Monday, December 15, 2014

Taste of Shanghai, Ashfield

The number of dumpling houses available in Ashfield seem to be endless and choosing where to eat can be quite a process! In the end, we choose Taste of Shanghai as we've never been there before...it's as good a system as any.


For some reason I had it in my head that Taste of Shanghai was a "fancy place". I'm pleased to report that it's NOT. It's your standard "casual" Ashfield dumpling joint and I really like it! Service is fast, efficient and polite(ish). We arrive at noon, just before the rush hits. But 12.30pm the place is packed!  The tables are a notch up from the usual laminex tables...and the clientele are a mix of locals, families, oldies, couples. The majority of the patrons are Asian which Aussies like us always take as a great sign of how good, and authentic, a place is. If a Chinese restaurant is full of Aussies I suggest you RUN away (unless you're in a country town like the ones I grew up in of course)!


Lunch kicks off with a pot of hot FREE tea! Imagine the uproar if places like this ever start charging for their tea!


Although we're here for the dumplings we also have to order a side of Lebanese Cucumber ($7.80) that is doused with a heafy splosh of garlic and vinaigrette. I love cucumber prepared in this way, so simple, so tasty and so refreshing when you're about to inhale a tonne of meaty dumplings! It's also a pretty simple dish to make at home and it's become a staple in our house.


I also just have to order another of my favourite dishes - stir fried green beans with pork mince ($15.80). This is a another dish that I've learned to master at home (thanks to a recipe emailed to me by Shez)...it's quite simple to make and super tasty. Whilst this restaurant version is a bit more oily than my homemade attempt, I think the flavour of this version is slightly better than mine - is it salt, MSG? I have no idea but it's delish.


Dumpling time! Taste of Shanghai isn't purely a dumpling joint so you'll find LOTS of other stuff on the menu. It's hard for us to stay focused but we pull through in the end and order a serve of pan-fried pork dumplings ($9.80 for 8 pcs). These dumplings are excellent - just look how crispy that pan-fried bottom is. They were very tasty too - sometimes I'm not in love with the strong flavour of pork dumplings, but this was lovely and mild, and well seasoned.


And last but not least a serve of pork and chive dumplings ($8.80 for 12 pieces). These steamed dumplings never look as tempting as their crispy-bottomed brothers, but they are lovely in their own way..and we feel quite virtuous and healthy eating these.


Taste of Shanghai is at 264 Liverpool Road, Ashfield.

Taste of Shanghai on Urbanspoon

4 comments:

  1. Australian Born ChineseDecember 15, 2014 at 9:44 AM

    Stop calling white people "Aussie". There are plenty of Australian born Asians and they're Aussie too. And just because they're white... Doesn't even mean they're from here at all. This is not about being PC it's about being correct, plain and simple.

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  2. I do love a nice crispy pan-fried dumpling bottom!

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  3. Taste of Shanghai and its sister restaurants are my go-to places for good dumplings!

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  4. That panfried base looks SO DELICIOUS! :D Feel like some right now!

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