Thursday, March 29, 2007

Shanghai 10 - Dim Sum

It was the day that Boo_licious had blogged about xiu loong bao (shanghai dumplings).

There's a problem with reading other people's blogs before lunch. You get cravings.

I had an insatiable craving for xiu loong bao.

Never underestimate the power of a food blog.

And so, in the midst of discussing compliance with financial reporting standards, we brainstormed to identify the nearest place we could get xiu loong bao. Incidentally, women are great at multi-tasking.

Several phonecalls later, we ended up at Shanghai 10 in Bangsar. Bangsar's always a convenient location. It's not too far from the city, and if you're willing to pay, parking is abundant.

The restaurant looked promising. Nice decor...dark woodgrained furniture in a modern setting with gorgeous paintings. It was packed, so I figured we had made the right decision in coming here. That's almost always the golden rule of the thumb, isn't it? If the restaurant is empty, avoid it like the plague. If it's half empty, it's a big maybe. Maybe it's a hot day and nobody wants to go out. Maybe it's raining and nobody wants to go out. Maybe...hmmm....what if.....oh well, maybe I'll eat somewhere else just to be safe. But if the restaurant is packed, there's no way in hell that the food can be bad. I'd bet the next crab meal in King Crab on this theory!

Really?

xiu loong bao
The xiu loong bao (shanghai double boiled soup dumpling) looked adorable. The minced pork filling was tasty and I found the soup inside the dumpling flavourful albeit a little salty. The skin was sufficiently thick to hold the meat and the soup inside without tearing, but not too thick as to be too chewy.

yam cake
The stir-fried yam cake was nice. It was prepared in the usual manner - fried with eggs and bean sprouts with a sprinkling of chopped spring onions. Nothing outstanding in its presentation, but as far as taste goes, it was one of the best dishes that afternoon.

tuna toast
We ordered deep fried rolls with prawn squid and cheese. The name and description certainly seemed quite tempting. Unfortunately, the only similarity between that name and the food that we ordered was the deep fried rolls. Because it was already late and we were hungry, we each grabbed a roll, put the roll in our mouths and wondered out aloud...Where's the cheese? Where's the prawn? Did they say squid? Why do I taste tuna? Does cheese taste like tuna? There seems to be a crabstick in my roll. Why is the roll a slice of bread that had been deep fried? After several blonde minutes, we realised that it couldn't possibly have been the dish we had ordered. True enough, upon seeing our bill, I realised that they had served us tuna toast. Now which part of deep fried rolls with prawn squid and cheese sounded like tuna toast? Sigh.

egg tartlets
The egg tartlets with special milk came piping hot. A lovely aroma of butter wafted. I found the colour of the egg filling a little too yellow. Eggs can't be this yellow. Tasting it, I enjoyed the buttery flavour of the crust, but the filling wasn't sweet enough. Sugar must have been scarce that day.

tong sui
And talking about sugar, we each ordered tong sui (dessert): peanut cream, black sesame cream and seaweed red bean cream. I almost spit out my first mouthful. I usually have a certain expectation when I consume something, and I was expecting the tong sui to be sweet (duh!). Unfortunately, my bowl of seaweed red bean cream was hardly sweet and I thought maybe they had screwed up my order. I tried the other two and realised that mine was the "sweetest"!

Having read Robyn's review on Shanghai 10, I had expected all the dishes to be loaded with sugar. I can only conclude that either I have a higher tolerance for sugar, or that the restaurant had taken note of Robyn's comments and reduced the sugar in their food. I say, go ahead and reduce it, but don't completely eliminate it, people. Sigh.

I came back and promptly consumed a tablespoon of sugar to meet my minimum sugar intake.

Other reviews:

Shanghai 10
No. 36, Jalan Telawi Dua
Bangsar Baru, 59100 KL
Tel: 03-2287 7366

30 comments:

MeiyeN said...

ooo... so turned off! "tongsui" should be sweet right? hmmmm.....

Tummythoz said...

I enjoyed your blonde moment immensely. Instead of Marilyn Monroes, actually had turkeys gobbling & gabbling in my mind. ROFL!

boo_licious said...

It's so sad abt Shanghai 10. Their food quality and service at this outlet has dropped tremendously after they expanded to avenue k. Xiao Loong Bao used to be yummy and they gave 3 medium sized ones instead of 4 tiny dumplings. I hated the tartlets - no eggy taste.

If you have a problem with service, you must complain as the mgt seems to recognise their shortcomings. Eaten here twice and we complained both times till we got lots of free items to pacify us.

fatboybakes said...

hai, next door to me oso never call ah!

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

meiyen: ya lor. I agree that I shud cut back on sugar, but I'll never sacrifice my tong sui for my health. :-)

tummythoz: Our only defense is that we were desperately hungry and wolfed down everything before we started utilising our grey matter. So stupid.

boo_licious: you're right..we shud have complained. Unfortunately, we were running late (what's new! lol)...bosses were waiting for us at the office...so we couldn't make a fuss then. Anyway, I'm sticking to street food. lol.

fbb: Sorry la dear. Next time I makan in Bangsar, will call u. We'll meet up, but not in Shanghai 10, TQ!

Pink Elle said...

Agree with boo. I used to like the fried yam cake and fried tapioca noodles. The first time I tried it, the portions were huge but they've dwindled to less than half of their old portion size now! They still seem to be pulling in a decent crowd though.

Sugar shortage - I like that :D Maybe the chef just left his sweet tooth at home that day!

fatboybakes said...

you know, when i attended the HTC course, the french flers are VERY particular about the sugar...dont even SUGGEST reducing the quantity unless you want to be mentally guillotined....

Precious Pea said...

Seaweed with red bean??? Taste ok or not apart from lack of sweetness? Some places tend to serve sugar syrup separate so that you pour the amount according to your taste. Perhaps, you should ask for sugar syrup for your tong sui. Siu Loong Bao looks good!

Anonymous said...

The tarts looks promising... maybe they added in custard powder for the yellow colour?? But 'tong sui' must taste sweet la, else it's 'tam sui' lor.. :p
Sometimes, the crowd can fool ppl
-_-

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

Pink Elle: ya lor, the portions were really small. My stomach started rumbling at 4.00pm...way before dinner time! Chef left his sweet tooth..hahahaha!

fbb: don't let the french near Shanghai 10. :-P

precious pea: yeah, the seaweed added a nice crunchiness to the texture. The seaweed is more like the agar-agar seaweed rather than the japanese preserved/dried seaweed. Unfortunately, they didn't serve any syrup with the tong sui.

jason: don't be deceived by the photo. lol. Even the fake wedding cake in the hotel (the one where only a tiny portion where the bride and groom cut is real) looks good. :-P

Anonymous said...

"After several blonde minutes..."....faaarrneeeee!!! LOL

Haiya... I was looking forward to trying Shanghai 10.

Have you got a good place to recommend for fah sang woo? This is my all time favourite and short of making my own, I can never find one that is truly rich and satisfying (most are sweet and starchy, bleck!!). Sometimes the craving gets so bad, I reach for the peanut butter in the fridge... sigh..

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

omg kat, you are soooo funny!!! Seriously though, I used to enjoy the fah sang woo at a tiny stall in front of a shoplot in SS2, but I don't think it's there anymore. I have yet to find a place that serves good fsw. Maybe someone can help here?

Precious Pea said...

Fah Sang Woo..hmm..SS2 Monday pasar malam got one guy selling it and another kind of tong sui. Good business as it normally sold out by 7 p.m. It at the junction behind Ee Yan Sang, right next to the assam laksa van and the sugar cane. Always long queue so should be good i guess.

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

Thanks Precious Pea! Of all the tong suis, I love FSW the most, so must go look for it before I resort to Kat's stunts with the peanut butter. lol.

Anonymous said...

For a person that likes woo kok, I guess you must have enjoyed the stir-fried yam :)
They gave you the wrong order?! Then you should have told them, and who knows the tuna toast might have been complimentary...heee heee...(it works sometimes, depends on the restaurant). But I would say a good restaurant shd know these "rules"...to make customers happy and keep them coming back.
BTW, what is that piece of thing hanging at the tong sui bowl? Looks some kind of tang yuen but filling eaten left the skin! Buahahaha...

tankiasu said...

To be honest, I'm more attracted by the nice quality of the photos than the food itself! Kekeke..what's wrong with me!?

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

tigerfish: hahaha, u know me so well. :-P
We couldn't tell them it was the wrong order because by the time we realised it, the food was already in our stomach. Slow reaction. hehehe.


tankiasu: Lol. U made my day! Do recommend my blog to your friends who wish to diet. Can see, but cannot eat. Good, eh?

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

oh ya, tigerfish, the little thingies hanging on the tong sui bowls are just buns...No-big-deal buns that are presumably there as a foil for the supposed sweetness of the dessert.

Xiu Long Bao said...

fooi-yor...the dumplings look so scrumptious! Another shanghai restaurant to visit aside from Crystal Jade.

Anonymous said...

Lyrical Lemongrass: Haha.. yeah, at first I thought the cake is real but a close up reveal its secret. I like FSW too, peanut maniac here! But hardly get any fix, as it's not popular here :(

Rarebeet said...

I only noticed Shanghai 10 recently. Unfortunately they are right opposite Kim Gary in Avenue K so naturally, my friends gravitated towards deep fried french toast with hot dripping butter, honey and peanut butter! Will go try next time but will give the tong sui a miss huh.

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

xiu long bao, the xiu long bao looks rather cute, doesn't it? (no pun intended) :-D

jason: cool! another FSW kaki. :-)

paprika: the only thing I like in Kim Gary is their thick cut toast. Yeah, give the tong sui at Shanghai 10 a miss! Of if you're watching ur waistline, then it's a good idea to order it. :-P

backStreetGluttons said...

nex time V call u for tummy brainstorm ok ( no fin. compliance stds plse)!
V promise u it shall be just sweet enough

Anonymous said...

heyo, but you all won't know whether it's tuna toast or not mah, till you all bite on it. Nobody knows what they fill into "deep-fried rolls with prawns squid and cheese" except themselves. The buns really looks like "tang yuan with the uneaten skin"...:O

Anonymous said...

Thanks precious pea.

I wonder if boo tried the fsw from China Treasure. If you go, you try and let us know ok? Their hak lormai also sounds good.

Melting Wok said...

yummy, the tong sui looked good disregard tt pc of thang hanging out hehe, ooh the fried rolls looked damn appetizing :PP

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

team bsg: tummy brainstorm - anytime oso can one. :-)

tigerfish: hahaha. u've got a point. Will be more aggressive next time. *rolling up sleeves*

kat: Next stop, China Treasure! All aboard....

Jackson: Must have brought back some sweet memories, eh? *wink wink*

Melting Wok: They do, don't they? That thang certainly looks unappetising. haha.

Anonymous said...

LOL at the prawn squid and cheese rolls.

Tummythoz said...

Aarrghh! Tho you did not recommend d 'thong-sui' at this branch, your pix made me crave for some. Ave K's branch is d most convenient for me so I went. Thot if not sweet, can always ask for syrup. Arrgghhh! They DO NOT serve any 'thong-sui' there at all! Only cold drinks! Arrghhh!

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

jackson: I dare not think what you'll call me! lol.
Whatever it is, please don't call me aunty. harharhar.

stef: we've had several blonde moments. lol :-)

tummythoz: Awww that's terrible! You poor thing. Can I ta pau some tong sui and send it to you?