I used to occasionally like coming to the La Mian Xiao Long Bao branches of the big Crystal Jade chain a long time ago. But after discovering places like Hometown, these guys went right out the door for me as just mediocre mass-produced chain restaurant food. It had been so long since I'd been to one of these places though that I figured it wouldn't hurt to get a refresher today and reassess my take.
The good thing is that my memory was pretty good, as it pretty much tasted pretty much as I remembered it. The bad thing of course, is that meant that it was generally dismissable and something I'd pass on again. Some Sichuan style cold noodle turned out to be sour and lacking in that Sichuan spiciness that I would have wanted. A rice cake thing with a dip (kinda like that Thai one at Thanying) disappointingly came with a sweet and sour sauce reminiscient of American Chinese food. And the scallion oil hand pulled noodle also proved mildly sweet (a personal turn-off of mine).
Well, on a slightly more positive note, I still do kinda like this one crispy shiitake mushroom-stuffed tofu skin thing they have, even if I needed to drown it in the hot sauce provided on the table in order to give it more of an edge. And I guess the xiao long bao were a little better than I remembered it, with a decently thin skin. But the taste of the stuffing wasn't anything to write home about, nor was the craftsmanship that meticulous either. In the end, this still won't be a place I'll be coming to out of my own free will. But at least I know of which dishes I can use to endure the process if needed...just make sure that I have access to that chili oil.
5 comments:
Personally, I like their Five Spice Beef Noodle for its tasty broth and fresh noodles.
Have you tried the drunken chicken or the cold dishes? The banana dessert is also pretty good.
I noticed that you mentioned chicken rice in a couple of posts. Since you are familiar with Far East Plaza, do look for this shop at the fifth floor. I forgot the name, but the chicken rice was good.
Oh, you should try their Nanjing salted duck. Its good. I like the Spicy la mian with minced pork and mushroom. Those are good. For dim sum, xiao long bao is good, the guotie (pot stickers) are good too, the dumplings are better than the dishes. Try the eel with chive shoots too. They are lovely. You can try Imperial Treasure on Ngee Ann City Level 5 too. They have good Cantonese and Shanghainese food.
yes the food here generally not great and not authentic, the drunken chicken is the only dish i remembered that is not too bad.
try temple street "Lao Shanghai", smith street there is a cheap and not too bad shanghai noodle place too.
Do you mean these guys?
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