Douglas Williams/Shanghai Daily news

Pork chop, home made sausage with roast potato and Edringer beer.

The human body is a thing of great wonder and the way it conveys to its owner the things required is sometimes very simple, others both mysterious and marvelous.
With the days shortening and the temperature falling, appetites are inclining away from salads and light dishes to those more hearty and fulsome foods.
Those from a western background might find their thoughts drifting towards potatoes: buttery, creamy, mashed potato with lots of black pepper, perfectly smooth.
If this strikes a chord, then hesitate not a moment longer and get thee to Dan's Old Farm House at 318 Julu Road, 400 meters East of the junction with Shaanxi Road N. on the left.
The mashed potatoes are merely the side act at this Scandinavian/German restaurant, but their contribution cannot be underplayed. When partnered with Dan's homemade sausages, sauerkraut and liberally irrigated with gravy the overall effect is magnificent.
On the menu, this is called Wurstplatte, 85 yuan (US$10.49). Order it and it will be preceded by rye bread and schmaltz (pork lard). Eat it all (six herby, spicy sausages) and prepare to remain stationary in deep contemplation for some time.
Dan Hansen is Danish, but he's been in China since 1987 - the majority of his life. He came as a butcher originally to Beijing where his sausage making skills were put to good use.
These have since held him in good stead such that he is now the proud owner of Dan's Old Farm House and Shanghai Prime Food Co Ltd.
"The quality of the meat we use is what gives our sausages the difference from others," says Hansen. "We age our meat for 21 days which is not usually done in China, this gives the meat more flavor."
Dan's caters primarily to the robust appetites of the German speaking and Scandinavian inhabitants of Shanghai but naturally, this being Shanghai, diners are from every corner and include local Shanghainese.
The menu promises the food will be just like mother would make, which rather depends but we get the idea.
It's home style food. Soups like country chicken, clam chowder, goulash and green pea all fall into the "stick to the ribs" category; go easy if the plan is to have a main too.
Prices are mostly just shy of the 50 yuan mark. Mains include proper hot dogs and burgers along with schnitzel, knuckle, veal goulash, roulade (rolled beef), pot roast and tenderloin.
Portions are plate-falling-off generous, prices hover around 100 yuan. Everything comes with vegetables and potatoes in some form or another.
Big wooden six-seater tables are the order of the day, informal, comfortable and sturdy.
Foliage hangs from the lighting, which is low but not dim and huzzah the background music is very much that: barely perceptible so contented chat prevails.
After 18 years in China, Hansen has nothing but respect for the Chinese: "The Chinese are great workers," he said, "with a little motivation, some carrot, they will try their very best." On possibilities of returning home: "Whenever I go back to my home village, the same faces are sat in the same places at the same bars, nothing seems to have changed. It's like the tape stopped, their horizons seem closed. Here I meet new people from new places every day and they fill me up with ideas. I'll not be leaving Shanghai any time soon."
Wash down this substantial tucker with a good pint of Erdinger beer, 45 yuan per pint, the perfect compliment, but beware the aniseedy Black Pig shots, their effect is as strange as their taste.
With more than 800 people booked to eat there over the coming festive month, booking ahead is highly advisable.
Tel: 6258 5560