New Shanghai Chinese Restaurant

As husband, me and Tom discovers the fabulous soup dumpling, aka "siao long bao"in the beginning of the year, we decided to ease our cravings this Easter with the whole family. This time, we headed to somewhere nearer, closer to home to reduce the traffic stress. As you all know, holiday period =higher chance to win a date with traffic police, so, Ashfield is a good distance to travel, and it's a superb place to eat Shanghainese cuisine. There are so many fabulous Shanghai restaurant in Ashfield, I choose the New Shanghai Chinese Restaurant because I've dined there before with husband, and I don't like "suprises" when bringing family or friends.



We arrived at about 7pm, and the restaurant was already full. We were told to wait outside for few minutes as one group of diners were finishing. 5 mins later, we're being told the table was ready, and we were all quite please, although, we were sharing the table with 1 diner, but none of us minded. We were quite amuse with the huge glass windows at the front, showing 3 Chinese ladies making the famous soup dumplings in a very fast and smooth action.



We ordered 3 types of soup dumplings, the original pork meat soup dumpling, the famous crab meat soup dumpling and the fried soup dumpling. We also order a few of their famous dish to try, such as the pumpkin and redbean pancake, Drunken shredded chicken, Deep fried squirrel yellow croaker , Salted egg deep fried crab, salted egg tofu and beef tendon hotpot.

The famous pork meat soup dumplings

The original pork dumpling arrived very quickly, because some of the inlaws have never had soup dumpling before, we promptly explain that the best way to enjoy these babies is to have patience, and wait for it to cool down for a while before pop the whole thing into the mouth. A little patience goes a long way as the bursting of mild gingery flavoured soup in the mouth is such a wonderful sensation. Although I was so busy making conversation, taking photos and at the same time, eating, I did not pay attention of the price, but it is so much cheaper than the one we have in Din Tai Fung, it's less than $10 dollar per 1 bamboo steamer ( 8 soup dumpling ).

Fried Soup Dumpling

Next to arrived was the fried soup dumpling. Although in the pic, they look more like a proper bun, but they're actually exactly the same as the steam soup dumpling, but pan fried at the bottom.

This is my first time encounter with these fried xiao long bao, they are surprisingly "soupy" inside, just like the steam version, but with a crispy bottom. Everyone loves this and wanting for more!!

The Famous Crab Meat Dumpling

The crab meat dumpling looks similar to the pork version, but they taste totally different. It has quite a strong seafood flavour which linger in your mouth. That marked the end of our siao long bao, though everyone wish we had order 1 or 2 more bamboo basket, but I ensure them, (and myself) that there will be more delicious dishes to come.

Pumpkin and redbean Pancakes

K is very satisfied with her pumpkin and redbean pancake. The whole pancake was made of mashed up pumpkin and filled with redbean paste. I really enjoyed this sweet pancake though we think it's better to arrived a bit later as a dessert!!

Drunken Shredded Chicken

After the excellent sampling of xioa long bao and pancake, we have a very good feeling about the main dishes, and they did not disappoint. The drunken shredded chicken was actually roasted chicken, with Chinese rice wine,vinegar and soy sauce pour over before serving. It was so flavoursome, and the chicken was moist and tender. We can't be that hungry after the soup dumplings but the whole chicken was being forked out in less than 5 mins!!

Salted Egg Tofu

Next up was the salted egg tofu. It was original tofu, cubed and crumbled in salted egg before deep fried. I am totally inlove with this dish not only because I have always adored tofu, but the crispy salted crust on the outside and the plain, soft tofu inside is such a wonderful combination in terms of texture and taste. Yum Yum Yum!!

Beef and tendon Hotpot

The beef tendon hotpot was another favourite dish. The beef was soft as soft can be, and the tendon were big chunk and slippery good. It was cooked in a dark sauce, with a faint Herby flavour. It resembled the thicker version of Taiwan beef noodle soup.

Deep Fry Salted Egg Crab

The crab arrived like a queen, sitting on top of fried vermicelli. It's the same batter as the tofu, which main ingredient was the salted egg. Again, it was very crunchy, salty and balance out with the sweet flesh in harmony. Although, I still much prefer the salted egg tofu, as I found the crab a little too greasy for my taste. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyed by the rest of the family, not wasting even the thin, flesh limited legs!!

Deep Fry squirrel yellow croaker

We waited for a long while before our last dish arrived. We nearly lost our patience for waiting, as it's getting a bit warm inside the restaurant. It was nearly 8:30pm, but the restaurant was still packed with diners, with a few more waiting on the line outside.

But our patience is greatly rewarded with the arrival of the elegant looking fish. The whole squirrel yellow croaker was deep fried, with red sweet and sour sauce pour over it. It's a very popular Shanghainese dish and it's not difficult to understand why. The whole fish was boned out, making it very easy to enjoy. The fish was fresh,crunchy and soft, the sauce is sweet and we're all full and satisfied.

It was a great dish to finish the dinner indeed, and for a total bill of $149 ( and a free can of coke and unlimited tea ), we are certain we'll be back very soon!

New Shanghai Chinese Restaurant

273 Liverpool Rd
Ashfield NSW 2131

TEL: (02) 9797 7284