Whenever I am in Los Angeles with the family, I love visiting Din Tai Fung, a Michelin Taiwanese/Chinese restaurant. One of the big things the family gets at Din Tai Fung is the soup dumplings. I have never understood the appeal of something that releases hot soup into the mouth without my control of it, and there isn’t much to them but this surprise. I prefer regular dumplings.
But I heard about a new Chinese place in town called Shang Kitchen, and my curiosity got the best of me. I almost never crave Chinese food, but I have been thinking about it. I immediately went with a friend for lunch.The place is located where the old Coffee Rani was way back when that Northshore favorite made a brief foray into the Southshore market.
Inside is sleek and pretty, though a bit dark for my taste. There is a dumpling window as you enter, with a bar facing a window and two smallish dining rooms, though there is enough seating. The menu is a good size, not overwhelming as Chinese restaurant menus can sometimes be.
The owner is an affable young man who is on the floor caring for customers. Service is helpful and friendly. My friend ordered a dumpling sampler, which was in the works when I arrived. It was an assortment of several soup dumplings, which included a black one with truffle. Interesting. There were half a dozen of these soup dumplings: crawfish, chicken, pork, shrimp and pork, truffle, and crabmeat. There was a dollop of each of these proteins in the soup inside the dumpling.
We also ordered fried vegetable spring rolls, a pork belly soup with baby bok choy and noodles, and Dan Dan noodles.
As I mentioned, soup dumpling mania is lost on me, but these were very nice. The wrappers were not gummy, and the fillings were tasty. When I return for more of this delicious food, I can pass on these since I have had them and focus on other things that look appealing. But as soup dumplings go, these were fine.
I was mightily disappointed in the fried vegetable spring rolls. They were lightly filled but perfectly fried. They were golden brown and greaseless, and totally uninteresting otherwise.
We couldn’t decide whether to get the Dan Dan noodles or the Zhajiang noodles. One was ground beef and the other ground pork, but both had a luscious pile of noodles that were tossed by the owner when he visited our table. We went with the Dan Dan noodles. These were spicy but not too spicy, and I just couldn't stop eating them. I loved the mouthfeel of the noodles and the consistency of the sauce.
The soup we ordered came last, and it reminded me of my beloved favorite Din Tai Fung. They served portions of soup in bowls like this, and this was a beautiful soup. It was loaded with noodles and slices of braised pork belly in a dark broth. The pork belly could have been braised more than it was, but that was not too disappointing, considering the goodness of the broth and the soft, delicious texture of the noodles. Pieces of baby bok choy added goodness to this ensemble.
We stopped after these four things, but I really can’t wait to go back to Shang Kitchen and partake of other offerings. This is an exciting find. It’s a polished version of modern Chinese food in a handsome environment with friendly service.
I love the flavors of the Far East, but they are usually found in tired dishes. Not here. We will be back. And soon. We left, smiling at the lantern display as you enter the restaurant.