New Shanghai, Chatswood

I had read numerous blog posts about the myriad of Shanghai dumpling places in Ashfield. Cheap and delicious xiao long baos as well as the crunchy, burnished bottoms of the pan fried pork buns. Ashfield was a bit far for me but I was willing to travel the distance until, like magic, New Shanghai opened up in Chatswood!


This has slowly become Sir D's favourite place to eat in Chatswood (any mention of dumplings will see his face light up with enthusiasm) because you can get quite a lot of tasty Shanghainese food without leaving a hole in your hip pocket. Admittedly the service is not so great in that during peak times they really do not have enough floor staff and can come across as being very inattentive, but the food and cheap prices make up for it.

Famous New Shanghai pan fried pork buns - $8.80

When Sir D and I come here we either order the xiao long bao or the pan fried pork buns and tonight, it's the pork buns. These have a bread-like exterior which is nice and brown on the bottom. Inside is a ball of pork swimming in delicious soup. Be careful when you eat these - the first time I bit into one I managed to squirt soup all over Sir D! I probably should have read Not Quite Nigella's instructions on how to eat a soup dumpling beforehand.

Pork and chive dumplings - $7.80

Tonight we also get the pork and chive dumplings which are great value for money - 12 dumplings for only $7.80. I would probably describe these as a less refined and sophisticated version of the xiao long bao - the dumpling skins aren't quite as thin and there isn't that lovely soup inside - but they are still very tasty!

Pork chops braised in shallot and soy sauce served on noodle soup - $8.80

We're with Sir D's family tonight so we also order some extra dishes on top of the dumplings. First up is the pork chop with noodle soup. The noodles are not too soft and the pork chop is delicious. In fact, I could probably eat the whole bowl by myself!

Stir fried Shanghai noodle with shredded pork and vegetable - $8.80

The stir fried Shanghai noodles are the next to arrive and although these noodles are one of my favourites I find that they are a bit too oily.

Crispy chicken on rice - $9.80 (not sure how much without rice)

We also order some crispy skin chicken which has a nice sauce and isn't too dry, but by this stage I'm getting quite full (and also saving some room for dessert) so I only have a couple of pieces.

Pan fried pumpkin pastry filled with red bean paste - $8.80

The first time I ordered the pan fried pumpkin pastry was purely out of curiousity but since then I have been ordering it almost every time. The pastry doesn't actually taste too much like pumpkin but it is fried and crispy on the outside and chewy like Japanese mochi on the inside. The sweet red bean filling gives most of the flavour and these are totally addictive and very filling. Highly recommended =D

New Shanghai
Shop 20, 441 Victoria Ave (Ground floor of Lemon Grove, next to de Pho)
Chatswood NSW
Ph: +61 (02) 94153536
Monday - Wednesday, 10am-8pm
Thursday - Sunday, 10am-8.30pm

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