One of the latest Chinese restaurants to launch in Sydney, Shanghai 18 on Sussex Street offers a diverse yet simple menu of Shanghai style Chinese dishes including dumplings, noodles, snacks, meat, seafood and more.
Chef Meng hails from Shanghai and learned the art of cooking from a teacher who prepared food for many prominent Chinese politicians. Chef Meng himself was also part of an elite cooking team that prepared food for the likes of Deng Xiao Ping and Jiang Zemin. Before coming to Australia, he worked as one of the chefs for the Embassy of China in Germany.
Describing its menu as "dishes which we ourselves like to eat", Shanghai 18 offers several classic numbers that we have come to expect from such a venue. Xiao long bao (those delicious soup dumplings with delicately folded skins - if you've not tried them, you must) come in a standard serving of 6 for the reasonable CBD price of $9.80. $12.80 for crab meat. The dish and its affordability are more typical of Sydney's Chinatowns (we're looking at you, Ashfield) than of the more intricate popular options in the CBD area. There's some flavour to the soup inside but we preferred ours with a mix of vinegar/soy/chili dipping sauce, like how we have our regular steamed dumplings.
Speaking of dumplings, Shanghai 18's offerings are straightforward - 10 for $11.80 (or 8 for the same price pan fried), plus beef, vegetarian (each 6 for $11.80), mushroom and prawn (each 4 for $11.80) options.
We sampled the Shepherd's purse & prawn wontons with chili oil, peanut and sesame sauce (8 for $11.80) which are served doused in a tasty chili oil that packs a good punch with a nice crunch added by the nuts. No judgement from us if we see you dipping your other dumplings in this sauce too!
Pan fried pork buns are as indulgently yum as we're used to and as usual are probably one to save for when you've a few friends to share the generous serving with (6 for $9.80). They also do BBQ pork steamed buns if you prefer the BBQ pork filling as the former option is more like a traditional pork dumpling filling.
On the mains list, we tried a restaurant recommendation of the Eye fillet of beef with special Cantonese Sauce ($26.80). Unsure exactly what to expect, this dish was a surprise and a highlight - crispy fried morsels of beef served sizzling hot in a delicious sticky sauce. With peas on the side... which made us giggle. This beef is unlike anything we've had in Shanghaiese restaurants before and absolutely worth checking out
A mushroom and tofu clay pot ($16.80) is an unsung vegetable-focused hero, a generous portion of meaty shiitake mushrooms and flavour-soaked tofu slices that have absorbed their accompanying sauce in the way they do so well.
Other options on the mains list include Stir-fried chicken with green pepper ($18.80), old favourite Wok fried green beans with finely minced pork ($15.80), Golden curry prawns ($24.80), Special fried crispy duck ($25.80) and more.
They also offer a range of dishes featuring their handmade noodles, in fried or soup form with a variety of proteins and sauces (from $12.80).
The interior and decor is more inner city style than the dumpling prices reflect; it's chic in a simple, comfortable way.
Shanghai 18 is licensed and features a concise list of wines by the glass and bottled beers.
Check it out at 267 Sussex St Sydney, open every day for lunch and dinner until 10pm
