While Kirk is overseas and Cathy is overworked, Ed (from Yuma) has worked up a post about a place he and Tina enjoyed last June.
On our vacation, we did a lot of lazing about and some good eating. After having modern Japanese food and our splurge meal at Twist, we were in the mood for something more basic, like Chinese, so we took a chance on Bund Shanghai, which seemed like the best bet off the strip.
It occupies a sizable space on South Decatur not far from W. Spring Mountain Rd.: 
The dining area with its high ceiling is spacious and attractive: 
We shuffled through the large menu, and with some input from our friendly and helpful server, decided on a handful of dishes
The first dish to turn up was an old favorite, called here drunken chicken in clay pot: 
The cool tender chicken soaked in strong flavored wine. Nothing subtle, but for my tastes, just right.
The pan fried pork buns, with their pale tops and tan toasted bottoms, looked amazing: 
The contrasting textures were a nice touch though the skins seemed a little thick (but that may be necessary for the pan frying). The porky interior was juicy and mildly flavored: 
We had no idea what vegetables to pick, so we rolled the dice and went with “asparagus fungus and fresh yam”: 
Luckily, the asparagus and fungus were two separate items, but the yam was a white vegetable (mountain yam?) definitely not like sweet potato. The ingredients looked pretty and presented a nice range of textures. The sauce/seasoning was minimal, so the dish was all about the veggies.
For seafood, we opted for Shanghai style carp fishtail braised in soy sauce: 
It certainly tasted better than it looked, and that fishtail was huge. On the other hand, it was monochromatic in looks and flavor. Probably better with more folks at the table since the simplicity of the mild fish and the soy-based sauce got boring after a while.
Tina and I wanted to try just one more thing, so we asked the server what she would recommend. "Pork ribs in sweet and sour sauce." Since we asked her, I sort of felt like we had to order it – even though I haven't ordered anything like that in eons, ever since my tastes expanded beyond combination plates with fried shrimp, chop suey, and sweet-and-sour pork.
So we were surprised when these dark pork rib chunks showed up, sprinkled with a few sesame seeds: 
This was not your mama’s sweet and sour. No, these were more akin to pork crack. Addictive meat candy. The exterior had serious crunch. Inside, rich sweet, tangy, savory, piggy flavors. I felt like we'd hit the jackpot – and in Vegas that's a good thing.