yè shanghai 夜上海

Among the many Shanghianese restaurants in Hong Kong, yè shanghai is one of my top picks not necessarily because of its food quality but for its consistency in its service, food quality and its overall execution. The Pacific Place outlet of yè shanghai is similar in service and food quality but the whole environment seems so crowded and populated all the time with staff rushing all over the tables. I prefer this TST location for its atmosphere and ambiance. On this rainy weeknight, I was bringing my cousin from Toronto around town for something Chinese / Shanghainese and I can only think of two right on top of my head: (1) 鼎泰豐 Din Tai Fung or (2) yè shanghai. Since I am not a big fan out queuing, I picked yè shanghai.



(1) Thousand year eggs with bean curd
This is one of my regular items to be ordered in any Shanghainese restaurant and this habit has not changed. For some reasons, it looked somehow different from how I remembered it last time when I dined here. It just didn't look as nice somehow. Not only does it looked different, it tasted rather different too, the sauce was rather weak. The thousand year eggs were chopped too fine in my opinion to have the texture it required to go along with the tofu / bean curd. More of the thousand year eggs would be nice too.



(2) Smoked tea leaf egg
Another one of my favorite items. Although there were just two of us, we ordered 2 whole eggs because half would not be enough for me! Flavor was very good, rich and deep with the tea leaf flavor but it was a bit over smoked making the yolk too solid in my opinion. Also, whoever was cutting the eggs before they were served, please try not to "mush" / "press" the egg too hard because it really affected the presentation of it!



(3) Sour and spicy soup
I did not have the soup myself but based on my cousin's facial expression, it was good soup indeed.



(4) Steamed Pork Dumplings (xiao long bao)
One word: Thick! The dough layer was too thick for my liking. There were not much soup inside as well which I consider to be an important element for a good xiao long bao. Rather disappointing. Maybe my memories are against me but I still recall having very good xiao long bao at this place and they still hand out little clips or tongs for us to pick the dumplings from the tip because the skin was too thin for the chopsticks. Or was that just another place? humm ...



(5) Spring Onion Pancakes
It was way better than I expected. the layers of the pancakes were thin and crisp. Most importantly, the whole thing was not greasy at all. It was pretty filling but it was good. The usual spring onion pancakes you see out there are the greasy thin pancakes instead of this kind of pastry type which I personally prefer.



(6) Sauteed minced chicken with pine nuts served with sesame pastry pockets
I often order this dish as a after-dish from the Peking duck leftovers so the meat would not go to waste. Since no Peking duck was ordered, I opted for the minced chicken instead. The addition of the pine nuts gave the meat mixture a rather refreshing texture to it. Flavor wise it was alright, no surprises but, in my opinion, it would better with a bit of "ho sin" (seafood) sauce together with the crisp pastry pockets.



(7) Crispy rice with seafood in light Chinese sauce
I should have ordered the sweet and sour sauce (or tomato sauce) instead of this because it was rather plain in taste and flavor. The crispy wise though was pretty good, dry and non-greasy. If you have no special preferences in terms of sauce, I would recommend a more favorable sauce, which would be the sweet and sour or tomato sauce.

Likes:

• Decor and atmosphere + great service as always.
  
• Spring Onion Pancakes - puffy and pastry type, very thin layers and non-greasy
  
• Smoked tea leaf egg - rich and deep in tea leaf flavor
  

Dislikes:

• Steamed Pork Dumplings (xiao long bao) - skin was too thick
  
• Crispy rice with seafood in light Chinese sauce - this sauce was rather plain and flavor-less

Avg Spending: HKD 200 - 300 per person

yè shanghai 夜上海
6/F, Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel,
3 Canton Rd, TST
Tel: 2376 3322


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