Chen's Shanghai Kitchen - Richmond, BC

Hey, you wanna know where the best xiao long bao is? - Papa Panda.  Um, YES!  We quickly google map Chen's Shanghai Kitchen and PP recommends we go outside of prime dining hours as it gets busy rather quickly.  Right after work Mr. Piglet and I hit up the place to see if Papa Panda has led us astray...

Whoa.  It's a dive.  Don't come here for the ambiance folks cuz you're not getting any, not even reused table cloths or a real painting on the walls.

There's a chef in the back hand making the steamed dumplings.  This Piglet is getting excited!!!

 

Baiyulan Steamed Mini Pork Buns (menu) aka Steamed Soup Buns (receipt) aka Xiao Long Bao (what the server called them) - $4.50

Warning: eat these with caution!  There's so much tasty hot liquid in the dumplings that when I took a bite, the table, my jacket and my hand got a nice shower of dumpling juice.  I'm not irritated that it's on my hand and jacket but that I wasted that delicious broth.  I think there's something wrong with me.  Anyhoooo...  these things are the best xlb that I've ever had.  Everyone, a hand of applause for Papa Panda and his excellent recommendation!  The skin is thin and the meat is tender with a bit of chew and that delicious dumpling juice is so awesome!  I think these xlb are so good on their own that I don't need the dipping sauce, although the dipping sauce with the fresh ginger is quite a good complement as well.  Hm, should've ordered two of these so we could each have a steamer to ourselves...

 

Shanghai Pan Fried Pork Buns - $4.50

For that price, there are a steal!!!  Oh man, again, eat these with caution!  The bun juice just goes flying across the table when you take a bite - and every table is messy because there's a table of these on every one of them, that's how good they are.  Thin exterior bun, nice meat filling on the inside floating inside that delicious juice.  I drool as I recount this dish....  *drool*  The Piglets can't wait to come back to have more!

 

Sichuan-style Beef Noodles - $6.50

The broth is some beefy spicy deliciousness!  The noodles are not handmade but still good as they are cooked al dente - excellent - so there's a good bite to them.  The beef is tender and doesn't have a lot of gristle but I do wish they had some veggies other than bits of green onion in it.  Give me a few leaves of bok choy or something!  Despite the lack of veggies, the Mr. Piglet would order this one again for the beef and broth.

Pork Chop Noodles - $5.80

The most disappointing dish of the evening - the pork chops were deep fried well but I'd say the dish was over 50% batter and fat.  The large piece in the picture maybe had 3 bites of meat.  The noodles themselves were cooked well but the broth lacked flavour save for the slight scent of shallots and perhaps some sesame oil.  Again, where are the veggies???  Is the recession so bad that you can't give me a single leaf of green??


Just how much did Mr. Piglet like the dumplings and buns here?  We ate, he went to play hockey and then he wanted to go back for a second round!  Um, no, it's 10:30 pm.  I'm pretty sure they're closed.  We'd come back in a heartbeat for those dumplings and buns - hands down the best we'd had so far - and there were several dishes at other tables and on the menu we wanted to try but couldn't cram in so we'll definitely be back for more!  Bon appetite!


Pros:

• Cheap to moderate prices
• Excellent xiao long bao and pan fried buns
• Free parking
• Reservations accepted

Cons:

• Free parking - the typical mess of a parking lot in Richmond
• Cash only
• Dive ambiance
• Specials on the walls only in Chinese