New Yeah Shanghai, NYC

I was in Chinatown and decided to try out a restaurant I'd heard good reviews for. New Yeah Shanghai is located at 65 Bayard St. Nearly next door is another Shanghainese restaurant that also received good reviews. What we ate:

Shanghai Fried Dough. I thought it was those white buns that you can order in a fried version, but it wasn't. It's what I've seen and eaten before called Haw Fu or something like that. It was ok, but I found it way too oily. I liked that it was not that salty, but it was lacking in flavor. The spices seemed concentrated in the mushrooms while the gluten was bland.

Scallion pancake-Again, just ok. It was way too salty for me though nicely crisp on the outside while rather soft on the inside. Not quite my style for these, though I've had similar ones. What bothered me about these in particular was how the soft innards stuck to my teeth. I like the flakey kind. =9~

Soup dumplings-Also only ok. The meat was very juicy with plenty of soup but the skin was not thin enough. Too bad they were steamed on paper instead of the traditional cabbage leaf.

Pea Shoot version of Soup dumplings-A meatless version that was interesting. I found it very oily tasting inside. Unfortunately, the skin was way too thick. The filling included mushrooms, but mostly was chopped up pea shoots. The flavoring was not bad at first, but the more I ate it, the more I found it too salty. Overall, not bad but I would most likely not order this one again.

Tung-Po Pork-I'd heard many rave reviews for this dish and it really was very good. The meat was very tender and the fat was all rendered out. The slab of pork butt was served with a thick, white dough-like pancake along with some really good bok choy on the side of the dish (edible garnish?).



Red Bean Pancake/Crepe dessert-Not bad. The "crepe" outside was fried a bit toooo hard. I liked the inside as it was not overly sweet. I prefer Joe Shanghai's version with its crunchy outer skin and softer underlayer. This one did not have such a nuanced outer texture.

My conclusion is that for soup dumplings and scallion pancakes, I would go to the restaurant in Flushing where you can see the master chef make each dumpling fresh! Amazingly good. I'm rather disappointed with this place especially after hearing about the good reviews. =( Or perhaps the place in Flushing has spoiled me? ;)