Shanghai River 滬江

Shanghai River is completely packed every night, even on weeknights, and there's a good reason for that. The food is great and the service has improved. Even though we came for dinner, we ordered mostly dim sum dishes. This appetizer of chopped shepherd's purse and bean curd roll (薺菜腐皮卷) was excellent and also very healthy.

I remember the noodles were not particularly good during my previous visit, so I was surprised that the noodles with preserved vegetables and shredded pork (雪菜肉絲湯麵) was quite good. The picture doesn't look too appealing because I forgot to take a picture before we dug in. The soup was light and not too salty, and the noodles were soft but still slightly chewy.

Of course a Shanghainese meal would not be complete without xiao long bao (南翔小籠包). I love the juicy buns with hot soup inside. They were not as intense in flavour as some other ones I've tried, but I appreciated the lightly marinated pork and mild soup.

We ordered a steamed roll (蒸銀絲卷) which is a very simple dish, but also one that's difficult to master. Luckily this roll was done nicely with soft and fluffy threads wrapped inside an equally soft bun. The roll is usually served with condensed milk, but most restaurants only give a tiny plate that's not enough for dipping the whole roll. This place did a very good job and gave a generous portion of condensed milk. First time I had leftover dip by the time I finished!

To conclude the meal, we had a famous Chinese dessert which is essentially fried egg whites with red bean paste (高麗豆沙). The egg whites are whipped until firm, then sweetened red bean paste is wrapped inside and the whole thing is fried and served hot. The texture of the finished product is similar to that of a marshmallow. I really liked it but I think it was ever so slightly overcooked since the skin was a bit chewy and the egg whites were not as soft and fluffy as they should be.

Overall it was a great meal with good quality food and decent service. I can understand why there are so many people lining up for dinner here every night. The place is a bit pricey, but I would still consider coming back once in a while for tasty Shanghainese food.