Tuesday, Aug. 25 2009 @ 10:22AM
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| Gary Soup/Flickr |
| Sheng jian bao: Worthy of coronation. |
Old episodes of
Check, Please! Bay Area aren't always the best barometer of local restaurant excellence, but in the case of
Shanghai Dumpling King, one came through like the
Earl of Warwick. Local Filipino-American writer and St. Mary's College English professor
Lysley Tenorio, the 2008 recipient of a Whiting Award, appeared on the show back in March, and effectively made his case for the eatery's xiao long bao, or soup dumplings.
"This restaurant is indeed the king of dumplings, and we are its royal (and loyal) subjects," he wrote in his review. "You pick up the dumpling with a spoon, give it a quick dip into a bit of soy sauce and vinegar, and bite. Since we'd celebrated Christmas the week before, the soup dumplings were the perfect present to open on Christmas night. The slippery floury pouch and the tender bit of pork inside mix perfectly with the hot and just-salty-enough soup.... It was the gift that kept on giving."
A few recent visits bore out his observation, and unearthed a host of other delectables worthy of coronation. The hung zhou ($8.95), tidy steamed purses of crab and pork, hinge on the universally compelling union of rich swine and sweet, mild Dungeness flakes, a tidy, perfect surf-and-turf in miniature. The pan-fried chives and meat pastries ($4.65) are pale, puck-sized discs, crispy-brown on either side, the dough thick and wonderfully oily, like a good scallion pancake. No spurts of molten, slightly sweet soup slosh around the interior, just ground meat and snips of fresh green.
Some might balk at the distracted service and the inconsistent prices. As Tenorio pointed out, courses do not always arrive in logical sequence. Likewise, the puffy golden globes of egg and air circulating the dining room throughout the night may be gratis or an added expense -- depending, presumably, on the manager's temperament. You should grab a few regardless. They're even good with jam the next day.