New Shanghai

1:22am Wednesday 4 August 2010 Sydney (gmt+10)

There is something about Chinese-Shanghai cuisine that I find very appealing. Early this year Sheila and I went to Taste of Shanghai, and just a few hours ago we had an early dinner at New Shanghai at Chatswood Chase. Suze wrote about the one in Ashfield and Helen did a page about the other one in Chatswood. But it was Leona's review that got me all curious. She and the others who came and dined at this particular outlet warned that because of it's popularity it is always packed during lunch and dinner and the waiting time can be annoyingly long. So Sheila and I dropped in just before 5pm.

I absolutely love the decor. It feels like you really are in China. From the old rusty bike parked on the entrance, to the stylish classic colored posters, and the teapot and teacups as well. And like Din Tai Fung they are really proud of the fact that their authentic dumplings and steam buns are all hand made and produced in-house. So proud that they set up a sort of bar right in front of where they make them.

Everywhere you look around you, it's all about Shanghai. And from where we're sitting the folks putting together the dumplings look like doctors in a maternity ward. And I like the really relaxed atmosphere. It's so casual that they'd actually entertain your baby while you eat.

We had the Xiao Long Bao (Steamed mini pork buns.) and we also had Pork and Chive dumplings. And they were pretty good... and very filling also. We had a few other stuff, but the one that's really worth a mention is the Pork Belly braised overnight in Sweet Soy Sauce.

I'd say for me the taste is good, but not as good as the Hong-ma that I had at Tasty Dumplings a few years back. But what really got my attention was the way it was served. It came in this huge URN... probably the size of a punch bowl and weighing around two and a half kilos. At first I thought there would at least be a kilogram of food tucked inside, but in reality there was only roughly 300gm of braised pork. Oh. But I later realized that the urn itself had hot water inside to keep the food warm, kind'a like a ceramic bain marie. Clever!

I'd happily recommend New Shanghai to anyone. It's good value (All the stuff that we ate and drank only cost us $50!), the ambiance is superb, the service is good (Just make sure you don't come in during the busy lunch and dinner period 'coz it's always full and the queue's hideously long!) and the food is very tasty!

New Shanghai Restaurant

Lower Ground Level - Food Court

Chatswood Chase

345 Victoria Avenue

Chatswood NSW 2067