Numerous people have been telling me Shanghai night is the way to go for dumplings and I’d been having a craving for xiao long bao. Met up with the awesomeness girls for a cheap feed that would be healthy for our wallets. Not knowing what to order as this type of cuisine is still very foreign to me and interesting.

Speaking of cheap, warning for those who haven’t been here before. Its not a pimped-up restaurant. In-fact its a simple eatery crowded with people sharing bowls of food. While noticing the other restaurants surrounded by them, were pretty empty.. Shanghai Night was the one that had customers coming back for more. – ALWAYS A GOOD SIGN!

Zha Jiang Mian – Spicy Pork, Cucumber and thick noodles
This was my favourite dish of the night.. why because I love anything spicy and chilli-ish and pork mince!!!!. Noodles were thick almost reminding me of udon noodles with the absorbing flavours of the chilli oil. Cucumbers made this dish extremely fresh leaving a nice crunch to the dish. – Haven’t had anything like this before especially coming from a cantonese background <3 <3 <3

Cucumber and Garlic – Must have by Lili
I assume this is a salad of some sort which I really liked. I’d love to have this in summer when its too hot to eat. Once again I love the crunchiness of the cucumbers and wow I never thought garlic could go so well with it!

Sheng Jian Bao – Pan-fried pork buns with shallot
Usually i’m not a fan of having fried dumplings. I’m a lover of all steamed goods but boy were they really generous with portions. Eating one of these made me full as the dough is really heavy. The mince is delicious as the juices from the pork mince bursts in your mouth.

Hope Karen doesn’t kill me for reminiscing about the famous dumpling drop which fell on the edge of the table and rolled on her lap LOL!!

Cong You Bing – Pan-fried shallot pancake
When I first saw this I thought this was gonna be dripping with oil but its actually not that oily surprisingly. I loved the crunchiness on the outside and the golden edges. Wondering if this is the Shanghai version of a pizza? – Who needs cheese when you got crunchiness

Xiao Long Bao – Steamed dumplings with pork mince
The only other place i’ve ever tried this was at Din Tai Fung. Must admit its not as pretty as DTF but the portion sizes and the taste is a-m-a-z-i-n-g and of course the price.

The amount of pork mince juices bursting out of my mouth was insane. Didn’t expect it to be soo juicy that it actually spilled out of my mouth and down my chin. Embarrassed I was at the little accident (this night was filled with boopers), I quickly wiped the juice off my chin making a smooth transition that hopefully none of the girls saw hahaha!!!

Nian Gao – Sticky Rice Cake (sweet???)
OMG could this be JIN DEUI??? (glutenous sesame balls with red bean / lotus seed) When took my first chomp I soon realised there was no filling. Never the less it was yummy and the outside was crunchy and the sesame seed taste empowered the plain glutenous body.

Nian Gao – Shanghai Fried new year cake
At first I thought this was flat rice noodles. Until shoved it in my mouth realising it was glutenous chewy stuff. Although it was my first time eating this, I quite liked the texture and the mixture with bits of pork. Would have liked to see a bit more greens? (is there suposed to be greens?) but hey it was soo good!

Shanghai Night
275 Liverpool Rd
Ashfield NSW 2131
P: (02) 9798 8437