Xia Fei Shanghainese Restaurant

Xia Fei
Shop 26-7, B2
K11 Mall
18 Hanoi Rd
Tsim Sha Tsui
Hong Kong
Ph : +852 2801 6111

Before arriving in Hong Kong I'd gone trawling online for places to try. Xia Fei, a relatively new restaurant at the time, ended up on the list, but I can't seem to recall the whys and wheres of it. The name "Xia Fei" comes from the road of the same name back in the era of foreign concessions in old Shanghai - Avenue Joffre (now called Huai Hai Lu).

And so it was that I found myself at this restaurant, which is situated at the end of one of the myriad of corridors in the K11 mall.

Crystal Jade : Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao
Shop B221A, Times Square
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Ph: (852) 2506 0080

Ten countries, and with ten branches in Hong Kong alone, the Jade Crystal Group is a dining behemoth that I would be happy to see in Australia. Having eaten at a few branches  over the years, and a variety of dishes, I can state that the standard is good, and it is consistent. It is also better than most similar places in Sydney, in my view.

Hot and sour soup (HKD35)

This photo is deceptive, as it was a good sized serving. Not too hot, nor too sour or vinegary (and I do like my vinegar), nicely balanced, and not containing the excessive cornflour that this soup sometimes seems to 'attract'. I'd have liked a bit more chilli component, but that's a very subjective preference, as I tend to like this soup with a bit more of a punch.

Xiao long bao (HKD28)

Well pleated, the skin thin and transluscent, the sweet rich broth so tongue scorchingly hot (as I like it) that you have to wait until it cools down enough to eat, this mainstay of the cuisine and cult bun (not a dumpling, as many seem to call it) is a form of comfort food, and Crystal Jade's hit that comfort spot. I've commented on the consistency of the restaurants, this is one example of this.

Taste of Shanghai

Taste of Shanghai

Shop 9.07

Lower Ground Level

World Square

644 George St

Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: (02) 9261 8832

The appearance of a third branch in the Taste of Shanghai mini chain of restaurants at World Square in the latter part of last year, the other two being in Ashfield and Eastwood, was a welcome one.  I have been there a few times now, but have not been bothered to photograph what I've eaten, so you will just have to let your imagination run within the limited scope of riot that a suburban Sydney Shanghainese restaurant allows. 

This post is from a meal that I had at the beginning of this year.  They were three dishes which I'd not previously had at any Taste of Shanghai, and as they are not the ubiquitous Xiao Long Bao, Shallot Cakes or dumplings of whatever iteration, I decided to drag these photos out for an airing.

Flour tendon with Vegetables in Hotpot ($15.50)

This hot pot is on the more simple end of the vegetarian spectrum, but it was nonetheless quite a flavour filled mix of vegetables in a generous serving of almost broth like sauce, the flour tendons light and airy, but with a nice chewy consistency.

Eight Treasure Diced Pork in Mild Chilli Sauce ($8.80)

The "eight treasures" referred to in this dish is not unique to pork, as the "eight treasure" combination is also used for other meats, and often in medicinal soups. The number refers to the use of eight different ingredients to accompany the core ingredient, in this case, pork.  Unfortunately, I forgot to note down those that I could identify at the time, but I do recall wood ear fungus and gingko nuts.  The pork was tender and well cooked. 

Dumpling Inn Restaurant

Unit 1/ 1 Lawry Pl

Macquarie ACT 2614

Ph : (02) 6253 2268

Ok, so it was Friday, 6pm after a long hectic week, and I was in no mood to go out to exercise. For the whole day, I had this craving for peking duck and thanks to a tip-off, I was given two potential places to try out in Canberra. I had no tendency towards either so it was rather random that I jumped into the car and in 20mins, I was in Macquarie at Dumpling Inn Restaurant. Thanks Google Map for the direction. :)

According to aptronym, her family used to visit Dumpling Inn Restaurant quite regularly when she was growing up here. Back then, the restaurant was in Aranda but, it moved to Macquarie in the last three years.

The drive to Macquarie from Woden

Dumpling Inn.

It's very easy to find amongst the local shops in Macquarie

What was I going to eat? Peking duck (cooked two ways) was on the menu but I was by myself. I asked the very friendly and eager waiter if there was Peking duck. I was told that I had to either pre-order it or wait one hour.

I didn't care. I had the craving so I ordered the Peking duck!

Whilst I waited for the duck to be prepared, I looked through the menu. I was happy that, while much of the dishes have been modified for Caucasian taste buds (eg honey chicken, sweet & sour pork, BBQ pork in plum sauce etc) there was a section on the back page dedicated to Peking/ Beijing cuisines :)

First up was the hot and sour soup. Many may disagree but for me, this is one of the benchmarks I use to differentiate between a good and not so good Peking-style restaurants. For me, the version here was nearly right. Nearly right? Yes, nearly right. The sourness was just right but the hotness was mild but I was able to augment it with white pepper. There was a good quantity of tofu and shredded pork so overall, a nice hot and our soup.

Hot and sour soup ($4.50)

Next up was the Shallot Cakes. These are deep-fried pastries with shallot inside the pastries. The cakes were not very oily and had good shallot taste.

Shallot Cake ($4.40)

Next up, the xiao long bao. This is another dish I use as benchmark. The version presented here is about average. The skin is very fragile and as consequence, rather soft and breaks easily when picked up with chop-sticks. In my mouth, the skin just fell apart.

I think the skin for xiao long bao at New Shanghai in Ashfield (Sydney) is nicer albeit on a slightly thicker side in terms of texture. The best xiao long bao skin I have had is at Ding Tai Fung, where the skin is delicate yet able to hold all the filling and soup inside, and giving a nice texture when eating the xiao long bao. As a consequence of the easily friable skin, there isn't much soup in these xiao long bao. The meat filling is nice, although on the slightly salty side.

Xiao Long Bao ($12)

After one hour wait, my duck was presented to me for inspection. However, before I could take a picture, the duck disappeared back into the kitchen to be carved up!

The Peking duck was worth the wait. I thoroughly enjoyed the crispiness of the skin and it was not overly salty. Yum! The wrapping was ok, although on the slightly dry side.

Peking Duck - 2 courses ($45)

By this time, I was just too full! I couldn't even finish the second course of the peking duck.

Overall, quite a reasonably priced Peking-style restaurant in Canberra suburbia. While I rate New Shanghai in Ashfield better than Dumpling Inn, I still had a great time.

Oh and the timepiece of the night?

Stainless steel Jaeger Le-Coultre Master Geographic, ref 142.8.92. This model has been replaced by a larger version (40mm) ref 150.84.20. The 142.8.92 features JLC calibre 929, which is based on JLC Cal889/1. It beats at 28800vph, 42 hours reserve. There is power reserve, date and world time indicator.

For tonight, the time is set to Sydney as Canberra is not on the dial. The case work is beautifully polished, the dial is light silver with white subdials. The dauphine hour and minute hands contrast well to the blue constant second hand. The 3'clock crown allows adjustment of the world time at single click or the main time display with a 2 click pull of the crown. There is a date adjuster at 2'oclock side of the case and the crown at 10 o'clock changes the world time dial according to the city displayed on the inner rotating bezel.

[JH]