I can never say no to trying a new xiao long bao spot. I heard about a place called Simon’s Test Kitchen, where Chef Zhao (formerly of Ding Tai Fung) mans the steamers. With such great experience under his belt, I had high expectations for Simon’s.
Simon’s is situated in a cluster of new businesses in northern Jing’An – some Hong Kong style restaurants, and funny looking cake storefront. Walk past Simon’s open kitchen and check out the chef masterfully wrapping dumplings before taking a seat upstairs in their bright and comfortable dining room.
Simon’s menu closely resembles that of Ding Tai Fung, but with one major difference – the price! Everything is extremely affordable. We started our meal with an order of the drunken chicken in Shaoxing wine ($28RMB). The chicken was flavorful and tender, but poorly butchered, with shards of bone making the dish difficult to eat. Next up we had the signature braised beef noodle with tomato ($22RMB) – absolutely wonderful! The broth was a bit oily, but fragrant and rich. The noodles were accompanied by chunks of fork-tender brisket and tendon. Definitely try this at Simon’s, you’ll be glad you did!
But of course, what we really came to Simon’s to try was the soup dumplings. In addition to your classic pork and crab roe + pork, Simon’s also lets you get creative. You can pick a filling (mushroom, Sichuan mala spicy pork, chicken, and sweet red bean amongst others) and the wrapper it comes in (plain, or wrappers infused with fresh-pressed beet, spinach, or carrot juice). We decided on a steamer of the hairy crab roe + pork ($29RMB for 10 pcs) and a steamer of the pork in a spinach wrapper ($21RMB for 10 pcs).
Simon’s xiao long bao are really good. Like at Ding Tai Fung, the wrapper is unbelievably thin, slightly chewy, and folded into a multitude of neat little pleats at the top. One nibble and the perfect amount of hot, flavorful soup comes gushing out. But unlike DTF, the hairy crab roe + pork buns are full of crab flavor, and the price is a steal!
But of course, the true test of a masterfully created xlb is the original pork dumpling. It should be flavorful, full of soup, a good mince, and have a strong but delicate wrapper. Simon’s pork xlb are pretty good – thin wrapper, lots of soup inside, but the texture of the pork is not quite right. Instead of being springy and resilient, the pork is minced too finely, resulting in an almost crumbly, grainy texture. The spinach wrapper was a fun addition, but don’t expect to taste the juice.
Although I still think the soup dumplings at LLF are unmatched, I’m happy to add Simon’s to my ever-growing list of xlb spots. It’s a great alternative to DTF when you have guests in town, or if you want to enjoy a basket of xlb in a comfortable atmosphere instead of perched on sticky stool at LLF.
Simon’s also delivers! I’ve got my whole office ordering from them now; the braised beef tomato noodle + sauteed spinach makes a great lunch.
Simon’s Kitchen － 小黑厨房
555 Anyuan Lu at Jiaozhou Lu
安远路555号近胶州路
+86 21 3353 3977
