Taste of Shanghai, Ashfield

After a gruelling day on a site visit to Cockatoo Island, the boy and I make a pitstop at Ashfield for some dumplings before his touch football game at Henley Park. We were there before 6 and easily nabbed some seats. I had been on an island all day and the winds weren't very favourable and left me numb all over! I was definitely in need of some heart warming food.

Braised pork belly noodle soup, $10.80

I was tossing up between this and the spicy beef belly noodle soup (BEEF BELLY! I don't think I've ever eaten that) but I ended up going with this one. The first thing that hit me when this arrived at the table was LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT BOWL OF NOODLES! But I was really looking forward to digging into that plate of juicy looking pork. Braised pork belly is a very traditional Shanghainese dish and I have it quite often at home. While this version was nice, it didn't quite meet the standards of my parent and grandparent's which I really do adore. The texture of the noodles were lovely but it had to be eaten with the pork belly which gave the noodles that extra oomph that the broth was lacking.

Look at that fatty goodness! Cannot be good for my cardiovascular health...

Pan seared pork dumpling, $9.80

While the noodles were nothing special, these were very good! Just look at the oil glistening on their skins! The bottom was fried until very crispy and had just enough char without being burnt. The dumplings themselves had plenty of broth inside which was very flavoursome. Dipped in vinegar, these were very tasty indeed.

While it was relatively empty when we arrived, by the time we finished and paid for our meal the restaurant was getting quite full and there were still people slowly trickling in. It normally does get very busy and the restaurant always seems to have good business.

If you're in the area and looking for some good dumplings, you know where to stop by.

Taste of Shanghai
264 Liverpool Rd
Ashfield, NSW, 2131
9798 2877

Trading hours
Daily 10am until late