New Shanghai is a Chinese restaurant located on lvl 3 of the Melbourne Emporium. The food is based around traditional recipes that have been passed down the line from generation to generation. And by golly they sure know how to make good dumplings. The dumplings are made fresh on site, you can see them hand crafting the little dumplings right in front of you. If you dig dumplings, this place is a MUST. Alongside the glorious dumplings New Shanghai has a delicious menu of a variety of authentic Chinese dishes at reasonable prices, which will keep you coming back for more.
While the recipes are traditional, the restaurant décor has a very modern vibe.
They have a variety of drinks on the menu. The fresh pineapple and coconut milk was delish, it was like a milkshake and tasted really fresh. The honey green tea is good too. It’s green tea but has the mouth feel of a crisp cold beer. It’s tastes clean and refreshing.
New Shanghai’s dumplings are beyond delicious. They deserve a standing ovation bravo bravo! The xiao long bao are one of my many favourites at New Shanghai, the skin is thin and soft and the pork and hot soupy filling is incredible. Add a little bit of vinegar and they are just perfect.
Another favourite of mine is the pan fried pork buns. The first time I tried these I was in awe of how amazing they were. They are in the shape of the xiao long bao and the filling is the same as the xiao long bao, but the skin is thicker and sort of cakey like BBQ pork buns. The pan fried pork buns are fried and have a golden toasted crispy bottom. They are truly remarkable.
The pan fried pork dumplings are delish too. The dumpling is fried and the skin is a little thicker and a little sticky in a good way. Delish!
The shepard’s purse & pork wontons have the most amazing skin. The skin is thin and super silky, glossy and amazing. They were sitting in a spicy red chilli oil and had a peanut sauce drizzled over them. I couldn't get over the skin on these wontons, they just had such an amazingly smooth texture.
The noodle soup w deep fried crispy skin chicken is really tasty. The soup has a subtle flavour and comes with a spicy vinegar sauce to add more of a kick. The noodles are fresh and the crispy skin is uber crispy. Yum!
The fried Shanghai noodles are full of flavour and stir-fried with a sweet soy based sauce, shredded pork and bok choy. They are the thick round egg noodles (sort of like udon). Very tasty and a little bit slippery, if you are not a chopstick pro you may need a fork for these.
The braised pork belly arrived in a big clay pot, it looked very traditional and was overflowing with giant chunks of juicy pork belly. The pork belly was marinated and covered in a sweet soy sauce and melted in your mouth.
The deep fried tofu w salted egg yolk was yum. The tofu had a light crispy batter and the tofu was really soft and silky in the middle. The salted egg yolk added flavour and a powdery-like texture to the dish. It was nice.
The fried rice with X.O sauce was delicious. It was your standard fried rice, fried up with X.O sauce. This simple alteration made the dish much tastier. The X.O sauce added that spicy seafood flavour which intensified the flavours in the rice.
For dessert we tried the pumpkin sticky rice cakes w red bean paste. Firstly awww they looked like little pumpkins. So adorable! They were steamed and came out in a bamboo steamer like dumplings. They were soft and a bit sticky and were a great dessert to end the meal.
They were like sweet little glutinous pumpkin dumplings filled with a sweet red bean paste. I loved them!
New Shanghai has a delicious menu of authentic Chinese food. Their service is good, the prices are reasonable, the food is delicious and the servings are generous. It’s a great place to gather a group of people and order a bunch of share plates. Also I like to go on my own so I can have a plate of dumplings all to myself.
I heart New Shanghai!
Olives x
New Shanghai
Address: Shop 323, Level 3, 287 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Website: http://www.newshanghai.com.au
Phone: 03 9994 9386
Trading Hours: Sat-Wed: 11am-7pm, Thurs-Fri:11am-9pm
Note: Olive Sundays was invited as a guest to New Shanghai.
2 thoughts on “New Shanghai”
love this place!
Love the peanut butter sauce dumplings.