Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Shanghai RenJia

We were looking for a new place to try out and E suggested this place. Strangely enough I had also read about it on ieatishootipost and he raved about the food there so I was totally up for trying this place.

This restaurant is pretty much in the boondocks but because C used to live around here, I didn't have much trouble finding it. Parking was a bit of a problem though. Luckily it wasn't too crowded so we managed to get a table and order relatively quickly.

Of course we had to try their specialities - Xiao Long Bao $4.80 :


The Xiao Long Bao was pretty good - the skin was the right thickness and the soup tasty. Not all that different from the ones at Crystal Jade or Imperial Treasure but it's a treat to find such good xiao long bao at a little restaurant in the middle of nowhere, and at such a good price too!

Their other speciality is Shen Jian Bao $7.20 :


The Shen Jian Bao took a while to come but it's to be expected with the complicated cooking involved - it is both steamed and fried. The bottom of the bao is pan-fried to give it a crispy texture. The skin of the Shen Jian Bao is more similar to that a bao (as in cha xiu bao) than that of a dumpling (like xiao long bao) - it's much thicker. The meat and soup inside, however, is exactly like that of the xiao long bao.

And having read on the ieatishootipost that there is normally quite a wait for the Xiao Long Bao and Shen Jian Bao, we ordered some other dishes too. The La Mian $4.80 came with a piece of pork chop and some tofu.


After having had some pretty bad la mian over the weekend, I realised that bad la mian can be, erm, pretty bad. This one was not too bad.


The Luo Han Chai $4.50 was yummy! But I felt the portion was a little small and it could have been much warmer - seemed like they scooped it out of a pot and served it to us.

Not a fantastic dining experience but the food was reasonably good. I'm not about to drive all the way here to eat it again, but would probably drop by if I was already in the area.


Shanghai RenJia
906B Upper Thomson Road
S787110
Tel : 6456 7752

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