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| - I have been to this place 5-6 times now. I am from Shanghai and I have to say this is the first place I have found in Montreal that serves decent xiao long bao (little dragon soup dumplings), which comes close to the authentic ones you get in Shanghai.
HOWEVER, the service is amongst the worst I have experienced, even for Chinese restaurant standards. Last time I was here, I ordered the jellyfish, seasoned cucumber, xiao long bao and the Shanghai fried bun (Sheng Jian Bao).
When we sat down at our table, it took about 20 mins before we got our water and here is the "best" part, the water we go was actually the water that our neighbouring table had. I watched one of the waitress bring the water to the next table, leave, then get called back because the table next to us wanted room temperature water. I then watched the waitress pick those cups of water, turn around and place those same cups of water on our table. She then walks away as if nothing happened. I was completely shocked. Even if a place is popular and cheap and has good xiao long bao, this should never be done. It is unsanitary.
If you think this is bad, then just wait and keep reading.
The cucumber we ordered were fully mushy, and it tasted fermented. I know that these cucumbers are soaked chili oil for flavour, but I don't think they should taste carbonated and mushy as if they were made last week and left out all week.
The jellyfish was decent, but a bit on the salty side.
The xiao long bao were pretty good, but tasted less soup filled than usual and less hot. I feared after that they were not steamed long enough, but thankfully, the pork looked cooked and I did not get sick after.
The best (or worst) part was the Shanghai fried bun. I watched the cook place it in the frier and I also watched him take it out. I then heard him comment to the waitress in Chinese that these Shanghai fried buns were not like the usual batches he makes. I watched him leave it on the counter for about 10min, before the waitress decide to serve it to us anyways. The cook was right, it did look a bit odd. I opened one up and of course, I could see raw pork and uncooked dough. At this point in time, I called the waitress over and pointed out that the Shanghai fried bun was still raw inside. Instead of apologizing, she instead gave me a dirty look when I asked if I can have a new pair of chopsticks. The waitress took the buns and walked to the front, where she pokes around into the bun and confirm with the cook in Chinese that the pork was indeed raw.
At this point in time, any other restaurant would have at least ask me if I would like a new batch made and apologized for any in conveniences. I understand, stuff like this happen even in the best restaurants and its ok if it only happens once or twice and they handle the situation properly. But at this place, instead of of making a new batch, they took the half open Shanghai fried buns that was on our table, stick them back into the frier and then return them to our table.
I was completely shocked and very upset. First of all, they have ruined the Shanghai fried bun, which is also a specialty dish from Shanghai. Secondly, it is just unacceptable for them to behave in such a manner to customers and also handle food like this.
I had a hard time deciding which star rating to give this place...
For the xiao long bao alone, I would give this place a 4 star rating, but for eveything else, they deserve a 1 star rating at the most and I hope for the customer's sake, they improve their food safety. I hope that no ones has to go home with gastro...
I am still undecided if I want to go back to this place. If you do go, watch what you are getting carefully.
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