A week in Brisbane whilst visiting the familiy meant a week of eating. It’s a given. Eating at a family members house or in this case eating at a place that supposedly does Brisbanes best XLB. That would be xiao long bao for those that are yet to have their soup dumpling popped. Located in an uninspiring suburban shopping strip in Sunnybank, an area saturated with a multitude of asian restaurants, Shangpaign Kitchen is one of a handful of Shanghainese eateries in this sprawling town.
The décor is very much a contemporary affair with deep red walls and a curious painting of the San Francisco skyline. To be honest, who cares about the fitout, where’s that menu? As the restaurant filled up with people, not that it takes much, I thought it may be best to get a couple of orders in before everyone else did.
The pork & chive dumplings didn’t generate too much excitement with their mediocre flavourings, not even with a bit of black vinegar. Next!
Getting down and dirty with szechuan style shredded pork and a pile of thin pancakes added a bit of interaction to the lunch. The pork and noodle concoction remind me of those northern Chinese dishes with the ingredients glistening in a film of oil and the generosity with the chilli aroused a few of the senses.
Reminding me of a dish I had at Dragon-i Restaurant in KL, the Shanghai style fried chicken is one of those things that someone orders and everyone wants it all to themselves. The tender little nuggets of crispy chicken are screaming with flavour and the very mild chilli kick is welcomed with open mouths. Absolute deliciousness.
The serve of xiao long bao comes in a two-storey steamer and just by looking at them I could see they weren’t going to be the best. Biting into the skin didn’t reveal a great deal of soup, next to none actually, and the overall flavour just wasn’t quite there.
The saving grace had to be these. Fried pork buns. Just by glancing around the small restaurant you can see what the locals are coming to Shangpaign Kitchen for. Out of all the tables in the place just two weren’t eating them. Good lord these things were a sensation. The first attempt I actually burnt my lips on the searing bun. The soup that I expected in the xlb happened to be inside these puckered little babies with the small lump of pork mince sploshing around in a savoury bath of tasty goodness.
Mighty fine buns you’ve got there Shangpaign, mighty fine.
Shangpaign Kitchen Shop 24, Centro Parkland, 647 Beenleigh Road Sunnybank 4109 07 3345 9975 Wed-Mon 11am-10.30pm BYO $3 pp
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Ooh I’ve never tried Shanghai fried chicken before but it looks delicious! (but then again what kind of fried chicken isn’t?) And I’m glad that the fried pork buns made up for the soup-less XLB – the soup is the best part!
Jacq recently posted..Ad Lib Bistro- Pymble
Whoa – that fried chicken please – but fried chicken is my weakness these days. And burning hot pork buns
Tina@foodboozeshoes recently posted..Asia tripping – part II- Muar- Johor- Malaysia
I love Shanghai fried chicken and the basket cone presentation, but sometimes you get a bit of gristle.
oohh i could very well be craving shanghai fried chicken this saturday & i will be sure to try the fried pork buns! dayle
Mmm at least the hit and misses ended on a hit, and a mighty fine hit at that! The buns look to die for! Whenever I’m up there we’re always being fed at home, need to try and get out and find some eats next time!
angie recently posted..Banana Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting – A Special Birthday Cake for the BF! And my blog too
Good to have a food blogger willing to give several dishes a go in order to tell us which ones are the winners
Gaby recently posted..Recipe- Causa de atún
Glad to see you actually enjoyed Shangpaign kitchen. Unfortunately when I went, my experience was mediocre. There seems to be a bit of inconsistency in the quality too, like you mentioned there was no soup in your XLB’s but there was plenty in mine. Either way. Nice review
Joanne @ Omggimmenow recently posted..Chat Thai
Guess what?
You are officially the guy in my head whenever i see xlb and pork dumplings now. Haahaaa! So ermm.. i’ll be thinking of you quite a bit come next week and the week after because i’ll be in the Land of Yellow and Green Stuff!
Looks gorgeous! I would definitely order the pan fried buns if I were there. Shame about the xlb.
Susan recently posted..Rogan Josh
I love that first photo, and the presentation of the fried chicken is very cool! I’m embarrassed by the lack of knowledge I have for these dishes, I’m very intrigued but I could never tell what’s authentic and what’s not!
Maria @ Scandifoodie recently posted..Grilled watermelon and haloumi salad
Asian King on King St, Newtown (the place with the $6 lunch specials) does a Shanghai fried chicken (I think it’s called ‘bamboo basket chicken’ ) that’s worthy of any banquet table in Shanghai.
The chief, before opening his own place, used to cook at the big name Chinese resturants in Chinatown and trained a couple of these restaurants on how to make xia long bao when the Shanghainese specialty took off in a big way a couple of years ago.