Xindalu China Kitchen Dim Sum Special

Xindalu China Kitchen Restaurant at Hyatt on the Bund was having a dim sum promotion for 180RMB (plus 15% service charge) for a steady stream of these small dishes for lunch. Only tea or juice was included with the deal, which ended on June 16 after running daily during lunch hours for about two weeks. So, sorry in advance if you were expecting to go and take advantage of this promotion. The 180RMB price tag may be daunting for some, especially with cheaper all-you-can-eat dim sum deals being offered in Shanghai, but Xindalu has made a reputation for itself as a fine dining experience in an upscale hotel. Most know of Xindalu for the way its Peking duck that is cooked in a special wood oven or so the Hyatt website claims. The flavor of Xindalu's Peking duck is supposed to rival or best that of the popular chain, Quanjude. The dim sum promotion allows diners to sample another region of China for a fine dining lunch experience, though you could surely supplement the meal with other items off the menu. The menu for the dim sum lunch was not particularly extensive, most likely to maintain control of the quality of the dishes, some of which may have been created specially for this promotion. Upon arrival, diners are given a pen to check off which dishes or how many of them they want on a paper menu. If you want to order more, the server will bring out another of the same menu where you can re-order your favorites. Of course, we tried as much as a pair possibly could.


The restaurant is located on the ground floor of Hyatt on the Bund and adjacent to the lobby with no significant views to admire, though you could easily see who is rolling up the main driveway of the hotel. (Check out Vue bar upstairs). The main dining area is dark with the seats by the window reserved for smoking. The kitchen is open although partitioned with glass that fogs up from steam giving diners access to the action while waiting for dishes to be served.




From top, left to right: Pan-fried turnip cake, Barbecue pork puff-pastry with sesame, Fried goose liver taro dumplings, inside of goose liver dumplings, Steamed shrimp dumplings, Steamed scallop vegetable dumplings, Fried mango rice paper roll, Fried mushroom bean curd skin roll
The plates came out as quickly as the order was put in and there was barely enough room for our individual pots of tea and towers of steamers. The fried goose liver taro dumplings were particularly decadent, savory, and heavy despite the lightness of its fried interior. The fried mushroom bean curd skin roll was crispy, light, and not at all oily. The puff pastry around the barbecue pork was more densely packed than light imparting a solid crust than flaky exterior. The small filling was slightly sweet.




From top, left to right: Steamed chiu chow dumplings, Baked Barbecue Pork Buns, Mini baked chicken meat pies, Steamed beef balls with bean curd sheet, Steamed traditional Cantonese sponge cake, Fried custard glutinous dumplings, Steamed Sesame Buns, Black sesame interior of sesame buns
The baked dim sum items had a very dense crust encasing the moist, salty, and savory meat in the center. There were a few items on the steamed and fried section of the menu that were more sweet than savory: steamed traditional Cantonese sponge cake, fried custard glutinous dumplings, and the steamed buns filled with black sesame. The latter of the two were more memorable for a tongue conditioned by Western sweets.

Clockwise from bottom left: Sweetened sago cream with mango and pomelo, Red bean soup, Almond tea with egg white, Chilled mango pudding (with condensed milk), Baked sago pudding with chestnut paste
Xindalu does particularly well with its dessert (and sweet items as mentioned above) without being sugary. The sweetened sago with mango and bits of pomelo was light and fresh. The red bean soup was cool and subtly sweet. The almond tea with egg white could almost be sipped straight from the bowl and was as light as it looked. The chilled mango pudding apparently came with condensed milk, but it was better used on the baked sago pudding with chestnut paste that was served warm. The meal ended nicely with this touch of sweetness.


The dim sum lunch was extremely filling with a very attentive staff, but classic dim sum dishes like the pork ribs were missing from the selection. Given the limited selection, each dish was on average good for what it was, but still the dim sum at Ye Shanghai is preferred. It was nice to try the dim sum at Xindalu just for the experience. However, I am more inclined to return to sample that wonderful smelling Peking duck. The way that the server would clean the carcass precisely with his skilled hand releasing the aroma of the duck meat was enough to get your appetite going again.

One fun fact: The concierge at Hyatt on the Bund advised me that although they do not valet bicycles nor have a proper bike parking area, they will gladly escort you and your bike to the place where staff park their bicycles, electric bikes, electric scooters, and motos. Just make sure that your bike is not one that is particularly valuable as you are parking at your own risk.

Xindalu. Hyatt on the Bund, 199 Huangpu Road, Shanghai 200080, China. 上海外滩茂悦大酒店 中国上海黄浦路199号 邮政编码：200080. Hours: Lunch 11:30 – 14:30, Dinner 17:30 – 22:30. Reservations: + 86 21 6393 1234 * 6318.

Dim Sum Brunch at Ye Shanghai

Ye Shanghai has this great weekend brunch deal for 98RMB all-you-can eat inclusive of tea. If you pay a little more, you can get an entree like roast duck. A little more RMB means that you can also get free-flow sparkling wine. That is not bad for a brunch deal, especially considering that the classy restaurant is located in Xintiandi, known for its more up-market establishments. Ye Shanghai takes a modern look at classic dim sum selections from both Shanghainese and Hong Kongese cuisine. The dining room reflects this philosophy and during brunch, it is well-lit and cozy without being so pretentious. Though, it is quite unfortunate to see that the patrons are mostly waiguoren instead of Chinese. That should not be a deterrent, however. The dim sum menu has an assortment of dishes perfect for sharing (ideally between 2 people as each order has two items). As it is a free-flow feeding frenzy, the parade of plates never has to stop. The server may look a bit perturbed by the length of the initial order of food, or she is balking at the amount of food seemingly small people can consume.




About every dish was ordered off the menu aside from the rice and noodle dishes (the dan dan mian (traditional Sichuan noodles) were a little on the oily and runny side). This includes the drunken chicken, sliced pork terrine with Zhejiang black vinegar, pan-fried turnip cake, sliced pork with garlic and chili, barbecue pork puffs, stir-fried beef with scallions and pancakes, spring onion cakes, steamed shrimp dumplings in XO chili sauce, smoked fish, steamed spare ribs, wheat gluten with mushroom and bamboo shoots, beancurd skin roll with mushroom, and wontons...to name a few. The spare ribs came out with pumpkin and was flavorless. The terrine was nothing special either. Overall, everything else was really lovely. If you do not like one item, someone at your table is bound to eat it. If you do like something, there is nothing stopping you from ordering more.


Ahhh...xiaolongbao. Mornings in Shanghai feel even more complete with an order of xiaolongbao. The hot broth supporting a light, meaty filling all enveloped by a thin wrapper translates to a savory explosion in your mouth. The xiaolongbao at Ye Shanghai was nothing impressive. The wrapper was not of an extraordinary thinness aside from the bottom as it did often break when being lifted from the steamer releasing its precious contents. The wrapper should be of even thickness throughout the entire dumpling, even taking the little folds into consideration. The broth was not very salty, but not savory either. And the pork itself did not stand out. No matter though. Still being able to get a xiaolongbao fix is enough to start the day.


Out of the desserts, I enjoyed the glutinous rice ball with peanut paste the most. The peanut paste was more of a pulverized peanut powder that was soft and melted slowly on your tongue. The mango pudding had a surprise of actual pieces of mango hidden within the pudding.

Ye Shanghai brunch is great for your wallet for what you get and has a classy dining area that will readily impress your dining partners. It is highly advisable to reserve in advance. The brunches are very popular and tables do get booked quickly.

Ye Shanghai. Xintiandi North Block, Lane 181 Taicang Lu (near Madang Lu), Shanghai, People's Republic of China. 太仓路181号 (近马当路) 新天地北里

Xiao Long Bao at Din Tai Fung

With all the raving about the xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung, it was time to give in to their extraordinary prices to see what all the hype of their xiao long bao with 18 folds is about. Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese chain and compared to Taiwan, the restaurants in China are upscale and more service-oriented. There was a huge emphasis on presentation as well. Large bamboo steamers are ushered out and the lid is taken off upon arrival with the lids being placed back on the tray to go back to the xiao long bao stuffing room.

The menu displayed a few variations on the xiao long bao. After getting our fresh watermelon juice, we made a selection of four varieties to sample. Each of the steamers were lined with a sort of little cloth tea towel to prevent the dumpling skin from sticking to the bamboo and breaking, releasing all of its precious soup. Finely sliced ginger was served in a little tower to add to the dipping vinegar to taste.


First sampled was the chicken xiao long bao. They were not as pretty as the pork xiao long bao, which arrived at the same time. Usually, when I eat my xiao long bao, I prefer to bite the top off and suck the soup out before consuming the rest of the dumpling. The soup did carry a strong chicken flavor and the dumpling alone was just a ball of ordinary chicken. The chicken xiao long bao seemed better suited for eating whole to allow the chicken broth to burst in your mouth.


The pork xiao long bao was absolutely gorgeous with is delicate 18 folds. The wrapper is super thin and translucent enough that you can see the soup floating inside. The broth tasted very much like pork without the extra salty flavor that you would find from other cheap canteens in Shanghai. The filling was also luscious and meaty.


As mentioned before, the crab xiao long bao was avoided until later in the meal as one holds off on sipping a bold red before going back to a light white wine. The crab filling was not as impressive as the one from Jia Jia Tang Bao, but the Shanghainese hairy crab is also not so much in season. It lacked the abundance of roe and the meat tasted slightly gritty (also characteristic of the Shanghai hairy crab), almost to the point that one would believe there were small pieces of soft shell in it. However, there was no shell as there was no definite crunch, but the texture was a bit more rough rolling around in your mouth.


To round off the xiao long bao sampler, at 78 RMB for a steamer is the black truffle variety. In this case, the black truffle and pork was sampled. As "truffle" is a version of "mushroom," this dumpling seemed to be more "mushroom" than "truffle." The broth was savory and meaty with an added layer of complexity from the mushroom. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that the truffle was layered on top of the pork filling instead of integrated together as a consistent filling, as were its preceding counterparts. Perhaps during the steaming process, the truffle flavor was able to permeate the soup emitted from the pork filling. The black truffle and pork xiao long bao is a fresh variation on the original.


Since the brunch was entirely based on xiao long bao, vegetables were ordered to balance out the meat-loaded part of the meal. Nothing too outstanding, but did give a better nutrition value to the brunch. The spicy wonton dumplings also ordered were a bit too sweet, probably better suited for Shanghainese rather than Taiwanese tastes.


To top off the meal were the peach red bean paste buns. The outside of the steamed buns looked like a white peach with a blush of pink, but tasted nothing like a peach. The bun was flavorless and was only a vessel for the smooth and subtly sweet red bean paste inside.

The experience at Din Tai Fung was highly enjoyable and the service was so impeccable a patron would feel that for once they were given proper care at a restaurant. The servers were eager to help when asked and stayed out of the way as much as possible. At the end of the meal, we were asked to fill out a suggestion card and the server wanted to know precisely what could be improved to better the food in an extremely interested and polite way.

The xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung was very good, but it was hard to order knowing that you are paying around 15rmb per xiao long bao when you can find it cheaper. If it is a battle between Jia Jia Tang Bao and Din Tai Fung, Jia Jia Tang Bao is more for your money as you rub elbows with local Chinese waiting in line.

Din Tai Fung. 1/F, Shanghai Center, 1376 Nanjing Xi Lu, near Xikang Lu 南京西路1376号上海商城1楼, 近西康路. Shanghai, People's Republic of China (other locations in Shanghai / worldwide). www.dintaifung.com.tw/en/

Túmén Cháo Kǎo 图门串烤

From the shadows barbecue hawkers come out with their coal grills and boxes of skewers for late night eats. Some places have a stand outside that will do it for you. At Túmén Cháo Kǎo 图门串烤, you can grill your own barbecue yourself. My Shanghainese colleague informs me that Túmén is in the northeast region of China and that the name of the place means "Túmén a lot of barbecue."

The restaurant is small with little ventilation so it is better to get a table in the front room or by the door. This will help from not coming out of the restaurant smelling like barbecue. Each table has its own grill where fresh coals are places along with a few embers and is then covered to heat up to an appropriate temperature. You place the skewers on top of the grill to start cooking. The restaurant gives you cloth napkins practically soley for the use of protecting yourself from the jumping embers and sparks shooting out of the coal grill whilst cooking.

To order, the server hands you a checklist of all the possible varities of meat and veg you can order and you just note how many you want of each. The price is also included on the menu ranging from .5-6rmb per skewer. If you need it, they have an English menu, but each line does not necessarily match the Chinese-only menu to the exact point, so you have to make sure that the characters match. Also, there were a few items on the menu that are not translated. We chose a selection of beef, spicy beef, lamb, lamb on bone, green beans, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, chicken hearts, chicken wings, bread, aubergine, peppers, and other random items.


At each table is a shaker of salt, cumin, and a spicy powder, which you can sprinkle on your skewer at the desired stage of cooking. In this case, you have control of the entire cooking process. This, however, may be disastrous if you do not pay attention to your skewers causing them to overcook or burn on one side. After cooking on the grill, you can rest the skewers above the flame to keep warm while cooking other skewers at the same time.

Seeing as there were 6 of us, there was a bit of madness. Not enough skewers cooking fast enough for hungry men and all so little. It is however, a very fun and social way of eating. Plus, there is a steady flow of cheap, cold beer to keep everyone happy.

Túmén Cháo Kǎo 图门串烤. 192 Wanhangdu Lu by Wulumuqi Lu. Shanghai, People's Republic of China