Shanghai Restaurant Charges $75 for Tomato and Egg Dish, Sparking Debate

A Shanghai restaurant has captured attention on mainland Chinese social media for launching a special dish of stir-fried tomato and scrambled eggs at an exorbitant price of 520 yuan (US$75), triggering a heated discussion.

The dish itself is among the most common, affordable household food items in the country, containing ordinary ingredients – tomatoes and eggs.

But the dish served at Jinlong Dabianlu Restaurant in Hongkou district in downtown Shanghai is sold at 520 yuan, dozens of times more expensive than its counterparts in other eateries, according to news portal Sina.

In recent weeks, some bloggers visited the restaurant, ordered the dish and filmed the cooking process before sharing the clip on social media.

According to these viral videos, the chef used a rather large, dark green emu egg, instead of chicken or duck eggs.

He said the eggshell was so thick that he had to use a small hammer to break it.

Departing from the standard practice of using a bowl, the chef cracked the egg straight into a goblet – a touch bloggers noted “exuded a true sense of ceremony.”

These are no ordinary tomatoes; they belong to a premium variety famous for being incredibly juicy. While known as the Provence Tomato in mainland China, this variety actually originates from the Netherlands.