New Shanghai

In contrast to the China Shanghai Night restaurant, I was at the New Shanghai restaurant in Chatswood Chase last Sunday night.  This restaurant has a nice decor and has recently opened the Chatswood Chase outlet in addition to their Lemon Grove and Ashfield outlets.

There were quite a few of us which means that we could order and try a few dishes.  We ordered a few dumplings, noodles, prawns, vegetables, spare ribs.

The dishes tasted good especially the snake beans which was very tasty.

The service is quick at this restaurant.  One needs to share tables which could make it a bit squishy but the decor and ambience makes it comfortable and the food is good.

If you would prefer a less crowded place, walk a bit further up to their other outlet at the Lemon Grove mall.
This restaurant also has another chain in Ashfield and when we were there at China Shanghai Night, the New Shanghai's outlet in Ashfield had a queue in front of the restaurant.

 Their outlet in Ashfield on Liverpool Road.

New Shanghai

I took the opportunity to check out some of Chatswood's shops while waiting to go to Charmaine's house after lunch.  The food court at Westfield was all set for the lunchtime crowd.  The selection did not appeal and I guess I was looking for something different.

At the back of my mind, I remembered someone (must be Charmaine) telling me about a new Shanghai restaurant (opened in April) in Lemon Grove and I decided to head there.  Even though it was early (around 12 noon), there was already a queue and the restaurant was abuzz with activity.  Took a number to wait my turn.  There were about 10 people ahead of me.. .sigh! 

Turning around.. who should I see while waiting ... Mr Kevin Yong.  He had just finished his meal, having left Wollongong at 7 am and leaving 100 km/h winds behind - really adventurous.  Had a chat to decide what to eat as there was also an outlet in the food court selling yum cha and the next outlet had some Beijing cuisine.  I lamented to Kevin that if I have to wait a long time, I will resort to getting some yum cha dishes and eat in the food court.  After about 10 mins, my turn arrived.  Kevin decided to "accompany" us and "look" at us eating.  Mind you, he said he had to wait about 20 mins for his main course and his dessert (fungus and papaya) came first.  He enjoyed his dessert better.

Hmm... not sure what to order as it was just mum and I.  Decided on a combination spicy noodle and a Xiao Long Pau.  The spicy noodle was not too bad, although I thought it was quite plain.  The Xiao Long Pau was ok, I thought they were a bit stingy with the filling... it did not fill up the dumplings like other places eg the Taste of Shanghai or Din Tai Fung.  It was good to catch up with Kevin and glad that he stayed around to watch us eat.

I am a bit nonchalant about this restaurant.  Mum sat facing the kitchen and she commented that one of the chefs was tasting the soup with the same ladle he used to dish up the soup and he did it twice...ewww... go figure!

However, I might not be a good judge of this restaurant as we did not order much.  Maybe next visit, I will try the yum cha as it appears to be quite popular when we left.

For more information on some of the other specialties, check out these websites:

http://www.notquitenigella.com/2009/06/11/new-shanghai-chinese-restaurant-chatswood-and-how-to-eat-a-soup-dumpling/

http://www.herecomesthefood.com.au/eating-out/new-shanghai-chatswood-sydney.html