Cheap Eats - New Shanghai

http://www.newshanghai.com.au/

One of my favourite past times is to wander around my back yard (the CBD) and check out all the new stuff that is going on in our great city.  As geeky as it sounds, I get really excited by change and Brisbane is changing almost faster than I can keep up.  I am particularly enamoured with all of the changes in Edward Street, there are some cool international stores to check out.

On my many trips to my local Coles late last year I was intrigued to watch the slow transformation of  some of the shops right out the front, from a Chemist, to book store and then to an empty space.  The space was not empty for long with a massive construction sign advertising that a 'new restaurant' would be opening soon.  A clue to its nature were pictures of dumplings adorning the boarding.

Every day I would go to the shops and keep an eye on proceedings until one day, just before Christmas I was surprised to see one of the most amazing transformations.  The New Shanghai had opened and looked so out of place in the Queens Plaza building, it really looked as if a little slice of Shanghai had moved to Brisbane.

The New Shanghai is decked out like pre Maoist China and harks back to a simpler time.   When you enter the restaurant, its like wandering down a cobble stoned street, with a little imagination you could be in a back street in Shanghai in the 1930's.  What is also really cool about the New Shanghai is that the preparation area for the food is visible to all, so you can watch the kitchen staff preparing the dumplings and other goodies.

The menu is very diverse and has heaps of traditional Chinese and Shanghai cuisine and extremely reasonable prices.  What's more is you get quite large servings of food, so much so that SC and I have never been able to eat all the food presented.  I have been the the New Shanghai a couple of times now and found the food to be quite tasty and full of flavour.  A standout for me the first time was the Braised Pork Belly, which was as good as any I have had, although on subsequent visits is been a bit average.  Also a favourite are the Steamed Mini Pork Buns and the Pan Fried Pork Dumplings.

The New Shanghai has a few outlets in Sydney and now in Brisbane.  Judging by the queues of people waiting day and night for entry, I would say that they have a winning formula going.  They even keep the Queens Plaza building open late on Sunday nights now to cater.  Cheap prices, vast quantity of food and authentic Chinese is definitely alright in my books.

@FoodMeUpScotty

Amazing Braised Pork Belly was sticky and sweet with supremely cooked pork belly.  It was rich and
I could feel my weight increasing just by looking at it.  It was delicious

Pork and Chive steamed dumplings.  The service was large and it was hard to eat them all.
The combination of chives and pork was lovely.

Pan fried pork dumplings were pretty good.  I found the casings to be a little thick.  You also had to be really
careful when biting into them, you ran the risk of a squirt of liquid

The Stir Frid Crab looked sensational.  It was pretty hard to eat though and was very messy.  Authentic flavours
meant that this will be a winner

The Steamed Mini Pork Buns were delicious.  We has mostly devoured them before I realised that I had not taken
any photos.   These lonely three were all that remained for my shot!

The deep fried crispy chicken was probably the biggest disappointment so far.  It was really dry and not a good
example of how this dish should be done. 

Crispy Duck with Noodles.  This was a stack of food, especially the noodles
that we could not get through.  Lovely and cheap too!

To help with the queues, the New Shanghai now has an outdoor (well, in the centre) dining area now.  This place is
practically packed all day.  At least the queues are not quite as long now.