As you all know, China is infamous for their Peking Duck!
So how can Sandy and I come to Shanghai and not have any?!? That would have been like a errrrmmmm……a gourmet crime? haha.
After leaving the research to Ian who is obsessed with Peking Duck while he is in Beijing, he concluded through foodie blogs and restaurant reviews that Xindalu is supposed to have THE BEST Peking Duck in Shanghai and some even say THE BEST in the whole of China. He took a week to do his research, if I may add!
So Xindalu it is!
Sat night dinner reservations at Xindalu….check.
A worked up appetite……check.
Let’s goooooooo!
The atmosphere was nice and cosy! It wasn’t a full house given it was a Saturday night!
We sat next to the kitchen to smell and take sneak peaks at the chefs in action!
The dishes came in as they were prepared in the kitchen, with no proper timing. I would have much preferred it if the appetizers actually came first instead of while I was eating my noodles and duck.
Anyway I’ll just pretend that they came in the way I wanted them to! hehe.
Famous Shanghainese Hairy Crab Roe Dumplings
The dumplings were tasty.
The skin of the dumpling was just the way I like it, slightly chewy and thin!
Be careful while lifting those dumpyyyys up! You don’t want the best part of the dish, the broth, spilling out!
But I have to say that somehow I still prefer the traditional pork filling Xiao Long Baos!
Call me boring old fashion!
Crispy Fried Fresh Water Shrimp with Shaoxing Wine
The shrimps were interesting!
The shell was really thin and soft.
After being deep-fried, the shell was edible and crispy!
The Shaoxing wine made the already sweet fresh prawns even more fragrant and tasty!
A good dish for lazy-to-peel-prawn-shell eaters like myself!! tee hee.
Sizzling Eggplant with Minced Pork and Soy Sauce
I am a big fan eggplant fan! I like it when it is all soft and mushy!
Disgusting and weird taste much? haha.
The eggplant was grilled until it was super soft.
Although the sauce was tasty, I found it a little too salty for my liking.
It was an average version of this dish I would say.
Shanghainese Noodles with Fried Dried Shrimp and Fragrant Green Onion Oil
I enjoyed this noodle dish!
I think the noodles were freshly made! The texture was interesting in a good way!
It was really soft but chewy at the same time!
And the fried dried prawns and the green onion oil really gave the dish a very aromatic fragrance! T
Think of that super fragrant onion oil that you usually add in soups! And you’ll get the gist of this dish!
All in all, it was a rather simple dish but tasty dish!
Chef doing his thing with the duckyyyy! Stripping the skin and flesh off the bone! *Quack..help me! Quack Quack* yelped the duck! -.- Okay, I shall stop being lame! haha.
Peking Duck
Crispy Duck Skin
Pancakes, Condiments and Sauces
How to wrap your Peking Duck Pancake 101
Place a piece of pancake flat on a plate. Swirl some sweet sauce all over it. Put in some duck skin and meat along with the condiments.
Fold the top down and the two sides in.
Voilaaaaaaa !! My not-that-great-wrapping-skills! hahaha.
Sadly I have to say that we were disappointed 
The skin was slightly too roasted, leaving it a little too dry for my liking at I taste a bit of a bitter aftertaste on the skin.
The pancakes were also too thick. It becomes a little floury when it is too thick!
The duck was really average but not bad or anything like that, please don’t get me wrong!
I just didn’t think that it was great enough to be THE BEST in Shanghai or China.
I shall not reveal names but a foodie did say that this was the best Peking Duck he/she has ever had and he/she has had Peking Ducks at a substantial number of restaurants. He/she had also claimed that he/she has died and gone to heaven when he/she tasted this Peking Duck.
All I have to say is, “Buddy, please die for a better reason!!!”. hahaha.
But everyone is entitled to their opinion, so I shall respect his/hers!
Xindalu Dessert Conbination. Bottom left: Green Tea Tiramisu; Bottom right: Mixed fruits platter; Middle: Steamed Sweet Glutinous Rice Cakes; Top left: Chilled Mango Sago; Top centre: Coconut Sorbet; Top right: Deep-fried Banana Glutinous Roll.
The dessert platter surely did cheer me up!!
I loved it!
Below are the ones I particularly enjoyed!
Chilled Mango Sago
The puree was made from fresh and good quality mangoes!
Can tell that they did not use any flavouring to enhance its taste.
The lightness and the refreshing-ness of it was just delightful.
Steamed Sweet Glutinous Rice Cakes
I have a thing for glutinous things!
Be it Tong Yuan or Nian Gao or sticky glutinous rice….I love em all !!
I just love the chewy, sticky and bouncy texture!
This rice cakes were just slightly sweetened!
I enjoyed it solely for its texture!
*nom nom nom*
Deep-fried Banana Glutinous Roll
I found this dessert really interesting and it was our favourite!
It was basically a sweet spring roll.
With ripened sweet but firm bananas in the middle as well as some sticky and sweet glutinous filling!
The sweet bananas and the sticky and sweet glutinous filling went so well with the crispy spring roll skin on the outside!
It was such a good combination of flavours an textures!
There was also a creamy custard cause to go along with it!
*yu..yumm.yummm..yummmyyyyy*
The verdict : Although the Peking Duck was the main dish which attracted us to come here in the first place, it was a let down. But the other dishes and dessert made up for it a little. Well, especially dessert actually! I wouldn’t say I would come back again but it wasn’t a bad meal. Just that I would prefer to try somewhere else the next time if I were looking to have a good Peking Duck. All in all, dinner was still enjoyable and the good company made up for it! =D
*Disclaimer note: Opinions expressed are solely based on my personal experience.
Address: Hyatt on the Bund, 199 Huang Pu Road, Shanghai, China.
I just wanted to say, I honestly enjoyed your blog post and I added your link to my wordpress blog today as a recommended site. This is the blog I was seeing for! Thanks