Xiao Long Bao - Shanghai Dim Sum

Xiao Long Bao Shanghai Dim Sum has been opened for almost a couple of years now and it's one of the most frequented places I tend to go to for lunch and dinner.  Long known for its famous Xiao Long Bao, this restaurant is one of the newer ones that have opened up in Scarborough.  When one walks through the door, one gets a sense of cleanliness and grandness within the restaurant.  We went to this place a few months ago and our outing was a pretty decent one.  We usually do end up ordering the same stuff oddly because the food we order is the stuff we like and the foods we trust.

The 5 of us decided to order about 7 dishes from this restaurant.  Some of them were the restaurant's signature dishes while others were just something that we like to have every time we go.  First to start had to be their signature Xiao Long Baos.  6 rather large size Pork Dumplings were brought to our table.  Upon first impression, we could tell that the dumplings were a little greasy as the grease had soaked right through the paper already.  The skin was rather large as there was extra "skin" surrounding the meat dumplings.  As one took a bite inside, the pork meat was however quite juicy and tasty.  A tad greasy, plenty of juice but at the same time quite delightful.  For those who want the ultimate taste, some vinegar added to it will also help  enlighten the taste.

Pork Dumplings

Next to arrive was the Hot and Sour Noodle Soup and even though my stomach can't really stomach any spicy foods anymore as well as I would like, I still gave this soup a try to see if it was any different than some of the other places I had ever been to.  The soup was definitely pretty sour but despite this and there were plenty of ingredients inside this massive bowl of soup.  There were lots of tofu, bamboo shoots, shrimp and noodles inside of it and on a scale of 1 to 10 on the spicy scale, I probably would have given it a 8.

Hot and Sour Noodle Soup

One really can't walk into a Shanghai restaurant without ordering some Shanghai Noodles.  A small amount of onions mixed with a few pieces of shiitake mushroom blended with large amounts of shrimp made this Shanghai Noodles quite tasty and delicious.  The only thing I personally didn't like about it was once again the amount of oil within the dish itself.  It was tad bit greasy and one could feel more of that oily taste of it than anything else.  The noodles were perfectly cooked and each strand was pretty thick. It wasn't as colorful as I would have liked.  It didn't look like there was a whole lot of soya sauce added to the noodles which probably why the color was lacking as well.

Shanghai Noodles

We wanted some vegetables to complement some of the dishes we had so far that evening.  We went with a couple of them including the Stir Fry Pea Shoots Mixed with Shiitake Mushrooms.  Often we have the pea shoots mixed with garlic but tonight we decided to try something slightly different and I have to admit, having this alternative was no disappointment.  The dish was well seasoned and most of the tastes came directly  from the mushroom juices.  It was quite a pure dish and a nice alternative to many of the greasier dishes that we had to endure that evening. 

Stir Fried Pea Shoots mixed with Shiitake Mushrooms

Lion's Head Meatball  Soup is a combination of napa cabbage, large meatballs and mushrooms served in a beautiful broth and brought out and set on a portable hot stove.  This dish was absolutely perfect as once again the broth was rich with taste from the mushrooms and the meatballs.  The cabbage was nice and tender and the soup was not overly salty.  I had a few bowls of this dish that evening as the hot soup washed away the oil that was still in my mouth.  It was by far one of my favorite dishes of the evening.

Lion's Head Meatball  Soup

Overall, it was a standard evening to say the least.  As mentioned, I have eaten at this restaurant many times before and each time the amount of greasiness in its food is somewhat above average.  If they could reduce it by even 10%, I think the food would taste better.  Despite it, I still enjoy this place every time I go. The place is always packed and dinner time line ups are quite frequent at this restaurant.  If one is interested in tasting what Shanghai foods taste like, stop by and give them a try.  Also with plenty of parking outside, it certainly makes it easier for one to come by.  Overall I give it a 3.5 out of 5.


Xiao Long Bao -Shanghai Dim Sum
175 Commander Blvd Unit 1
Toronto, Ontario

416-291-0123