I am a big lover of Shanghai food. Some of my favorite dishes are probably the (1) spicy pork dumplings drenched in spicy oil and covered in pork floss (hung yau chau say), (2) the spicy noodles in a peanut sauce with a sprinkling of ground pork atop it (dan dan mian) and (3) the soup -filled pork dumplings (siu lung bao).
When walking around Tsim Sha Tsui East looking for food, my husband suggested we try out Shanghai Min. We've both not been there before, but we were looking for some warm foods to comfort us on this chilly evening.
Location
UG2 Tsim Sha Tsui Centre
66 Mody Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
Contact
2369 - 8899
Hours
Monday - Sundays
11:30 - 3 pm
6 pm - 11 pm
*Reservations available*
We go there around 6pm, which was really lucky because the kitchen opened up at 6pm. There were a handful of people who were there before us and they were waiting until 6pm to get their orders in. So, taking note of the times when the restaurant is open for service is quite valuable!
This place seems like a classy place, but also quite casual. The staff were quite professional…or more so than your usual canteen! I liked how they worked fast, were quite efficient at clearing our table, and also made sure if we were doing all right (somewhere in the middle of our dinner). That was quite thoughtful.
The menu was beautiful! I love menus with pictures of what the dishes are. The pictures were quite true to what the actual dishes looked like, which is always great.
I'm not sure if the first little appetizer was complimentary, but it seems like it was apart of the meal…just like you pay for the tea that comes with your meal at most places. But, the little appetizer that greeted us at our table before we ordered was a pickled radish dish. It was pretty good…but I quite like sour, vinegary things…so, I'm quite bias!
The first dish we ordered was recommended by the restaurant. It sort of reminded me of Beijing Duck because it was a bit of meat that you placed on a bun and ate. This was a cube of pork with a layer of the most delicious tasting fat that I have ever eaten. Who knew that fat could be so darn delicious. But, it also came in the most wonderful sauce that I have ever tasted. The combination of the meat, the sauce and the bun were really nice.
It was also fun to eat. A mini Chinese burger…or sandwich.
The next dish we got was one of our Shanghai staples…the spicy pork dumplings. These were all right. They weren't as spectacular as some that I've had at other places, but they did have a really nice sauce that the dumplings were resting in.
The next dish was the cutest thing that I'd ever seen. We each got a single serving of the recommended soup-filled pork dumpling. It was topped with crab eggs, I believe. It was also quite nice, but nothing spectacular. I did enjoy it…though..and it was almost double the size of a normal siu long bao!
The last dish we got was the dan dan mian. This was pretty good as well. I enjoyed it because it was just the perfect warm dish I needed to satisfy my stomach for the night. It was not as spicy as I had thought it would be, but it did have a really nice soup flavor.
For dessert, we got a red bean cake. This was just the perfect thing to end the meal with. It was lovely and crispy on the outside and warm and sweet on the inside. I love red bean desserts. I would totally recommend this as a way to end a dinner. I'm not sure if this came recommended by the restaurant, but we had this before at several other Shanghai restaurants and this one was comparably quite nice too!
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of dining at Shanghai Min. The food was pretty good. There were two dishes that I enjoyed more than the others, but, then again, we ordered food we usually order…so, of course, comparisons would be made!
This was a really nice place to eat at. I think, when in the area…and in the mood for Shanghai food again…I would definitely go back. Though, I think I would chance ordering some new dishes and expanding my taste-bud knowledge of Shanghai cuisine!
