Noodle Bull Revisited

With most expats still raving about Noodle Bull, the place deserved a second visit. It was a choice of ordering the same noodle soup again and seeing if it just happened to be that day's batch of broth. Fear still struck from the bland (and MSG-lacking) broth from the first visit, a soupless noodle dish was selected instead. The vegetarian sesame paste noodles were much more enjoyable than the noodles in beef soup. It came with julienned carrots, cucumber, and egg. You just mix everything up in the bowl. The combination was light, yet completely satisfying.


In addition to the sesame paste noodles, I tried the pork and beancurd side as well as their take on kimchi. The pork and beancurd side completed the depth of the meal, especially if you are hankering for something more substantial and meaty. The kimchi, however, did lack the extra spicy kick, but was a welcomed presence in central Shanghai were decent Korean food is scarce.

At least now I know one of my default options if I do happen to be coerced into going to Noodle Bull again. Maybe one day the broth will present itself as a better memory to erase the old one.

Noodle Bull. 1f3b, No.291 Fumin Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. 上海市徐匯區富民路291號悟錦世紀大樓1F3B

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/

Noodle Bull on Fumin Lu

Practically every expat I encountered in Shanghai raves about Noodle Bull. It is also cheap at 26rmb for a bowl of noodles and around 5rmb for an assortment of sides like tofu. “Noodle Bull is so good!” “Oh! You have to try Noodle Bull!” Okay, okay. I’m going.

I met a friend there after work and sat down at the communal tables where your menu is rolled up in a vase. The interior is minimalistic with wood furnishing and a large mirror at the back giving the illusion the restaurant is bigger than it is. The holistic, natural look goes with the theme of taking a health-minded approach and omitting MSG. Apparently, there is free wifi considering the number of diners with their laptops out.

I ordered the spicy beef noodle soup with 1.5mm hand-pulled noodles (you can also choose hand-sliced noodles or 5mm hand-pulled noodles) and got some tofu to share. The tofu was quite nice in texture and absorbed the flavor of the sauce it was marinated in.


Out came the noodles. It looked good. There were nice hunks of beef in there. It looked like it should be really good.


It wasn’t. The flavor of the broth was flat, tasting more watered down than anything. Maybe this impression was due to all the MSG-laden food you get in Shanghai. But it did not help that the flavor of the broth was lacking in any body or richness you would expect out of a Taiwanese soup. Where was the flavor? This seeped into the characteristics of the noodles and vegetables, which were also flavorless. I ordered the spicy soup and it did not taste spicy in the least. The only item in my bowl that carried any weight was the few, but tasty pieces of meat.


Was it a bad soup day? Did the stock not marinate enough? Is my Chinese palate becoming more MSG-dependent? Either way, the meal was completely disappointing aside from the tofu and the few pieces of beef. Someone convince me again why Noodle Bull is so good.

Noodle Bull. 1f3b, No.291 Fumin Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. 上海市徐匯區富民路291號悟錦世紀大樓1F3B

Bellagio for Taiwanese Shaved Ice

A bunch of friends tell me about the glorious food a Momofuku in NYC. Then CNNGo comes out with this article about David Chang preferring to go to Bellagio for late-night dining in Shanghai. I must try it.

The location on Xikang Road had mostly foreigner clientele and plenty of female servers running around with crew cut hair. Although it was already late in the evening, people were still ordering dinner items. Not wanting anything too heavy, my companion and I ordered shaved ice and dumplings.


My passion fruit shaved ice came out first. It was huge! On top there was a small spoonful of passion fruit seeds. The shaved ice was smooth and the passion fruit flavor did not taste artificial. It was a little on the tart side, perhaps for the lack of quality and ripe fruit reaching Shanghai. It was refreshing though.


My companion ordered the strawberry one, except the ice was blended with condensed milk so the flavor was more of a sherbert (less creamy than ice cream, but more creamy than sorbet) and sliced strawberries decorated this mountain of a dessert. It was also very tasty. We ended up alternating the sweet with the salty when our dumplings finally came out accompanied by soy sauce, vinegar, and spicy pepper sauce. The dumpling skin was a little thick, but the filling was lovely not being too greasy.

Bellagio is much better for dessert than an actual meal. The minimalist fashion interior and super clean presentation of the servers may equate to you paying more for the ambiance than actual food. The desserts, however, are spot on. The menu for is quite extensive and the varieties of shaved ice are enough to keep you cool during the unbearable Shanghai heat of summer. I must go back and try the peanut shaved ice.

Bellagio. 111 Xikang Lu, near Tongren Lu. 西康路111号, 近铜仁路, 地铁2号线静安寺站 Shangahi, China