New Shanghai in Chatswood Chase

For a feel of eating a rustic hawker style Shanghainese fare, we ventured out to Chatswood Chase's New Shanghai.

New Shanghai Xiao Long Bao - Steamed mini pork bun 

Nobody goes for Shanghainese and passes on Xiao Long Bao. Nobody. These ones are awesome. I cheat. I am wimp for a burnt mouth and so I bite a tiny hole under the dumpling and test the temperature of the soup inside first, suck it out if it is cool enough or let it drip onto my hovering spoon before sipping at the delicious stock and then polishing off the dumpling. These ones were the right temperature and a had a good skin that was strong enough to hold the filling, but delicately translucent, yet firm to the bite.

Pan fried pork dumpling
Shallot pancake

These other two are firm Taiwanese/Shanghainese favourites too and we delighted in the crispiness of the fried parts and the well seasoned flavours.

Drunken chicken - Chicken soaked in Chinese wine with herb & spice
Deep fried pastry filled with shallot & ham, & coated with sesame

These dishes are stranger to stomach. A cold chicken dish, marinated in wine and Chinese herbs. I loved it, but it wasn't quite a crowd pleaser if you're squirmish to cold chicken. The pastry dish was odd too for our palate as the ham filling was almost like a sandwich filling, but the fried pastry was an asian texture. Married together, our Asian instincts tell us this could be a fusion dish for Anglo-saxon palates.

Si Chuan style sauce stir fried with pork mince served with dry-noodle
Stir fried Chinese rice cake with Shepherd's purse & shredded pork

Cha Jiang Mian is the first noodle dish on the top. It wasn't spicy at all, and some what bland, attributable to the fact that it is very difficult to evenly toss the udon-like noodle in the oily sauce and even more difficult to ensure you scoop enough of the pork mince sauce into each bite of noodle.
At least the Rice Cake dish was a better distribution of flavour, but it was a delicate dish with subtle flavours, reminding me that the Eastern Chinese provinces are far less generous with spices as the Southern counterparts where we hail from.

I have never been to Shanghai before and so whilst this place was believable in its authencity, I really am no authority on this subject. What we all agreed on however was that the place was really good value for spend and the food, whilst lacking in presentation, was good for its taste. Do go if you are ever in the vicinity.