Little Shanghai Restaurant

Yi brought us to Melbourne's Chinatown right after we arrived and we had a very satisfying Shanghainese meal at Little Shanghai, which is located in a side alley on the main Chinatown street. The prices are very reasonable, even for fresh-off-the-plane people like us. However, my tongue being the way it is, I found most of the dishes slightly lacking in true cooking skills. Yet I know the place, very unpretentious and simple, is Shanghainese-owned because the couple in charge were speaking Shanghainese and the menu featured surprisingly very authentic Shanghainese dishes. I think it all came down to the fact that I judged it by the jiaoze . The 'skin' or wrapping was not only very thick (which actually is the way they do it in Shanghai. The very thin-skinned ones I call 'West Malaysian' potstickers), it didn't have the right texture and my guess is they used boiling hot water to make the dough, like you do for Peking duck pancakes. Still, judging by the big lunchtime crowd of Asians and gweilos, nobody was complaining.

Guotie (fried potstickers/dumplings), A$5.80/RM17 for 15 pcs.


Shuijiao (boiled potstickers), price same as above.


Spring onion pancake, A$2.50/RM7.50. Very oily and bland.


Jajiang mien noodles, A$6.00/RM18. Okay but I won't recommend it.


Fried sticky ricesticks, A$7.50/RM22. A bit bland and lacking in ingredients but good if you douse it with lots of chili oil sauce.