Taste of Shanghai is one of the better Shanghainese restaurants in the Eastwood area; since opening several years ago it has constantly been busy and serves up delicious food. Whenever I get a dumpling or xiaolongbao (steamed pork dumpling) craving, Taste of Shanghai is where I go. Upon walking past it recently, I noticed posters promoting four different xiaolongbao variations. I can’t ever resist new and interesting food, so I was definitely coming back to try it out.
Taste of Shanghai is a pretty big restaurant but still fills up during lunch. It’s 12pm and I have to wait about 15 minutes which isn’t too bad given that when it reached 1pm, there was quite a long line outside the restaurant. Today we’re just ordering xiaolongbao dumplings because we’re intrigued by the $7.80 promotional price and the new flavour variations. The menu has also undergone a noticeable change and now features more pictures, perfect for those who eat with their eyes.
The four variations (aside from the original flavour) are as follows:
- Curry Crab Meat
- Beef and Basil
- Wild Vegetable and Shrimp
- Spicy Crab Meat
Each bamboo container contains 6 steamed xiaolongbao dumplings. The beef and basil is quite disappointing as it just tastes like beef with no apparent basil flavour. The vegetable and shrimp tastes like a normal dumpling with shrimp as many yum cha dim sims usually follow this combination. The two crab meat xiaolongbao are the most interesting; these have strong flavours of curry and chilli respectively, which stand out due to the extra zing from the spiciness.
Out of the new xiaolongbao flavours, I would definitely recommend getting the curry crab and the spicy crab variations. Otherwise, the normal flavour is always a hit (and contains 8 dumplings – 2 more than the flavoured ones). If you’re looking for some other Shanghai dishes to try, check out our posts to other restaurants including Din Tai Fung and New Shanghai.
Taste of Shanghai
200 Rowe St, Eastwood, NSW
Ph: (02) 9804 0388
View Comments (4)
Ooh this looks good. Its a shame the beef dumplings weren't that great - I don't eat shrimp so I'm excited to hear about any shrimp-free dumplings! (surprisingly hard to find! - good ones anyway!)
Hmm never realised how shrimp is in so many dumplings. Even the vegetable ones have it!
I think Japanese gyoza are just pork with no shrimp :)
Yeah exactly. Sadly I don't eat pork either hehe but sometimes I can find chicken gyoza which is quite nice :)
Both the spicy & curry crab dumplings sound great! Must check out some time ^^