Shanghainese at Crystal Jade

Date of visit: 14th Aug 2010

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Lung Bao @ IFC Mall, Central

On a Saturday night a bunch of us came here for a casual dinner. We took a ticket at around 7pm, and waited with the bunch of others who were mostly tourists. Though we were at least 10 large tables away from being seated, time seemed to pass fairly quickly. Perhaps it was our engaging conversations or perhaps it was the speedy table-turnover..... it didn't matter because 45 minutes later we were seated and I was starving!!

First off was an appetizer of chicken and noodle salad ("gai see fun pey") ($42) which is served chilled, with shredded chicken breast, cucumbers and translucent flat noodles, topped with a sesame and peanut sauce. The chicken was quite dry, and the sauce was mostly peanut-flavoured, which I’m not a fan of. My friends did enjoy this however. 5/10

Our second dish was one of my favourites - marinated beef shin in five spice ($48). I've never had this at Crystal Jade, but I was pleasantly surprised. Although they could've used more seasoning to make the five spice more bold, the marinade was otherwise light and tasty. The beef shin was very thinly sliced - thick slices are quite hard to bite, and they aren't usually good as appetizers. My friends never had beef shin before, and some even went on to comment that it looked like brain because of the lines of translucent tendon and lean meat...but I assured them they were missing out if they didn't try it, and once they did they were happy I'd managed to persuade them =). 8/10

Steamed Xiao Lung Baos ($28 x 3) come in the standard bamboo steamers, each with four dumplings. Here, the dumpling skins are thin and delicate, not as al dente as DTF's but they didn't break too easily as long as you handled them with a little care =P. The dumplings here are relatively large – I don’t think I’d feel comfortable eating the whole thing in a bite! The meat inside was tender and juicy due to the use of fatty minced pork. Flavour wise it was slightly seasoned to bring out the flavours of pork, though there was only a little ‘soup’ inside these dumplings…6/10

I had a winter melon soup ($36) with ham, whilst some of my friends had soya milk ($12 per glass). My soup was way too salty, and such a small portion (with some of its contents spilled out whilst they brought it out from the kitchen) that the price could not be justified. 3.5/10

Assorted Vegetables ($50 x 2) included Chinese mushrooms on top of bak choy and Chinese long cabbage. They were cooked so they still retained some crunchiness – definitely required some jaw muscles, especially for the cabbage. The sauce was not too salty, though next time I’ll probably stick to the cabbage in cream sauce… 6/10

Dan Dan Mian ($36) here is white hand-made ramen sitting in a wonderful red broth speckled with sesame seeds. The broth is rich but not thick, spicy (not so much that it burns or anything), and is dominantly peanut-flavoured. The ramen noodles were nicely cooked – not soft, but not the springy kind I like. The broth was actually a very balanced one, and it was exceeded my expectations for Crystal Jade. 7.5/10

Shanghainese Fried Noodles (with a little pork and cabbage) ($55) was fantastic. I loved the subtle flavours of mainly dark soy, yet it wasn’t overly salted or anything. The cabbage was nicely done, and the noodles were the thick chewy kind, almost like udon but these were in irregular sizes. I think this dish is one of those that please just about everyone! 8/10

Vegetarian dumplings ($22) came in a steamer with three large crescent shaped dumplings. These were better than DTF’s vegetarian dumplings as I recall them, and the thin, almost translucent skin certainly suited the veggie fillings better. They were so well-balanced in taste the addition of vinegar would’ve ruined its natural taste. 8/10

Pan fried dumpling (aka wor tip) ($26) came so late we forgot that we had ordered them! We were so full a plate of four dumplings just seemed so much. I managed to try one anyway, since it would’ve been a waste to leave these golden-brown-bottomed dumplings alone! The skin is thicker for these dumplings, so when it is fried it gets a harder crisp texture and doesn’t break. The meat inside was similar to the xiao lung baos – tasty but could’ve been leaner. For me, this pan fried dumpling fared better overall than the xiao lung baos, and I think it’s because of the crispy thicker skin and the smaller meat filling which I felt was more balanced! 7/10

After the last dumplings we were so stuffed, ordering the deep-fried soufflé balls and other desserts just seemed...unwise. I guess I'll have to try it next time! Instead, we sat a little longer, chatting / digesting all the food, and off we went for gelato elsewhere!

Food:  ♥♥♥♥

Service:  ♥♥♥

Price: $$$

Crystal Jade

Shop 2018-2020, 2/F,Tower Two, IFC Mall,No.1 Harbour View Street, 

Central, Hong Kong

(other branches around town too)

Tel: +852 2295 3811