We were running an errand at Metrotown, and seeing as we were in the neighbourhood decided to stop by Crystal Mall specifically for Shanghai Dimsum House.
When you ask people in the know, where the best spot for Xiao Long Bao (aka “soup dumplings”, aka XLB) is, chances are you will get this as one of the answers.
Located at the very end of the bustling Chinese food court, they are easy to spot with their yellow awning and three women dedicated to rolling out and stuffing XLBs all day long.
A sight visible from behind glass from the kneading of the dough, the pinching off of perfectly sized balls, to rolling them out into flat discs before stuffing with a hefty pork mix.
These by far are the largest XLBs in the city both Burnaby and Vancouver, and the most durable. There are five large dumplings to an order, served in the traditional bamboo steamer tray if you are dining in. Each filled abundantly with just as much soup as mince meat filling, and paired with the classic vinegar dip.
The meat is dense and a little dry, but they transported well and made for great leftovers. The vinegar brightens the flavour, but it could use some more spice and salt, or the heat from a chill crunch for more interest; especially if eating more than one at a time to avoid redundancy. Each was too large to eat in one bite, as the dumpling intended. I found the easiest way to go at this and the buns below is to bite a small hole in the shell, slurp up what you can, and expect to take a mouthful of soup as a result.
We also got an order of their pan-fried pork buns. Same principal as the soup dumplings, but the soup is encased in a thick doughy shell instead. Each grilled golden brown for a nice crispy shell. It has the same pork filling and therefore the same critique of lack of salt and seasoning and no chilli crunch to have with it.
Their Dan Dan noodles however did not lack flavour. A thick, saucy, slightly sweet and richly savoury peanut-butter paste that smothered each dense strand of noodle. Sadly we took this to go and didn’t end up eating it right away. Therefore it was a ball of mush by the time we got to it,. An undesirable texture and this was such a shame given how delicious the sauce was. We will have to revisit this one again.
If you want to dine in and enjoy XLBs right away, go to Wang’s, the setting is better than the Crystal Mall food court. However if you want to take out to go and have it later, this one lasts longer.
Shanghai Dimsum House
The Crystal Mall food court
4500 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC V5H 2B1
(604) 909-6688