Monday 8 December 2014

Shanghai Street Dumpling - #MELB2014

Day 2 - Dinner

I've been wanting to try xiao long bao ever since they first appeared on my instagram feed a while back. I wanted to try out HuTong Dumpling Bar but apparently you have to call and book in advance to secure a table. Instead, my friends and I dropped into Shanghai Street Dumpling which also seems to be rather popular. We decided to have an early dinner after an exhausting shopping expedition at DFO in South Wharf before spending the evening at the Eureka Skydeck and the CBD for more shopping and food, so getting a table was no issue at 5:30pm.


Seafood fried rice $12.80

Nothing really special about this - just your standard fried rice with prawns, fish and crab cake slices. The rice wasn't too soggy which I liked.

Fried pork dumplings $9.80

Tasty but nothing special. I liked how the dumpling skins weren't too thick.

Steamed chicken and prawn dumplings $9.80

These look rather sad, don't they? Again, nothing special!

Steamed chicken and prawn xiao long bao $11.80

I was so excited when these came out because I thought I was finally able to try my first xiao long bao! Imagine my disappointment when I placed one on my spoon and bit into the skin, only to find that there was no soup or even meat juices in it... Such a let down. The filling was identical to the steam chicken and prawn dumplings.

 Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce $11.80

We ordered this just to satisfy our veggie intake for the meal. You can't really screw this up and they didn't! My only criticism was that it was a little oily, but what else do you expect from Chinese food?

Unfortunately, that was a rather average meal and I'm so upset about the xiao long bao! This place would be good to satisfy your Chinese food cravings, as there is a decent menu and the food arrives at the table very efficiently. Warning - do not come here expecting fantastic service because you get the complete opposite. Honestly, the waiters and waitresses all look like they hate their job, and they will just plonk the dishes down on your table (even if the plate doesn't fit) and saunter off. Oh well...  

Shanghai Street Dumpling on Urbanspoon

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