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.

Sunday Dim Sum at Dynasty

On Sunday we finally got to sample the celebrated dim sum at Dynasty on St Thomas Street. Armed with an expert, our friend Jamie, we headed down from the flat in a lucky dry patch, on an otherwise wet day. Although I have had the odd dim sum before at Chinese buffets, mainly gyoza and char siu buns I had never devoted a whole session to them.

We were surprised by how busy it was, these dim sum were clearly well renowned. We let Jamie order with guidance to avoid the snail involved dishes. With 12 dishes carefully chosen and some three roasties rice to go with we sipped our Chinese tea awaiting delivery. Everything arrived promptly and it all looked delicious.

Three Roasties Rice 

I have been well informed by Jamie that these are the best and most authentic dim sum in Bristol but Wong's is the place to go for the best three roasties rice, we were however quite pleased with it when it rocked up, honey roast pork is definitely one of my favourite Chinese dishes. The dim sum quickly followed and the talk slowed to a minimum except to occasionally to check what dish was which.  I couldn't fault any of them, however I had a few favourites, the prawn wonton with salad cream dip, yes you read that correctly and it worked very well. The crispy squid was very tasty also, as well as the pork dumplings and chicken rolls wrapped in bean curd. I think my favourite, by a whisker though was the yam croquettes they were amazingly delicious, Jamie told me how hard they are to make as you have to get the yam so smooth.

Prawn Wonton

Yam Croquettes and Crispy Squid

Jamie assures me that next time we should try the crispy chicken feet, I am curious but not committed to that yet, however definitely cannot wait to go back for more of their dim sum it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday. I would advise people get there early or book because it was so busy at 1pm when we arrived we were lucky to get seated. Our next Chinese mission hopefully will be The Mayflower where Jamie can guide us round more of the authentic delicacies! In the mean time, here are some more photos of our dim sum.

Siu Mai Dumplings with Pork and Shrimp