New Shanghai

New Shanghai

226 Queen St, Brisbane

(Ph) 07 3108 7652

I went back to Brisbane for a short visit a few weeks ago - of course I had to try the new Shanghainese restaurant downstairs at Queens Plaza! I had been to New Shanghai in Sydney on various occasions before so was super excited they had opened one up on Brisbane! Finally Brisbane has some good quality XLB without the crazy prices like at Bamboo Basket.

We came here for lunch on a weekday - came at noon and it was packed already! Luckily the wait wasn't too long (when we agreed to share table with other poeple) as they like to get people in and out quickly, so don't come here expecting a nice long lunch!

The decor is very authentic with wooden stools and an old bicycle outside - like you're really in a Shanghainese alley. There are lanterns and firecrackers hanging inside and paintings of Chinese ladies on the walls - just like the other New Shanghai restaurants.

We started off with some starters - Chopped cucumber tossed with fresh garlic $4.50

I don't know why my parents like this dish so much - it's just cucumber, and yeah, it was just cucumber lol. I think it's meant to be cured a bit which softens the cucumber, but these were quite raw and crunchy.

Mum also wanted the Braised dry bean curd with black mushroom soaked in soy sauce $5.50

Quite flavoursome, but they weren't very generous with the black mushroom.

My favourite! <3 New Shanghai Xiao Long Bao - steamed mini pork buns (8pcs) $7.50

They're not as regular and pretty as at Din Tai Fung, but the skin was still quite thin and the meat was juicy with lots of soup inside. Yum <3 Would have liked it if they gave us some ginger to go with them though.

Next came the Pan fried pork dumpling (8pcs) $9.50

Super crunchy bottoms with slightly thicker skin but juicy meat and delicious soup inside again =)

Another favourite - New Shanghai pan fried pork bun (8pcs) $9.90

What's with the random sesame seeds on them? =P But look at the beautifully crunchy bun bottoms! crunchy on the bottom but soft on the top - and again, juicy meat and lots of hot soup inside =)

We also got some main dishes - Deep fried fish served with cold noodle $10.80

Cold handmade Shanghai noodles with sesame sauce. The deep fried fish was really delicious - fried yet juicy like it's been cured.

Last came the Stir fried eel with garlic, ginger, pepper & soy sauce $19.80

Looks kinda bad aye? =P This wasn't as good as we thought it'd be, it had a bit too much sauce and was too salty. We actually wanted some steamed mantao's to go with it but they don't make mantao's here! So we just had it with the noodles from the deep fried fish dish which helped cut some of the saltiness.

Food~
7/10 - stick with the usual Shanghainese dishes and you'll get some great food =)

Service~
3/5 - very quick with their dishes, think they premake some of the popular dishes 'cause they know most people order them

Atmosphere~
3/5 - I really liked the decor of the restaurant!

Now they just need a New Shanghai in Melbourne! =)

C.
xo