new shanghai - queens plaza

poor service but great food. new shanghai is quintessentially 'authentic' in that it views quality of food more important than service. you'll find that in most restaurants in mainland china; the food speaks for itself, not the service!

i've been going to new shanghai since it opened, and each time, the food is consistently good. dumplings are their specialty but everything that we've ordered in the past years have been good.

best food joint in queen's street mall, and brilliant value for money. long may thisplaceprosper.

new shanhais a really good thing i tell ya. now i tell ya what this is the kindaplacei am gona come again and again a lot of drongos about and by that i mean its really busy!!!! cant a gal catch a break whos with me

anyway reasonable prices and i tell ya what those shepards purse dumplings in chilli peanut sauce well they get this lil slayas tummy grumblin'

average. look i rated thisplacea "like" because the food was good and not over priced. however i don't see what the fuss and the large lines were for.

their 小笼包 and 红烧肉 are definitely the best. i don't think new shanghai is expensive at all. however, their 炸酱面was a bit disappointing. overall, not a badplaceto try out chinese cuisine. the only thing bad about theplaceis that there's no service inside so you can't use your phone.

shanghai style. good rustic shanghai style food. theplaceis always full.

drunken chicken is a favourite

i booked online for a large group birthday dinner for 6.30pm. i arrived early to set up the cake. the rest of the group were a few minutes behind me. i was then told to hurry up and order as the kitchen was closing in 30mins. and restaurant closing in an hour. this wasn’t mentioned on booming or on the confirmation email. i had to quickly find another restaurant with more modern opening hours. luckily we found anotherplacein elizabeth arcade where, by the way, the food was better too. new shanghai is a lunchtime food hall with staff who are good at ignoring you.

thank you for the friendly service and for the food.  i recommend visiting thisplaceif you are hungry and looking for a decentplaceto eat.

been to the new shanghaiplacein sydney a few times so l was super happy to know that there was one in brisbane cbd as well. great food and great variety of dumplings. didn't have any issues making a large reservation for 14 people. i do think the service can be slightly nicer but l didn't care too much because l absolutely loved the food. still so much on the menu to try and l can't wait to go back.

update 10/05/2019
disappointed at the service again. service here has consistently been bordering rude and grumpy. we went during happy hour and it took nearly 20+ to get xiao long bao dumplings. we had to find out what was happening and it seemed like they had lost our ordered but no explanation or apology. just said further 5 mins. we didn't even get our drinks. when we finaly got the dumplings they won't great. usually its nice and soupy but even that was lacking. very disappointed. downgraded to 2 from my previous 4 rating.

came here for lunch cause i was in the mood for something hot on a cold winters day. ordered the “xiao long bao” (steamed pork dumplings) ($9.90), pork & chinese cabbage dumplings ($12.70), shanghai mini prawn & pork wonton soup ($14.90) and hot & sour soup with shredded pork and tofu ($6.40). for drinks, ordered the iced lemon tea ($6) and the peach green tea ($6).

the “xiao long bao” is a definite must try! i found that this signature dish of 8 pieces of dumplings was a good amount and it was so flavourful with the soup inside (must be cautious as it is very hot soup inside!). i found that the pork & cabbage dumplings were quite average, they provided soy sauce which added taste but there was nothing special in terms of flavour. the shanghai mini prawn & pork wonton was delicious! this dish had a very fair portion (with about 7 pieces of small wontons) and the soup had a good balance of taste (the tofu and shredded pork added a bit more flavour). the hot & sour soup was a bit disappointing, it tasted quite average and it wasn’t hot at all or very sour (when compared to other places). the drinks were very nice, the peach green tea was definitely my favourite! the taste was balanced well between the green tea and the sweetness and fragrance of the peach. the iced lemon tea was tasty as well but they put a lot of lemon (great for a hot day though as it was very refreshing!), it was a bit sweet but the lemon was too overpowering.

thisplacehas opened for awhile and i was surprised that thisplacestill has a lot of people having to queue up to get a seat. inside, it was very big and spacious. i like the atmosphere because it seems like a typical asian restaurant (red and black themed) with lightly dimmed lighting, fancy framed mirrors around and wooden antique stools and tables. i was very happy with the staff and service! the service was quick and the staff seemed very organised and knew the menu well (they are good to ask for recommendations).

i wish i could give half stars.. thisplaceis a solid 3.5. let me start by saying that i don’t really like shanghai dumplings and i don’t eat much meat... however i do love meat broth. so i drink the broth that’s encapsulated by a well made skin and give the inside of the pork ones to my companions who loved the extra meat. the boys however love the dumplings.

the crispy thicker pan fried baos i did the same with but i love most things that are fried and flavoursome. everyone loved these.

they also ordered some pork and prawn dumplings which were probably at the bottom of the rung compared to the first two.

i ate probably 7 of the 10 prawn wontons with chilli oil and peanut sauce and really enjoyed these. great prawn flavour and chunks as well as the wonton skins being perfectly cooked.

we asked for a chilli sauce and the one the gave was delicious.

the only downside was having to wait 20 minutes for a table and i don’t know if you’ve noticed.. i’m super impatient and because we were seated outside... we did have to go inside to ask for more tea. all in all the food came out quickly, 3 of the 4 dishes were pretty good and they’re in the entertainment book which takes 25% off which is a nice bonus.

i know my family will be back here for sure.
if you like xiao long bao and you live in brisbane this is one of the better places.

#dumplings #wontons #monicamarkle #monvsbrisbane

mum and daughter date night in the city. no.1 daughter had been wanting to check out thisplacefor a while. we got here around 6ish and theplacewas already busy. we were very promptly taken to our booked table. i loved that the menu also served as your placemat.
we ordered xiao long bao, pork belly steamed buns and crispy skin chicken withe noodles and a pot of jasmine tea.
the pork belly steamed buns were the highlight of the night. everything was so tasty and can't wait to go again.

one phrase: best pan fried pork buns, period. these gems have juicy fillings, then crispy fried skin. out of all sheng-jian-bao i've had in china and here this would be the tastiest. otherwise we tried it's shaolong which is on par with din tai fung, radish pastry which is slightly too deep fried for my liking, and wonton in chilli oil which is not as good as din tai fung. but for it's buns alone, thisplacedeserves a 4.5.

new shanghai has become one of my regular after uni/work dinner joints. the food is consistently delicious and is generally served quite quickly. i ordered the following:

xiao long bao (8pcs) - very tasty, we always decide to order a serve (forgot to get a picture of these!).

crispy skin chicken served with steamed rice, garlic & chilli sauce - a new dish that we tried, the sauce was delicious and the chicken was well-cooked.

passion fruit tea - this iced tea is a favourite of mine, very sugary but always worth it.

the menu is reasonably priced, the decor is pretty funky and the restaurant itself is conveniently located in queens plaza. definitely a greatplaceto check out for dinner (they also have a happy hour earlier in the afternoon).

the xiao long bao (esp. the crab meat ones) and the wontons in chili oil, peanut etc sauce are amazing!!! we go back for them all the time. pretty much every other dish we have tried here (meatball soup, pancake, fried rice) is decent, too. a solidplacefor shanghainese cuisine all around.

service can unfortunately be a bit hit and miss - some waiters are good but others can be very slow, and a few even seem like they are trying to ignore as many customers as they can. point of note: they also close very early on sunday (all chairs up on tables and lights off by 8pm - not necessarily a negative, but worth noting). prices are a bit on the higher side for chinese food.

none of that stops us from going back though. love the xlb. :)

i love the dumplings here and i ask for the peanut and chilli sauce on the side because i'm vegetarian and the veggie ones don't come with it but man it's delicious.
also the peach green tea is to die for.

my only problem with thisplaceis that they don't have more vegetarian options.