Surprise – it’s a Shanghainese food! This fancy restaurant may have pricier dishes, but it is possible to have an affordable meal. Case in point: lunch with Liane and her friend not too long ago. They have a huge menu, so take your time to go through each and every page (all the dishes have their own image, so it won’t be too hard to make a decision!).
We started off with the Fish Ham and Mushroom Soup ($14.95). This was a large portion, but we managed to finish it amongst the three of us. The soup is good and filling, and not too salty.
We also ordered Xiao Long Bao ($6.95) because it would be sacrilege if we didnt. The XLBs are good, slightly larger than most and the skin is a bit thinner. The soup inside is warm and slightly salty. The dumpling meat inside is good, a little on the saltier side but not terrible.
Another dish we ordered was the Sticky Rice Wrap with Dried Pork Floss ($5.95). This is a heavy dish with their large Chinese donuts wrapped in rice. It’s very filling!
Another must when it comes to Shanghai food is Tan Tan Noodle ($8.50). Their noodles are nicely cooked with a little bit of snap to them still, the peanut sauce is not bad, but definitely felt like there was more chili oil in these noodles than peanut sauce. The crunch of the peanuts on top along with the crispy fried garlic gives a different texture to this dish.
Finally, we ordered Daikon Pastry ($6.95) – but I forgot to take a photo! Anyway, this is a nice puff pastry that’s crumbly and deliciously savoury with daikon in the middle. I’ve never had daikon served like this, so it was an interesting mix.
I’d like to come back and check out this place during dinner and order their main dishes to fully get the sense of what they can do with their cuisine.
Food: 3
Service: 4
Value: 3.5
Ambiance: 4
OVERALL: 3
