Dim Sum at Shanghai Nights

Way over due a dim sum visit, I am an addict you know, a recent Sunday, Jamie, Elisa, Mar, Gema and I went to Shanghai Nights for their dim sum menu. I was extremely hungry so we let Jamie, as the expert, lead the way in ordering. We had been in the restaurant for about 15 minutes and no one had come to take our  drinks order, so Jamie went up to the desk to enquire and was told we had to order them and the food from the bar. This was fine if we had been told the procedure before hand, it pretty strange that we had to guess what the deal was. 4 of us shared a pot of Iron Buddha tea whilst we waited for our dim sum to arrive.

Pork and Chive Dumplings

Salt and Pepper Squid

We had to ask for plates and chopsticks, for 5, we were delivered plates and five individual chopsticks, which was rather amusing and odd, so we had to ask for 3 more separately. The food however was great. We all agreed most of the dim sum we ordered was some of the best we'd had in Bristol so far. The flavours were fresh and the dim sum, extremely well stocked with filling. I particularly enjoyed my favourite Siu Mai and the Xiao Long Bao, which were very well made as the soup filling did not leak out at all so when you took a bite the lovely fragrant stock poured out. There is a great short film about their dim sum and an interview with the dim sum chef from Shanghai Nights on vimeo here.

As well as a variety of dumplings we also order some salt and pepper squid, cuttlefish cakes and shredded pork with crispy noodles to pad out the meal. All were wonderful, I have never had cuttlefish before and it went wonderfully with the chilli dip, nice and crispy with a subtle fish flavour. The noodles were greatly admired for the variety of textures in the dish, crispy noodles with soft vegetables and fragrant pork made a great combination. 

Cuttlefish Cakes

Siu Mai

Shredded Pork with Crispy Noodles

Delicious shrimp filled Har Gow (perfectly peachy coloured morcels)

There are a few tweaks they need to make with regards to service, but the dim sum at Shanghai Nights, bar about 2 dishes, is even better than Dynasty so if you are a dim sum fan, I recommend giving them a visit. We paid about £13 each including a drink which is pretty good value for what you get. Dim sum is always best when you go with more than two people as you get to sample more dishes I am looking forward to returning and sampling their buffet menu. For menus, karaoke and bubble tea flavours check out their website.