Finding a place to eat on a Saturday night in Haymarket without a booking and without wanting to queue up is pretty difficult. When Sir D's friend recommended Shanghai Tang which had no queue and looked like it was good value, we decided to give it a go.
Shanghai Tang is located within BreakFree on George on the Mezzanine level, and had a pretty wide range of dumplings, noodles and rice dishes to choose from. The waitstaff were very friendly and helpful with making recommendations and the food arrived promptly.
Traditional Shanghai xiao long bao - $7.80 (8 pcs)
We ordered the xiao long bao which was tasty, so much so that we were fighting over the last dumpling! The dumpling skins were quite delicate but still sturdy so that they didn't explode when you picked them up with your chopsticks. Biting into them released a flood of meaty soup with a light ginger flavour.
Braised shredded chicken with noodles - $8.80
A bowl of steaming hot noodles arrived at the table which was the braised shredded chicken with noodles. This looked quite different to the one pictured on the menu but was still delicious. The shredded chicken was moist and the creamy chicken soup had a nice ginger kick to it. My only gripe would be that they weren't very generous with the white thin rice noodles, so after a while there were no noodles left in the bowl and all we had was a bowl of soup with chicken pieces and cabbage :(
Pan-fried dumplings with pork and vegetables - $5.80 (6 pcs)
Lastly we got the pan-fried dumplings with pork and vegetables. Not being able to read Chinese can cause some problems - we thought we were ordering these dumplings but instead ended up with the ones shown above. Oh well. These dumplings were fresh from the kitchen with nice crispy browned bottoms and they were very filling. Just make sure you eat them while they're hot - I left mine til after I finished my noodles and they went a bit stale and chewy, but that was completely my fault!
We were tempted to order some dessert buns and dumplings like custard filled pineapple buns, but Sir D and I were due to go to a Sugar Hit afterwards so we refrained. But I'll be looking to go back to try some more of their menu!
Shanghai Tang
Mezzanine Level, BreakFree on George653 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: +61 2 9211 0088
Open 7 days, 7am - 10pm
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I've heard about this place. Thanks for the review. One to put in the 'Maybe' pile.
ReplyDeleteOoo yum! Sounds like it's worth giving it a try - especially with what you said about the queues in the city! Shame about the bad noodle to chicken/cabbage ratio though!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the award in your Musashi post by the way - finally located it! Will post about it and put it up on the website later on (we're in the process of revamping). Thanks! :)
Hi joey - Yeah this place is great for a quick bite without burning a hole in your wallet!
ReplyDeleteHi AY - Haha glad you found the award :)
I'd heard mixed reports about this place so glad to hear you were happy with your meal (apart from the dumpling mix-up -- the sadness!). Do love a good xiao long bao. We inevitably end up at a foodcourt in Chinatown when stuck for a feed!
ReplyDeleteAhh I always end up having a mix up in ordering when I got to places like this! I love xiao long bao so I'm always on the hunt for good ones :)
ReplyDeleteCool , I was thinking about checking this place out for dinner tonight and hoping the xiao long bao are worth the hype. Sounds good so far!
ReplyDeleteLooks great and good that the XLB passed your test. I don't think I can ever get enough XLBs :P
ReplyDeleteHi Helen - Haha well the dumpling mix up was probably our fault, I later realised that the ones that I wanted were on a 'chefs specials' menu!
ReplyDeleteHi Steph - Yay for xiao long bao love hehe. I always have to order them if I see them on the menu :)
Hi Forager - To be honest I hadn't heard that much hype about them before I went. Probably not the best xiao long baos I've had but they were pretty good! Great meeting you on the weekend btw =D
Hi Lorraine - Hehe I like the XLB abbreviation ;) I don't think I could get enough of them either!
I haven't heard of this place but the dumplings look good. It's glad to see more dumplings joints popping up in Sydney :)
ReplyDeleteHi Ellie - More dumpling joints means more dumplings for us to eat =D yay!
ReplyDeleteI love this place but now is closed down =(
ReplyDelete