Indeed, there are two New Shanghai Chinese Restaurants in Chatswood in fairly close proximity, which in itself seems a little odd. The fact that they are located in two polar opposites of shopping centres - the luxe Chatswood Chase and not-so-swish Lemon Grove Shopping Centre - is even more strange.
Crab xiao long bao from New Shanghai, Lemon Grove Shopping Centre, Victoria Street, Chatswood |
Service is brusque, even for a Chinese restaurant, but it's not long before food fills the table. The crab xiao long bao have a detectable seafood taste but aren't really so different to the standard pork ones. The dumpling skins hold well and are hard to fault, while the soup is still the best part of the experience.
Pan fried pork dumplings |
I had my fingers tightly crossed that the plate of pan fried dumplings that emerged from the microwave were not headed towards my table. No such luck, and I tried as best I could to eat them without prejudice.
It may well have been all in my head but I struggled with the tough outer skins while taste- and heat-wise they were acceptable. A healthy dousing with both vinegar sauce and chilli oil helped but the overall enjoyment of the dumplings had been marred from the start.
Sichuan style sauce stir fried with pork mince and served with dry noodle |
Sichuan spicy pork noodles mixed |
Stir fried spinach with garlic |
In this instance, there definitely could have been many dollars worth of garlic in the dish as it was absolutely loaded with diced garlic amongst the tender spinach leaves and stems. A good dish for colds and vampire repelling.
Post lunch, walking around probably with a garlic cloud above, it looked like northern Chinatown has integrated seamlessly with Chatswood. The crowds at Asian dessert house Zen Q were proof, nestled into the Westfield at street level and doing brisk trade on the hot afternoon.
Mango shaved ice with fresh mango, mango jelly and mango ice cream from Zen Q, Westfield Chatswood |
The squishy eat-in seating, designed to fit as many bodies into the small space as possible, meant I was basically sitting on top of someone next to me as my mango dessert arrived. The sprinkles took me back to times of frozen party pies and sausage rolls, but at least the mango ice did its job in refreshing.
It wasn't overly sweet either while the mango ice cream was the most subtle of the lot. The small helping of fresh mango cubes was the best component while the slightly chewy mango jellies were fun but few and far between.
Fruit soup with ice cream |
We scoff and dash at Zen Q, but not before peering quzzically at couples and groups attacking loaves of bread dressed in everything from fruit to cream to more of those sprinkles. Bread with dessert is a fairly alien concept to me but being the the Chinatown of the north, perhaps next time I cross the Bridge I'll have to do as the Romans do.
10 comments:
I thought Chatswood has always been very Asian for as long as I can remember. :-) I want to go to ZenQ as well, just to see the size of the desserts. LOL
I always wondered why the pan fried dumplings here were so hard, no wonder, if they microwave them. It's a shame you had to see that.
Microwave dumplings - a crime not even committed in my lazy household. The food does look nice from your pictures though...I'm also intrigued by the honey tuna toast at ZenQ (can you try it for me - I need a crash test tummy).
I never have dumplings, but I can say the New Shanghai has awesomesauce duck pancakes. Sad that your experience wasn't as amazing as mine :(
Microwave?! No way.
And I've notied the proliferation of just-veggie dishes too. They're usually flavorful & nice, but perhaps the main meal cost is to avoid losing money on vegetarians?
microwaved dumplings?!
Hi joey - I'm not over the Bridge very much at all... :) I need to get out more perhaps
Hi Dumpling Girl - And I wonder if I would have noticed anything at all if I didn't see it.
Hi Miss Piggy - Not sure the tuna has honey... too weird for me!
Hi Hannah - I adore duck pancakes! Next time (probably at the other NS outlet...)
Hi Lucas - Sad to say, it was a reheat job. You make a good point about vegetarians.
Hi sugarpuffi - Yah-huh :S
omg I cant believe they microwaved them- It definatly a crime againist any Asian restaurant!!
The Mango ice looks refreshing, especially for summer this year
Great post
Hi Flick Your Food - Yep, I might reheat/microwave dumplings at home but I certainly wouldn't expect to pay for that...
Little northern Chinatown in Chatswood thanks for sharing this delicious blog with australian attractions.
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