Shanghaiist doesn't for a second expect Pudong International Airport to house eateries of the calibre you might find in restored buildings along the Bund, or to dish up dumplings anywhere near as appetizing as those available in busy local restaurants on Shanghai's side streets.

But wouldn't it be nice if -- in a facility which cost well over 10 billion RMB to construct -- you could find a half-decent salad or mapo doufu?

Before a recent overseas trip, Shanghaiist found itself killing time in the departure lounge of the city's showpiece airport. Ever hungry, we perused the offerings in the tiny handful of dining establishments, before eventually deciding that we would wait to eat on the plane. Now that's saying something.

A brief chat with a pair of fellow travelers sitting in one of the smoky airport restaurants confirmed this initial impression. For an outlay of 75 RMB one of them had secured a styrofoam bowl of tired noodles and a bottle of water. Another had opted for a ham sandwich, only to make the mistake of removing the top slice of bread to analyze the contents within. Said sandwich remained uneaten. The pick of the dishes, we are told, was "pork cutlet on rice" -- a reasonable impression of a Japanese katsudon.

The food available in the airport's souvenir stalls isn't much better. Looking for some Chinese culinary titbit[1] to take home to the family, we found "Sand Cookies with Chocolate", "Cream Prune Drops" and a brand of tube-shaped biscuits named "Collon". None of which gets the lips smacking.

Granted, there is one KFC at Pudong International Airport. But it's out near the Maglev station where you're more likely to find tumbleweeds rolling by than hungry travelers looking for lunch. In any case, KFC is hardly the Whampoa Club.

Still, full marks to the airport's official website which, in the face of adversity, does its best to endorse the culinary offerings on hand:

As for Chinese food and drinking, the shop with well-known cooked wheaten food in Shanghai are called Cang Lang Ting Restaurant, the classical Chinese restaurant is called Fu Li Hua Restaurant, Western food and drinking restaurant are called Red House Leisure Restaurant, Italian Bonomi Cafe, Japanese Cafe Del Ray, Acting Cafe, Hopestar and Coffee Port and so on. Leisure food and drinking shops are world bid companies called as Haagen-Dazs, Xian Er Chun juice shop, Les Charmes Drinking Bar, and Tenfu's Tea Shop and Dong Hao Tea Shop.

We recommend the Les Charmes Drinking Bar. Not for its charms, but for its drinks. After all, beer is food.

[1] Titbit is a word, Americans. Get your minds out of the gutter.