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2015-06-20
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Came here with eight other colleagues on a Friday for lunch. I was one of the three late-joiners so by the time I had arrived the orders have already been put through. The dishes were: tofu and cucumber as appetizers, Shanghai-style soy-sauce cooked duck, deep-fried small yellow fish, stir-fried beansprouts with bamboo, Shanghai-style pork dumplings, shredded pork with Chinese buns, and rice cake. Finally, we had osmanthus jelly pudding and deep-fried red bean paste and banana pancake for desser
The dishes were: tofu and cucumber as appetizers, Shanghai-style soy-sauce cooked duck, deep-fried small yellow fish, stir-fried beansprouts with bamboo, Shanghai-style pork dumplings, shredded pork with Chinese buns, and rice cake. Finally, we had osmanthus jelly pudding and deep-fried red bean paste and banana pancake for dessert.
For a nine-people lunch, the selection was a good balance. Having a very sensitive bowel I have to stay on a FODMAP diet 95% of the time and it gives me a lot of trouble enjoying meals with people who don't know about my dietary requirements well enough. But here I could still eat almost everything, even if not in large quantities.
For the price (which was only around $200 per person), I really cannot complain about the quality of the food, especially given that the restaurant was very spacious. It's difficult to find a place in Central where you can sit and talk in privacy and comfort. Often times my take-aways are above $200 and I would get much less quality. None of the dishes were particularly memorable, but for a restaurant chain I was happy with what they served. Nothing was completely off even though the way they made their dishes was not too authentic to the Shanghainese tradition.
So back to the food--
The tofu was of good quality, but the sauce overpowered the freshness of the tofu. Still tasted refreshing though if you avoid the sauce (which I had to). Something I would recommend for appetizer for a meal with over say six people. Cucumber was even better. Restaurants often source some of the lowest quality raw materials but Shanghai Min seems to be more than decent in that aspect. The cucumbers were freshly cut and still retained their cucumber juices and the seasoning went in perfect harmony with them. Definitely a highlight even if it was just an appetizer. Soy-sauce cooked duck was very nice. But it depends on whether you like your sauces sweet, as Shanghai dishes often inevitably do have a lot of sugar in them. Texture-wise the flesh was also very nice--not too soft nor too flakey--an indication that the duck is neither unfresh nor overcooked.
Pork dumplings were OK. The skin was well-made. For this price, I was very impressed. The deep-fried fish was excellent also, as everyone agreed, but as I couldn't eat too much as it was deep-fried. Stir-fried beansprouts were good, but I would add a little less oil. Their chefs might not be extraordinary, but the raw materials they source are of better than average quality for restaurants in general. I didn't try the rice cakes as it was not something I would be able to digest. Shredded pork was a great disappointment. Too salty, too hard and too oily. But perhaps it wouldn't matter if, like the others, I spooned the pork into the buns (which I could not eat as it contained flour).
I didn't have the dessert save for a small bite of the red bean paste, but the jelly seemed to be unimpressive based on other people's comments, while the pancake was quite alright.
Overall an enjoyable meal where I got to eat a little bit of many things. I would definitely recommend the place to anyone looking to book for a large group of friends or colleagues in busy Central. And could I also add that they didn't have air conditioning blasting at 10 degrees? The temperature was very comfortable. Service was very, very average though, but I might give them a second chance.
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