Eat Out - Shanghai Noodle House

Day 208

After the last failed attempt to have dumplings at Shanghai Village Dumpling, I have been craving for dumplings, in particular, 红油炒手. The first time I had it was at Dumplings Plus and I have been hooked on it ever since. I wanted to try out all the dumpling houses in the city to find the best dumplings but I'm not sure if I will ever step into Shanghai Village to try theirs, I hate bad service! Tonight's choice? Shanghai Noodle House. Oily tables, oily chairs, self-served tea and utensils. I wouldn't mind all these if the food is good. We ordered 担担面 ($7)，红油水饺 ($7.50), 酸辣汤 ($5) and 油炸云吞 ($7.50).

First to arrive was 红油水饺. It looked kinda weird as the soup wasn't red and there was this peanut sauce on top of the soup. There were also slices of egg and seaweed. Despite all these, the dumplings were pretty decent. The skin was smooth and not too thick and the filling was well-seasoned. I would prefer it to be spicier though, that's the whole point of ordering 红油水饺!

Next up was 担担面 and I was disappointed. I was hoping to have some QQ, chewy noodles but the noodles were overcooked and they were soggy. The sauce was alright but I would prefer to have more meat in it. Mr Tan ate 1 spoonful of it and I probably only ate one-eighth of it. Sigh.

Then came the so-called 油炸云吞. It was more like pan-fried. We were hoping for the deep-fried wanton, deep-fried, oily wantons! Not these pan-fried dumplings. Out of the 15 pieces, Mr Tan only ate 5. If it was the deep-fried ones that we were expecting, I'm sure Mr Tan won't have any problems finishing them. I didn't try any of it as I was already stuffed with the chilli dumplings.

Finally, 酸辣汤. This is probably the best dish of the night. I always love 酸辣汤, it never fails to perk me up and although it wasn't spicy, it was definitely sour, but not overpowering. It was the only dish that we finished.

Though many have given positive reviews about Shanghai Noodle House, I won't be coming back as I don't feel satisfied after the meal. I still have 3 more dumpling places to check out but to date, Dumplings Plus and Hutong are still the best and of course, more expensive.