Chinese New Year at New Shanghai

I am getting a brand shiny new nephew in April. I’m thinking of having a t-shirt made for him that says “My aunty loves me more than peanut butter,” because I do, even though I haven’t met him. Crazy right?

I really love peanut butter, anything with peanut butter in it, or on it, or around it. and I’m there. When New Shanghai opened last year I heard that they had wontons coated in peanut butter. This earned them a place on the top of my ‘places to eat’ list (I really must come up with a more creative name for it)

The Neph (his official title) is half mongrel-Aussie (my side is English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, German and maybe a bit Swiss) and half Chinese-Malaysian; a truly multicultural little man. As his coolest only Aunty it is my job to spoil him rotten with chaotic, noisy, messy gifts and hand him back to his loving parents. Therefore I need to get a handle on all the celebrations he will be part of. With Chinese New Year approaching, I was delighted to accept an invitation to dine at New Shanghai to try their special Chinese New Year dishes- a bit of a preview of what this celebration is all about.

I was very impressed that the first question we were asked after being seated was if we have any allergies. Having just read Nina’s post on Allergy Friendly Restaurants (and the lack of them), I was surprised that finding cooperative places is such a hassle. We are allergy free and we eat pork (the second question) so we placed our drink orders and awaited our feast.

The drinks list is quite big with a range of the usual suspects, traditional and ‘special’ drinks, cocktails, mocktails, bottled beers and a small wine list. The wine list sticks to recognisable mainstream wines at affordable prices but they do allow BYO wine too. I went for an Annie’s Lane Riesling (not sure what vintage) from the Clare valley- a classic dry riesling from the Clare with lingering lime citrus.

Our first dish was New Shanghai Pan-fried Pork Buns ($10.50 for 8)

Exceptional. These may be some of my favourite dumplings ever. They had that lovely fluffy bao dough with a crispy bottom and subtley flavoured pork mince in the centre.

We also ploughed our way through Xiao Long Bao ($7.80 for 8)

‘Soup dumplings’ are always a favourite and these had a good flavour concentration (no watery bland soup here).

Next up was one of the New year specials- Stir-fried Luffa with Fresh Soy Beans ($15.80) and a huge plate of fried rice ($9.90).

I was brand new to luffa, initially thinking it was some kind of cooked cucumber. I don’t know exactly how to describe this to the uninitiated, it was a little like a cross between a zucchini and a cucumber and was cooked until soft and tender and a little slippery. I liked it but I LOVED the piles of soy beans I could scoop onto my rice.

The fried rice was excellent too; very fresh with plump, perfectly cooked shrimp.

The star of the show was another special – Pork Trotters Braised Overnight in Brown Sauce ($38.80).

When I say ‘star of the show’, I mean it. Heads turned as we were brought this enormous glistening piece of meat and the guy on the table behind me came over to ask what it was. The trotter was so big we thought about offering him some We were provided with a knife and fork to carve but these were not necessary, the meat fell off the bone with a small tap and could easily have been ‘carved’ with a spoon. I am not normally a meat fat eater (much to the chagrined of my friends) but this time it was rendered so nicely and the caramelised skin meant that I dug back in for a second serve.

We had quite a bit of food left over and fortunately were allowed to take it home with us (delicious the second night too). I’m so glad that there are some restaurants that still allow ‘doggy bags’, this was too good to waste.

We were brought a serve of Steamed Sticky Rice Cake with Edible Flowers ($8.80) for dessert.

I had a little nibble (it was all I could manage) to find a dense and chewy dessert, not unlike the texture of turkish delight with a subtle coconut sweetness.

Our meal was excellent and the service faultless. I was surprised how busy it was on a Thursday evening but there were plenty of very polite and attentive wait staff. I’m a little glad I didn’t get my peanut butter dumplings because it gives me a reason to return very soon.

I did a spot of googling about Chinese New Year and found that at its core, it is a celebration about family. It is also very clearly about gluttony food. I think I’m going to be able to embrace this celebration with my new little nephew. Watch this space

For more reviews and some cheeky recipes subscribe below or follow me on Instagram or Facebook 

Disclosure: I dined as a guest of New Shanghai but all opinions and ideas remain my own