CHASING FOOD DREAMS: Grand Shanghai Banquet @ Bandar Baru Sri Petaling

Dim Sum and Chinese Soul Food

Sri Petaling area has a lot of eateries and joining the lot is Grand Shanghai Banquet. Serving a sumptuous array of Chinese cuisine and dim sums, Grand Shanghai Banquet is one of the more elegant dining places in that area.

Open late 2014, the restaurant takes after the much beloved Chinese Oriental themed in décor as well. Dine in the main dining room where gold and red takes form everywhere from the tables to the walls and floors to the ceiling. Beautiful modern lightnings graced the dining room. There is another raised up private dining area that is also dressed in gold and dark wood. With dim lightnings and simple décor, that room lets diners enjoy a serene and private dining experience.

There’s plenty to order on the menu from regular Chinese dishes to dim sums and more. There are always some promotions going on. When we were there, there was two promotions going on – a dim sum promotion and a Chinese meal promotion. Both promotions lasted till 15 October but diners are assured that more promotions are coming soon. Both deals were really value-for-money. Order any dishes price RM28 and above and diners are entitled a set of Pork & Shrimp Dumpling and Pork Rib & Century Egg Porridge under the dim sum promotion or Grandma’s Traditional Stewed Pork under the Chinese meal promotion.

We started off our lunch with a selection of dim sums. Grand Shanghai Banquet dim sum menu relies heavily on classic favorites with a few modern ones thrown in for good measure. There are also rice, porridge, noodles and desserts as well.

Pork and Shrimp Dumpling (RM7.50) proved to be decent and passed with all the markings of a respectable Siew Mai with firm and bouncy pork and shrimp filling.

Steamed Fish Ball Dumpling with Seasonal Vegetable (RM6.50)

Steamed Pastries with Grand Shanghai Style in Superior Soup (RM9.00) or Xiao Long Bao had us all enjoying juicy soup dumplings nicely encased in thin dumpling skin. Moreish and soupy, these were delicious.

Steamed Chicken Feet (RM6.50) had many praising it for the fall-off-the-bone tenderness and savory and lightly sweetish note.

I adored the Steamed Custard Quicksand Bun ‘Hong Kong’ Style (RM7.50). Golden buns when opened has an explosion of molten salted egg custard spilling out. One needs to be quick and enjoy this bun with every finger-licking bit of the quicksand filling. Salty, sweet and definitely umani, it’s very rich and satisfying.

Grand Shanghai Special Baked Bun with BBQ Pork (RM12.80) is another signature. BBQ Char Siew filling stuffed into a fluffy bun and baked with a crusty and crumbly topping. Good stuff!

One taste of the Fried Rice with Salted Egg and Assorted Seafood (RM19.80) and I am sold. Fluffy rice covered in aromatic eggy notes are studded with chunks of prawns and scallops. Served with spring onions and pungent dried chili oil, this fried rice proved that the Chinese whips up the best fried rice anytime.

We moved on to the regular main dishes and had a feast of a little of everything from the menu.

Grand Shanghai Special Spicy Chicken (RM14.80), a fiery spicy Szechuan concoction of poached deboned chicken topped with fiery tongue-numbing chili and chili oil and covered with chicken floss, sesame seeds and a sprinkling of carrot and coriander. Makes good starter to kick off the appetite with a big bang of flavours…

Stir Fried Kailan with Chinese Wine (RM15.80) maybe pretty simple but it is very well executed. Crunchy kalian stems with tender leaves are paired with wood ear fungus and coated with an aromatic Chinese wine sauce.

Braised Pork Belly with Brown Sauce & Chinese Wine served with Man Tou (RM28.00) is a glorious piece of pork belly braised to perfection. The sublime pork belly had good ratios of lean and fat. Seeping up all the beautiful flavours of the sauce, the pork belly is tender and luscious. Whether you enjoy this with steamed fluffy buns or rice, it’s an unforgettable dish!

As mentioned earlier about the free dish when you order dishes above RM28, the Grandma’s Traditional Stewed Pork (RM28) is equally as tantalizing as the earlier pork belly dish. There is something wonderful about the familiar comfort notes of savory coupled with light tinges of sweetness that made this pork belly a true hero. Though the promotion is already over, one can still order this dish available at their regular menu.

Another dish worth ordering is their Claypot Assam Prawn (RM38.00). Taking on more Nyonya style, this piquant prawn dish had all the good flavours of spicy, sweet, savory and tangy. It simply beckons for steamed white rice.

Last but not least, a grand serving of Fish Head Hot Pot with fresh Grouper fillet and Beancurd (RM48.00 – small & RM88.00 – large). Comfort food that will pleased many diners, a pot of warm and delicious broth filled with lots of hearty ingredients, fried fish head and more had us all digging into with much soothing warmness. Then a platter of fish fillet is added together with some silken tofu is added for more fillers and enjoyment.

Lunch finishes with a simple but refreshing Aloe Vera, Grass Jelly, Sea Coconut and Yogurt Pearls Jelly (RM30 - large, RM25 - medium and RM7 - single portion). Love the popping sensation of the yoghurt pearls!