Hello Hello! This past weekend was Mid-Autumn festival and my family decided to have our dinner at Shanghai River. Shanghai River is located directly across from Richmond Centre so it is not a hard place to find. It also has a designated parking lot so you don’t need to worry about paying at the meter.
Shanghai River dumplings
Since we went on such a busy day, we had to wait at the door for a while even though we had reservations. On the way to our table, we were greeted by a big area where you’re able to watch people making the dumplings they serve on their menu. The lady making them looked like she was enjoying herself and showed us how she folded each dumpling after she saw us oogling her from the other side of the glass.
The menu at Shanghai River is quite extensive but we decided to go with their $588/10 people set menu with the addition of soup dumplings and tan tan noodles.
Shanghai River Cold Platter
This platter came with “jelly fish”, braised soy protein, shredded cabbage, braised bamboo shoots, squid, and braised fish. There wasn’t anything too special about it but I did really like the squid because you usually don’t find it in appetizer platters.
Soup dumplings
There are a must have at Shanghainese restaurants so we ordered 3 sets of them. I haven’t had soup dumplings in a while but these were pretty close to the ones I had at Din Tai Fung in Taiwan. The dumpling skin was relatively thin so you had a nice balance between the pork filling and the outside. They had a soy-vinegar dipping sauce to go with it that added acidity to the richness of it. I would definitely get these again.
Braised Lobster and Crab with ricecakes
I was excited to try this dish out because I love my rice cakes. Unfortunately, lil’ bun and I were not fans of this dish. The sauce the rice cakes were cooked in was oddly sweet and didn’t go well with it. We also found that there was inconsistency in the texture of the rice cakes because the ones on top would be chewy but the ones on the bottom were much too soft.
The crab and lobster was cooked well and the pieces weren’t cracked too much so you didn’t have any small pieces of shell lying around.
Shark’s Fin in Abalone soup
This was a huge bowl of soup. There was more than enough for everyone and we could have had 2.5 bowls each if we wanted. Lil’ bun and I were both very impressed with how substantial the soup was because there was quite a bit of “shark fin” and abalone slices in there.
We also got crispy rice pieces to go with our soup. They were very crunchy and held up to being dipped into the soup without completely falling apart in it. This definitely gave the soup a few more bonus points.
Deep Fried Duck Meat with Taro
I never would have imagined putting the two of these things together but they actually worked together. The taro gave it an earthy flavor, the duck added a chewiness, and the crispy exterior added crunch. It came with a salty plum sauce that helped tie everything together. If you’re looking to try something new, this would definitely be a dish to order for that.
Scrambled Egg White with Broccoli
This dish reminded me of a stereotypical “body builder” meal because it was literally just egg whites with broccoli. Nothing special to it but I liked that we were having something vegetarian friendly.
Tan Tan noodles
If you are a fan of all things spicy, get this because it sure packed a punch! I’m not sure what kind of noodles they made this with but they were soft and slightly “bouncy” in texture. It wasn’t as chewy as ramen but it definitely reminded me of them. The broth itself was very nutty from the tahini (sesame paste) in it. There wasn’t a lot of ground meat on top though so if you are looking for protein, this wouldn’t be the dish to get. If it’s too spicy for you, it still tastes great if you just fish the noodles out to eat without the broth.
Braised Sea vegetables
When it comes to this dish, lil’ bun is always trying to decipher between the shiitake mushroom pieces and the sea cucumber. Everything was tender and heavily covered in a thick soy-based sauce. Nothing stood out about it but I’d have it again.
Braised fish with green onion
It was not a good idea for this to come out towards the end of our meal because by this time, we were all too full to have much of it. The exterior of the fish was lightly fried before being drenched in sauce. This removed the crispy factor of the fish but made it easier to take apart. The meat came apart nicely and wasn’t overcooked or dry.
Pan Fried handmade noodles
These noodles were lightly seasoned with soy sauce throughout but it wasn’t to the point that they were salty. The noodles were dry and pan-fried with green onions and mushrooms.
Red Bean paste pie
Lil’ bun and I were both looking forward to trying this out but the name definitely didn’t match what we got. We imagined a flaky pie with red bean filling but instead it was a pancake-like “pie.” The batter was reminiscence of a crepe but heavier on the egg. Both of us thought that the filling could of been more evening distributed because the pancake had 3 layers to it but the red bean was only between one of the layers. We did like how the crispy exterior gave the “pie” more texture though!
I don’t go to Chinese-style restaurants very often and am not easily impressed by them but I did enjoy this meal quite a bit. So yes, I would come back sometime especially for the tan tan noodles and dumplings!