Since the new year, I have been working from home. Without being able to go into the office every day, I really haven't been able to eat out much. If left to my own laziness, I'd probably spend every day eating at home rather than out. Having said that, Dr L and I decided it would be best to keep everything fresh and make the effort to go out at least once a week to get some fresh air and also enjoy some foods which I am unable to make at home. This week we decided to hit up New Shanghai which opened last year at Garden City.
Despite the alleged hospitality downturn, I made a reservation nonetheless. It was lucky I did as the fairly large restaurant was almost full. We were quickly ushered to our table and given some water. Like their Queens Plaza store, the setup was dark and moody which is enjoyable but not particularly good for photos.
The menu was extensive, with a huge variety of dumplings, rice, noodles, mains and sides. What was interesting was that despite their paper menu, they had an online ordering system, but the app didn't take payment which was still processed after the meal. In the words of Dr L, this is the most efficient means of reducing wait staff (from taking customer orders) but also not being gauged a surcharge by the payment systems. I guess I can appreciate this. What I didn't really appreciate was the huge number of dishes which were not available, presumably because of supply chain issues, but we can only make do with what we can.
Friends would know that I am extremely critical of xiaolongbao. I have in mind an idea of what the perfect soup dumpling is and sadly almost all of the Brisbane options fall short. Alas, I haven't been able to travel interstate to at least hit up DinTaiFung in Sydney for over two years. Although this doesn't really compare, at least I could see that every dumpling was hand made, rather than the depressing machine made type. The skin was thicker than I would have liked, not all that tender or elastic, leaning towards the harder end. The meat was flavoursome at least but there was a minimal amount of soup (if any). Although disappointing, I have to admit that within the small market that is Brisbane, this is already one of the better ones.
Turns out one of the hardest things to make at home is a proper braised beef noodle. Always scared away by the amount of herbs I'd have to gather, I have often had cravings but shied away from making an attempt. We ordered a serve to share that evening. Portion wise was a little smaller than I had thought it would be, especially given the price was a little higher than their competitors. The taste was pretty fantastic though with noodles of moderate softness, a generous amount of beef (given the noodles), a deep and rich soup along with some fresh greens. If it was bigger, I would definitely come back for this bowl of noodles alone.
I am a huge fan of pan fried pork buns. Compared to XiaoLongBao, I find that Chinese restaurants in Brisbane seem to execute them quite well. Unfortunately for me, New Shanghai only offered pan fried pork buns in serves of eight, which is far more than Dr L and I could eat alone if we wanted to try other dishes. The only fried buns on the menu for a reduced portion was the pork and shepherds purse pan fried bun, which is what we ordered. I was actually surprised at how poor the buns were. Although they had a crispy base, my enjoyment largely ended there. The bun itself was thin but also dense, as if they hadn't allowed the pastry to rise. The filling was dense and not too flavoursome and also there was no soup whatsoever in the bun. Very disappointing, especially given the proximity of Taste Gallery nearby
Our last dish was a favourite of ours, the mini pork wanton short soup. This was executed fairly well with a delicious silky smooth skin, flavoursome filling and a wholesome broth. Next time I'll definitely have to come back for this and skip out on the Xiaolongbao and pan fried dumplings as the dishes seem to be really hit and miss.
Taste: 6/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10
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