Even though there’s a famous Xiao lung bao place called Nanxiang Dumpling House at Yu’s Garden, that entire area seems too much like a tourist trap for us to want to stay and eat. We got a Taxi and asked the driver to take us to Jia Jia Tang Bao, a highly recommended place I read about. The taxi driver told us “Yup Jia Jia is good. Don’t go to Nanxiang, it is no good.”
We arrived at Huanghe Road near the People’s Park, it is another famous snack street in Shanghai.
When we arrived, there’s a long queue outside the tiny hole-in-the-wall joint. Seems like queue is a pretty good indicator about the food’s quality (the previous night’s Wang Jia Sha was empty). Everyone has to share table with strangers as seats are demanded.
We got two orders of Crab + pork dumplings for 19.5 RMB each only (roughly US $2.8)! And there were twelve per tray. The dumplings were so good! They were filled with yummy rich soup, and the meat filling is smooth, juicy and very tasty.
We finally got our quintessential Shanghainese snack fix. This place is much cheaper compare to Ding Tai Fung and felt more local. Make sure you also order a plate of ginger and vinegar sauce too (they don’t come with it). They also have a Crab Roe Dumpling on the menu that cost about 80RMB, next time!
Extra: this is Shanghai’s Food safety Inspection Grading System, and this place is excellent.
Jia Jia Tang Bao 佳家汤包
90 Huanghe Lu, near Fengyang Lu., Shanghai
Tags: Chinese, Shanghainese, Xiaolungbao
So weird it doesn’t automatically come with ginger and vinegar, but glad you found some good xiao long bao after the other disappointment!
The ginger are shredded so fine like silk strand, and the vinegar taste very unique (homemade blend?), so it’s really fancy ginger + vinegar, so it’s understandable they aren’t giving out unlimited for free.