Spending most of my upbringing in Port Macquarie has meant that I know absolutely nothing about Asian cuisines. Sure, there are several Chinese restaurants in Port, a couple of Japanese and a lot of Thai places, but apart from the latter, we never really ate at any of them. And, if we did, knowing nothing about such cuisines meant that we would order the same dishes, all the time. Sweet and sour pork, lemon chicken, green curry, fried rice, chow mein et cetera et cetera.
Now I live in Ashfield and am faced with the exact opposite. The main street, Liverpool Road, is bursting with Asian restaurants and, apart from the odd pub, not much else. I had tended to stay away from these restaurants, knowing nothing of what they had on offer. That was until I uncovered this little gem.
I was roped in by the crowds that queue outside for a table, and have now visited the local haunt on two occasions. One of those times we became the queue that I had passed so often. We were given a number and directed to stand outside the restaurant until said number was called. This took around 20 minutes and would've dampened my perspective of the restaurant had the food not been so good.
First, I must say that you don't go here for amazing decor or service. The decor is boring as hell. Plain white walls, equally dull tables and unappealing black metal chairs. Several televisions are suspended from the walls, a bit odd in my opinion - you visit New Shanghai to socialise. The only hint of fancy is the glass wall that separates front of house from the kitchen staff, who quickly, yet oh so smoothly, put together dumplings.
The service is the same as the decor: boring, dull and uninspiring. The restaurant cares more about its turnover (and perhaps it should considering the queues) than intimate service. As a result the service is all about speed. This should be looked on positively as orders are taken quickly, and our meals shortly follow.
The dishes we ordered on both occasions are all very nice and tremendously cheap. Anything with pork appeals to me, and the oddity of "rice cakes" meant the stir fried Chinese rice cake with shredded pork and vegetables ($9.80) was a dish I just had to try. Mind you, I also chose it because it was either that or noodles. I have not yet mastered the art of chopsticks so attempting the latter would have been disastrous. The rice cakes are very very hard to describe. They have little flavour themselves but act as an excellent sponge for the sauce. The pork is extremely tasty and there's actually a lot of it. The vegetables are a bit more sparse. All in all the dish is bursting with flavour and filling. I would order it again.
We try the steamed mini pork buns ($6.80) and pork and chives dumplings. Both are excellent. Eatability tells me that New Shanghai is known for its dumplings, and there's no questioning why. The serving sizes are generous and the ratio of dough to meat is spot on. I see that many people in the restaurant are ordering the fried dumpling varieties. I'm tempted but have to refrain given it's almost Christmas and I need to prepare my waistline.
Nathan orders the combination fried rice with beef, chicken and king prawns ($8.80) and spring rolls. He devours the rice, but not before dousing it in soy sauce. He praises New Shanghai for the large amount of meat in the rice and is clearly satisfied with the spring rolls as they're gone in a matter of minutes.
New Shanghai is an excellent Chinese restaurant, perhaps the best in Ashfield. This is certainly saying something considering the locale is basically a second Asia.
While living in the area I will probably continue to go back until I have tried most of the dishes, namely the xiao long bao which appears quite popular.
New Shanghai Chinese Restaurant, 273 Liverpool Road, Ashfield
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