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| - A friend recently posed a pic of a Shanghai style soup steamed bun, the kind you have to drink the soup through a straw first before you can eat. I was super excited as I haven't seen one in TO and haven't had one since being Shanghai.
I used to be in Shanghai for a short period of time and so I came to try this place out.
While it wasn't bad, I was gravely disappointed. Perhaps I had too high expectations? Perhaps I've had the real thing? Well authenticity was out the door but I applaud their efforts to mirror the flavours and textures. However, for the price and type of food there are other more authentic options.
Here's what we ordered
One of each king sized buns (crab roe - 7.99, shark fin 8.99)
The crab roe isn't roe but minced crab meat, good on them though for the minimum fake shark fin.
The Shanghai version has a meat ball with the crab in it. Their version, when opened only contained tiny bits of meat with some frozen shrimp and scallops.
Classic Shanghai mini wontons (7.99/bowl) it was mainly wonton skins. I couldn't tell what the filling was.
Cold dish minced wild veggies with bean curd (7.99) the veggies were a little "old". Making the texture and dish overall very dry. The Shanghai version uses fresh veggies so the dish is very crunchy.
Deep fried onion pancake (4.99) excellent! The pastry to onion ratio was just right and not too oily.
Spicy bean sauce and minced pork noodles (7.99/bowl) the noodles were an excellent texture. Not over or under cooked. The sauce I felt was missing the bean and minced pork, most of all the "spicy". It was mainly cubes of old style bean curd, potatoes and the occasional cube of pork. The spice factor was a 1.5 on a scale of 1-10. You could see the red oil but there was little to no heat.
The prices were a bit high for what you get, but considering the location, I guess it's acceptable.
My 2 stars? The pancake, the welcoming and excellent service and overall cleanliness of the place.
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