Jian Tai Zi - Castle Hill, NSW

I recently read an article about how Shanghai-nese food is taking over the food scene in Sydney...which, in my opinion isn't entirely true but we're definitely seeing the impact that this distinctive cuisine is having. Areas where there are a larger demographic of Chinese people (Chatswood, Hurstville, Eastwood, CBD) seem to be benefitting the most from this with places like New Shanghai, Taste of Shanghai and Chef's Gallery opening their chic new eateries. But even with new Shanghainese restaurants opening up, I've still always found it difficult to find a good xiao long bao in the West...that was until the Mrs introduced me to Jian Tai Zi at Castle Hill.

Located in a small arcade just outside the Piazza, this restaurant looks like it could seat no more than 20 people but if you stumble upon this little gem and decide to dine in, you're in for a treat. Their menu is short, sharp and sweet with anything to you'd typically find in your local Shanghainese restaurant to satisfy your cravings. Trying to impress the Mrs, I tried to order with my limited Mandarin only to confuse the staff serving us (he understood what we wanted but I was so bad that it took him a much longer to register it all)

After a short wait, our orders arrived one after the other, the first being the Sliced beef noodle soup. Tender, fall apart slices of five spice marinated beef sitting on top of a sweet yet savoury broth with abundant noodles to slurp down. I really loved how appetising the soup was and how well it complimented the springy noodles. If you like a bit of spice, add some of the chilli bean paste provided as a condiment.

The second dish to come was the chilli oil dumplings. These are the Mrs favorites as no matter where we go: if this is an option, she will order it. They certainly do it well here: the dumpling skins are the moderately thick meaning they give a bit more bite and spring. The filling is really well seasoned and compliments the vinegar and chilli oil really well...there so much to be enjoyed in the simplicity of this dish.

At this point, the Mrs and I were already getting very full but when the last dish arrived at the table, we just couldn't help but demolish it. The pan fried pork buns are normally quite hazardous to consume as they contain scolding hot soup inside which may squirt in a random direction if the bun is not opened up and allowed to cool down. Our favorite way to eat this bun is to open up the top of the bun with our chopsticks and to pour the black vinegar directly into the middle. The combination of dough, meat, soup and vinegar makes each bite more delightful than the next.

I'm really rather glad the Mrs introduced this place to me as I'd always been looking for a great dumpling joint in the west to indulge my occasional cravings but I'd never been able to find one that lived up to my standards. It's great to know that if I'm ever in the area and I'm craving dumplings, they won't be too far a drive for me to get to anymore.