (45rmb). They can cook the meat for you to go but I usually just take it home raw. The takeout dishes cover the regular gamut of Korean comfort food, from an assortment of jeon (35rmb-45RMB) to her very good japchae (35rmb). Only two or three servings are made at a time; nothing in this place stays on the shelf for more than a few hours. She gives it away before it even approaches going stale. So, while the food itself isn’t groundbreaking, the mom factor is stronger than most venues I’ve come across in my 'hood. There’s no mistaking that Shanghai is a celebrity chef town. With the Michelin guide coming to our fair city, one can only expect even more nonsense and hype forthcoming on the dining scene. All the more reason to highlight people who don’t seek out attention, those who quietly do a good job year after year, and put their loyal customers above all else. Duo Wei Xiao Chi Dian is at 19 Ronghua Dong Dao, Suite C, Bldg 3, 1/F, near Shuicheng Nan Lu. More info in our venue listing.