the age, good food, august 19 2014

03 9994 9386 Chinese $$ BYO

August 19, 2014Reader ratings (22) Comments (1)

New Shanghai

Shop 323, Level 3, Emporium, 287 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria

all details

2.5 outof 5

Simone Egger

Melbourne's best new restaurants of 2014-15

New Shanghai reverses the shopping centre norm - it sells Chinese goods that are made in Melbourne.Handmade Shanghai dumplings, friends, which means xiao long bao - the No.1 dim sum.

These twisted-top dumplings with a spurt of hot broth are a Shanghai specialty, and not on menus at moremainstream Chinese restaurants around town. They're tricky to make - the dough has to be just the rightthickness so it doesn't burst under the weight of the broth, which comes from gelatin in the mince mix thatmelts to liquid as the dumplings are steamed.

Photo: Patrick ScalaOn show: Dumpling-makers at work.

Photo: SuppliedShanghai specialty: Xiao long bao.

New Shanghai Restaurant Review | Melbourne Victoria | Goo... http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/eat-out/review/resta...

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New Shanghai's xiao long bao are good, and come filled with pork, as well as with pork and crab meat.They also come with a how-to-eat warning on the menu: "Please make a small hole on the dumpling to letthe broth flow out on to your spoon. This will avoid burning your mouth." With our batch, though, therewas no danger of scalding even sipping straight from the dumpling; they could have been hotter.

Other specialties include drunken chicken (it's been on the rice wine), and deep-fried sweet-and-sourshredded beef. You might try salty egg yolk crumbed calamari, and vibrant spinach stir-fried with garlic.But you could just as happily come just for dim sum.

There are pan-fried potsticker pork dumplings, steamed buns with a strip of pork belly and cucumbersmothered in hoisin sauce, and pretty vegetarian dumplings that look like an open purse, filled withvermicelli and delicate shreds of mushroom, carrot and greens. On one visit, ours came frozen in themiddle. They were quickly replaced, but it did make me wonder: why were ours frozen when the dumplingmasters were busy folding and pleating in the booth at the restaurant's entrance? More work goes intomaking the vegetarian dumplings, apparently, and some come from one of the sister restaurants in Sydney.

New Shanghai Emporium is the Melbourne link in a chain of New Shanghai restaurants that includes fiveoutlets in Sydney, one in Brisbane and one in Shanghai. The New Shanghai empire, started by the currentowner's parents, has been growing since the early '90s. The restaurants' hallmarks are the dumpling-makers' booth and a splendid old-Shanghai aesthetic. At Emporium, the front room is lined with shutteredwindows and tiled with cobblestones to evoke a classic hutong. The back room is like a sultry salon, withwood panelling, faux-flocked bamboo print wallpaper and red chandeliers. The furniture is heavy wood,

Photo: Patrick ScalaThere's a splendid old-Shanghai aesthetic at New Shanghai.


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with long share benches. There's good service, and you can book.

But for the telltale Uniqlo puffer jackets slumped over many an ornate chair, you wouldn't know you werein a shopping centre.

Dish… Xiao long baoDo… Drink - there's teas, taro milk and Tsingtao beerDon't… Have time to stop? Takeaway available.Vibe… Vintage Shanghai salon

[email protected]

Shop 323, Level 3, Emporium, 287 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria03 9994 9386 http://www.newshanghai.com.au/

Cuisine - Chinese

Prices - Dim sum, $6-$14; noodle and rice dishes, $9.90-$14.50; mains, $15.80-$28; desserts, $5.50-$12.80

Features - BYO, Licensed, Cheap and cheerful

Owners - New Shanghai

Opening Hours - Sat-Wed, 11am-7pm; Thurs-Fri, 11am-9pm

Author - Simone Egger


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the age, good food, august 19 2014

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new shanghai emporium

new restaurants

new shanghai empire

handmade shanghai dumplings

new shanghaishop

vegetarian dumplings

restaurants hallmarks

sister restaurants