Being in tune with the food scene has resulted in finding a number of fellow foodies and food lovers across the world. Following their blogs and watching their YouTube food adventures sure does build up my own appetite and when watching one of my favourite stars rave about the Xiao Long Bao in New York City I suddenly had the urge for some myself ... and thankfully Hai Shang Restaurant came to deliver.
To my best knowledge, Hai Shang is the only Shanghai based restaurant in Winnipeg. Shanghainese culture and cuisine has shifted and changed over the years in China but has always been based on braising or stewing in thick sauces or wines. Being on the coast it is also well known for diverse seafood and fish stews. Recently many people associate Shanghai cuisine with its more snack-like items, specifically the soup dumplings Xiao Long Bao, a pork steamed dumpling that pops of juice and soup when you bite into it, or the pan fried pork or beef dumplings.
Hai Shang thankfully offers all these options. Located on Pembina Highway the restaurant's large red signage is easy to recognize and hard to miss in the strip mall of other businesses. The interiors are nothing spectacular but is comfortable and reasonably clean. The menu itself is a huge selection of authentic Shanghai style cuisine mixed in with Cantonese style dishes and augmented with a selection of "Western" style Chinese items.
It is hard to dine at a Shanghai style restaurant without trying their
Pan Fried Pork Dumpling. This item is usually made with beef or pork and features a thick exterior dough that is steamed first and then finished off in a frying pan to create a thick crunchy bottom. These dumplings were a good approximation with the aforementioned thick dough and crunchy bottom housing a tasty interior of pork and cabbage. Through the steaming process a nice layer of soup seeped out of the filling and collected in the dumpling giving a delicious pork-y broth to enjoy with each bite. Only complaint is that the dumping was overly greasy and tasted too much of fat and in turn robbing it of much else flavour.
Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings) is probably the most recognizable in all of Shanghai cuisine. The dumplings are classically made of pork and steamed with a small piece of congealed jelly in a thin dough wrapper. During the cooking process the jelly will then melt and mix with the flavour of the pork to create the famous pork-y soup or broth. They are then served piping hot and enjoyed with a vinegar and ginger sauce. And these Xiao Long Bao at Hai Shang were well done. A reasonable amount of soup was found in each dumpling which was aromatic and had a strong pork flavour. The filling itself was tasty albeit a tad small in amount and the dough a bit thicker than I would have preferred it. Nevertheless a good approximation of Xiao Long Bao and certainly the best I have had in the city.
I know ... I know ... what was I doing ordering such a standard item like
Shanghai Thick Noodles. And while certainly this is an item you find in most buffets and in those "Chinese" food court stalls, Shanghai Thick Noodles are actually authentic and tasty if done correctly. The owners at Hai Shang adamantly boasted of their noodles and so we had to give them a try. Thick egg noodles are stir fried with bits of cabbage and pork in a soy sauce based broth and finished with an accent of sesame oil to give a nice aroma. I was immediately impressed by the wonderful aroma of the noodles and loved the interplay of the thick chewy noodles with the crunchy cabbage and fatty pork. Unfortunately the dish is again overly greasy as evidenced by a thick collection of oil at the bottom of the dish when we were done with it. Beware for those wanting to be heart conscious!
Wanting to balance out some of the grease we ordered a
Pan Fried Green Beans. Usually Shanghai style green beans are stir fried in a chili oil and covered with red chilis. The version here takes away most of the spice and instead resorts to a salty but overall less flavourful dish. With that said though I was able to taste the long green beans a bit more and it had a more pronounced pork flavour to the dish. This was the only dish I could have cared without as there was nothing spectacular about it.
Hai Shang is unique in Winnipeg as the only Shanghai-nese restaurant in town. And yet they do not rest on their laurels but instead serve great authentic Shanghai cuisine, led by a great version of Xiao Long Bao soup dumplings. And while the menu is diverse enough to accommodate Cantonese and Western style palates, you would be remiss to miss their Shanghai inspired items. An easy recommendation.
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