I think people rarely go to any Shanghainese restaurant and not order any xiao long bao (steamed mini pork buns). This was 1 of the first dish we saw on the menu, right in the middle of page 1 - Shanghai Steamed xiao long bao $8.80. Usually the way I 'judge' my xiao long bao is 1. whether the skin break easily when I try to lift it with chopsticks 2. whether there is steaming hot soup squirting out when I take my first bite.
We also ordered the Steamed xiao long bao with crab meat $10.80. These xlb actually met the 2 prerequisites of good xlb for me. The skin didn't break easily, but of course we still had to be very careful. I used to not like having these with vinegar, but now I've actually learnt to enjoy dipping them in little bit of vinegar to add more taste.
This was our Szechuan style shredded pork plus golden bun $14.80 + $5. The deep fried buns (man tou) were really good. Crispy on the outside, soft like cotton on the inside. The bun is plain, little bit sweet. Really nice to have it with the shredded pork (which would've been slightly too salty if eaten without the bun).
Ham pastry $8.80. Here's how it looked like on the inside. Finely diced ham with some shallot wrapped in layers of crispy pastry and some sesame seeds on top. 
Here's another 1 that I quite like too - XO sauce stir fried Shanghai rice cake (didn't get to check the price for this). The rice cake was chewy, the texture was very different from normal noodles.
Another dish that I just had to order everytime I visit a Shanghainese restaurant was this Pan fried pork bun $9.80. Usually the filling inside is similar to those in xlb. There would be some soup inside the buns too. The difference between this and xlb was that the bun itself was thicker and fluffier and the bottom part of the bun was very crispy.
Here's the most expensive dish of the night - live barramundi with fermented rice and glutinous ball $28.80. The glutinous balls were actually my favourite part of the dish. Not that there's anything wrong with the fish, the fish itself was perfect! It's just more fun to try picking as many of the slippery sweet chewy balls up as possible with chopsticks. Good test of one's chopstick skills :)
Another dinner where we just ordered too much again. Oh well, at least it solved the problem of next day's lunch at work.
Taste of Shanghai - Eastwood
200 Rowe St
Eastwood 2122 NSW
Phone: (02) 9804 0388
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All of this looks sensational. I've only eaten at one Eastwood restaurant before, one of the Korean places. Now I have a reason to go back there!
ReplyDeletethere's another branch of this at World Square.
ReplyDeleteI find the standard at Eastwood's one oscillates. Sometimes it's really good, and if you go back there after two months, it'd go really bad, and then if you give it another go after another month or so, it's fine again.
hey John, does that mean the Korean place that you went was not good enough to go back ??
ReplyDeletehey Midnight, ahh.. didn't know there's 1 at World Square. I know there's 1 at Ashfield. So far I've been to Eastwood branch twice (with many months between each visit). So far so good I guess.. :)
I love xiao long bao's! Have you tried New Shanghai in Chats or Ashfield? Not sure how they compare with this place!
ReplyDeleteGreat food blog - I've just subscribed to it. Love the photos and the way you post them. Now I have even more ideas where to eat in Syd ;-)