10 March 2012

Shanghai Delicious Food ~ Dixon House Food Court [CLOSED]

Shanghai Delicious Food speaks the truth. It's from Shanghai. It's Delicious. And it's Food.

[CLOSED EARLY 2014/MAYBE LATE 2013]







Shanghai Delicious Food is in the toughest spot to do business in Dixon House Food Court, in the far corner right down the back near the loos. A lot of folks don't venture down here but the stall seems to be going well, even though they're only new. The larger than life boss lady tells us they were in Campsie before, perhaps their customers followed.

We were eating our way through China just a few short weeks ago and this stall reminded us of one of our favourite joints in Shanghai, where dishes are pre-cooked and served pick'n'mix style on rice. So the bainmarie here is your friend, and at only $7.50 for three dishes on rice, it's a very good friend. There's also some cooked to order stuff:  soups and stir fry dishes, and some great street food snacks that we don't see around these parts.

It's great to see this type of Shanghai joint in a food court, it's a little bit of Ashfield in Chinatown, and it's run by the loveliest bunch of ladies.  We love it.



Shredded pork and preserved vegetables soup - $6.80. Quite a large bowl for the price, great value. White noodles with slithers of pork and a generous dollop of veggies. Often this dish comes with just a token amount of preserved veggies, but here it's veg-o-rama. Happy days.


  • Meat ball aka Chinese rissoles - $2.50, tops
  • Tofu skin rolls with mince pork, aka Chinese pasties - $1.50. The pinky porky mince filling is plain but the tofu skins are quite special

  • Little wonton in shrimp bran soup - $5. Plain and simple as advertised, with some slight sour notes, dig those tiny little prawnies floating around.
  • Sticky rice shaomai - $5.80 for six.  Rice filled dumplings, yum.


Many of the dishes on the picture menu are also in the bainmarie, it's the best way to eat. And it's dang cheap at $7.50 for three choices on rice. Above is omellette and tomato, sweet and sour pork chops and a tofu/peanut number.



Those sweet and sour pork ribs, man, they are sooooo gooood: little porky bits on the bone, braised in a sauce that is richer and darker than your regular sweet'n'sour, with lovely burnt sugar flavours. Alison loved it and she usually doesn't like sweet'n'sour, or pretends not to anyway. Also starring is some kind of tofu\fish cake with  soy beans, and braised wheat bran, prices of brown bready stodge filler with some lovely pickled veggies on top.



Braised bamboo shoots - $10.  In a light sweet sauce. A fave.



Shanghai traditional smoked fish - $12. Crunchy stir fried boney fish pieces in a paddle pool of sugary dark soy sauce. The smoked fish was unusual to our western palates, a little 'fishy' but not overly so. It was quite a rich dish, best shared.



Shanghai delicious are the queens of the free foodcourt soup. There's no dishwater here: one day we get a chunky pork bone soup, another day we get a tomato based soup.



Tea smoked eggs - order for these was lost in translation, next time...



Today's hangover was brought to you by our favourite local Newtown band, The Escapes, pictured at the Sando. See them now before they actually learn their songs, or can actually finish one before it dissolves into fits of laughter.

8 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right, we meant to do the drink bar at Sussex Centre as it has some good looking ice drinks...

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  2. Is it just me or does Dixon House have a high turnover of stalls compared to the other food courts?

    Every time I go there there seems to be a stall closed down and a new one in its place, and there is always a vacant stall or two.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are a few spots that seem to be restless, but there are also a lot of long timers. At least with change there's new opportunity. I miss using real cutlery the most, that's been the worst change there and at Sussex Centre.

      Delete
  3. that fu\fish cake thing is called vegan chicken(dont ask me why probabaly it looks like a piece of chicken breast? ....its made of tofu and is one of the typical shanghainese dishes

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sadly, Shanghai Delicious is now closed :( I have been to Dixon Foodcourt on a weekly basis as of late I have never seen the place so empty – it’s really worrying…I also noticed that the Phnom Penh Teo Chew Noodle House was also closed on my last visit – not sure if it’s an indefinite close or not, but I have been eating a Dixon Foodcourt for over 10 years now and I never once seen it closed…I am back there again next week, so fingers-crossed it not still closed than.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it's closed. Phnom Penh Teo Chew Noodle House does close now and again, they are still going strong. They are getting older and probably enjoy a day off now and again.

      Delete

Thanks for your comment joy - please keep your musings happy - if you want to complain about a restaurant please do it on a restaurant review site (or your own blog) - we're all about celebrating cultural diversity and the great eats that come along with it :-)

Our ethics: We pay for all our own meals and travel (though sometimes Mum shouts us).