My husband is in bad birthday rehab. He’s had too many disappointing birthdays to count, from when he was young and given a bag of rocks from the garden to when he was older and received a box of toilet cleaning supplies. He’s understandably scarred by the concept. I on the other hand adore birthdays and love to celebrate them for at least a weekend. I also love other people’s birthdays from the ritual of selecting a present for them, wrapping the gift and writing the card and seeing their face when they open it. So I take my mission seriously to make him love birthdays again and what the birthday boy wants he gets. Sort of. His favourite restaurant is Shanghai Night in Ashfield, the place where for a mere $6.60 he can get a massive 18 piece serving of dumplings. I was only too happy to go here but in true food blogger fashion, I felt that I should try somewhere new-ish. He agreed to the compromise I suggested, trying the Shanghai dumpling place next door to Shanghai Night. There, at least he’d be guaranteed of his beloved 18 dumplings.
New Shanghai Chinese restaurant is indeed right next to Shanghai Night. Inside it looks brighter and newer with small plasma screens showing a rotation of the items on offer. It’s slightly wider than Shanghai Night next door by about 2 metres. The configuration is different, with the cashier towards the back and the dumpling makers behind a glass screen on show for customers and some booths to the right (which currently have some dumplings abandoned mid preparation).
Service is friendlier than that at Shanghai Night and while we see a lot of familiar items, namely the dumplings, prices are higher by a dollar or two. There are also some unusual dishes and of course, being the visual creatures that we are, we are enticed by the items in the pictures.
We order and the dishes trickle out slowly, one by one. None of this fast and furious pace that we get at Shanghai night (which we actually prefer).
Famous new shanghai steamed mini pork buns $6.80 for 8
The first item we receive is the Xiao Long Bao, the famous mini pork buns with hot soupy interior which explodes with the first bite. We notice that there aren’t too many punctures (good) but the hot soup and filling is missing the ginger zing which we adore in the Shanghai Night dumplings.
Steamed Pork with coriander dumplings $7.80 for 18
After some waiting, the large plate of steamed dumplings arrive. They’re less delicate than the Xiao Long Bao and in this case, the coriander flavour is stronger and the skin a touch thinner and more delicate than Shanghai night’s sturdy version. We prefer these.
Famous new shanghai pan fried pork bun $8.80 for 10
These are among my favourite at Shanghai Night but when they set these down, I know just from the look of them that I won’t like them as much. How do I know? The bottoms are barely cooked.
They look like they have only briefly kissed the bottom of the pan. I want ones that have had a good old smooch or a bronzed bottomed French kiss. I want the bottoms to be absolutely crispy. Inside, there’s actually soup in some of the dumplings which my husband likes but for me, the absent crunch leaves me pining for it.
Deep fried crab with yolk of salt egg $26.80
Not being quite sure of what yolk of salt egg tastes like, we ordered this as it had a photo of it on the menu. Two blue swimmer crabs sit, looking rather sad and each piece is coated in a fine crispy coating much like a salt and pepper coating without the pepper.
It’s absolutely delicious of course and I find myself eating leg after leg, crunching satisfyingly into the meat on the end of the legs like a crunchy savoury lollipop. As much as I find crabs adorable, I couldn’t pull myself away from these if I tried. I did try I think, once, to no avail.
Deep fried yellow croaker fish in red soy sauce $28.80
Our last course arrives and whilst I am full from the crab, the sight of the fish is certainly impressive causing other diners to stare and some to call the waitress over, point to it and order. The fish, looking like it has been frozen mid flip and immortalised in batter is large with a river of red sauce around it.
The “red soy sauce” is in fact sweet and sour sauce with some prawns, peas, carrots and pinenuts thrown in for texture and taste. The fish is very meaty, soft and juicy and quite delicious, even though sweet and sour sauce isn’t my absolute favourite sauce.
White fungus and papaya dessert $3.80
And because it’s my husband’s birthday, he orders his favourite dessert, the slippery White Fungus and Papaya dessert, with sweet syrup. The White fungus is a slippery treat with a faint almost-crunchiness to it.
We’re stuffed, done in by the crab and fish. We’re surprised to hear a “Thankyou!” coming from the owner when we leave (being used to Shanghai Night). When we walk past next door we see both places have a chalkboard outside advertising their Mini pork buns.
Shanghai Night also has a sign for its 18th anniversary there with some specials, all in Chinese. We’ll go there for the dumplings but we’ll go to New Shanghai Chinese for the fish and crab.
New Shanghai Chinese Restaurant
273 Liverpool Rd Ashfield
Tel: +61 (02) 9797 7284
Open 7 days 10:00am-10:00pm
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12 Comments | Add your own
Oh god I need some dumplings now and it’s only 8:30 in the morning!
ooohh how i love the salted egg yolk crab! the salted egg yolk tofu is good but not as good as the crab
I love the salted egg crab, but, if you are feeling indulgent, it is even better on lobster.
i really really really want to try a fried pork bun. i keep seeing them around the blog world and they sound fantastic. i think it’s time for some detective work.
White fungus and papaya dessert… see this is something I’d probably never order.. yet my horizons are widened when you influence me here at NQN! I’m glad you enjoyed the crab and fish. Did you have to pick out bones from the fish though?
You can’t beat authentic Chinese food! I shouldn’t read your blog before dinner as it pales in comparison. Sooo sad about your hubby’s past prezzies…good for you for trying to change all that!
Happy birthday to him! This looks like the kind of place I wouldn’t mind celebrating my birthday in either. Rocks and toilet cleaning supplies.. there WERE proper presents amongst the joke ones too, weren’t there!??
Hi SydneyGal-I sometimes get the urge for dumplings at inopportune times too
Hi chocolatesuze-I was seduced by the things in the pictures as the menu was so big! It was indeedy very good!
Hi Suzie-I do love lobster more but they didn’t have it here. There wasn’t a fish tank as far as I could see. It was still a great dish and that price was quite amazingly good!
Hi grace-if anyone could hunt one down I think you could with your ace sleuthing skills
Definitely worth googling for!
Hi Maria-Do you like the sweet tofu in syrup? If so, this is similar
It’s very cool and refreshing and would be great in summer. I was quite full by the time the fish came (they brought out each dish individually which I didn’t really like, I prefer them all at once and then helping myself from bits from each one) so I didn’t have as much as I normally would have. The bits I did have didn’t have much bone in them so that was good.
Hi Sharon-Thanks!
No one quite believes how scarred he is but he really hated birthdays when I first met him and preferred not to celebrate them. In case he got rocks I would imagine! 
Hi Y-I’ll pass that on
If you’re after some fish then the salted egg yolk crab is a twist on salt and pepper fish 
Nope, they were it. No joke present
Imagine being a kid and getting a bag of rocks from your front garden! And then when you’re an adult receiving a box from interstate at Christmas and opening it to see a toilet brush, domestos, Jif and a dangly loo tablet thingy. So I understand why he doesn’t like birthdays and Christmas as I was there when he opened the toilet supplies box 
Thanks so much for this review! I love shanghai food and I’ve only been to one of the restaurants in Ashfield despite living less than 10 minute away!
My favourite dish is the pan fried pork bun and I think it’s best when it’s crispy but full of hot soup inside!
Hi Jeanie-You’re welcome!
I wish I was that close, then I’d be there every night 
Yes it has to be crispy on the outside and nice and soft in the middle. Nothing better than that.
You mean there’s sweet tofu in syrup? I’ve never come across that before.. not to my knowledge?
I really don’t like it when one dish comes out first and you have to wait for the second meal.
I will always remember when my girl was about 4 or 5 and she and her Dad and I went to a local pizza kitchen. My daughter was the only one that had pizza. Her Dad and I ordered meat and veg type meals.. and they came out first. So the meals wouldn’t get cold, we started eating, thinking her pizza was not too far away. She didn’t want our meals. After 10 minutes she started crying from hunger (!!) and when I could finally flag down a staff member, it turned out they forgot her pizza. They made her one straight away..and gave us one to take home for free from memory.. and I think she received a wooden Pinocchio christmas tree ornament too. That place were always stuffing up (’scuse the expression), but because we liked the food, we’d keep going back. I haven’t been back there in ages.. I usually order their focaccia pizza to go (which isn’t bready at all.. just more yeasty and authentic I think than their standard pizza bases). I order cheese, olives and sausage as toppings.. fresh basil and olive oil go on top too. And a medium sized one is about $8.50?
Hi Maria-You can sometimes find it at Yum Cha. If you see a big wooden bucket with a lid they often have the tofu in that
Yes I know, we were really just wanting it all at once.
Arrgh, that’s terrible! But good that they tried to make up for it but still very frustrating. Your pizza choice sounds like what I would order (I might add sun dried tomatoes as I love them
).
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