Joe’s Shanghai, Midtown: New York City, New York, USA
Normally my friends and I would choose the Chinatown location over Midtown, but this location was a few blocks from where they worked and it was the closest stop for my friend JT who was driving in from Queens. As always, crab soup dumplings made the list. However, there were a few other items as well:
- crab soup dumplings
- peking duck (whole)
- braised shitake mushrooms with bokchoy
- lionshead meatballs
Crab Soup Dumplings
PROS
- great flavor, not busted open – this is so key to eating soup dumplings. If the dumplings are busted, then there’s no soup inside!
- good portions compared to The Bau Haus in St. Marks. That was an utter waste of soup dumplings.
CONS
- more ginger in the dipping sauce (please)
crab soup dumplings
dumpling upclose
Peking Duck: this was the first time that I had peking duck in NYC. I’ve had it in Singapore and it was AMAZING. They also take the remainder of the duck and cook it in three different ways back in Asia as not to waste the fowl. I’d actually like to try Buddakan the next time I am in NYC to compare.
PROS
- nice presentation, skin was nice and crispy as expected
CONS
- tortilla skins/wrappers. You have got to be bullsh*tting me. It felt like it had the flavors of roasted peking duck, but that I was eating a burrito. Not to mention, tortilla is SO much thicker that you have to stuff the balls out of it to get a good proportion of taste. This was an absolute FAIL in my honest opinion.
peking duck…with tortillas.
peking duck
Braised Shitake Mushrooms
PROS
- one of my favorite dishes: mushrooms were cooked really well!
- vegetable was not overcooked which can sometimes happen
CONS
- slightly too salty for my taste. But the sauce was still good overall.
braised shitake mushrooms
Lionshead Meatballs: extra large sized meatballs. These supposedly have some sort of specific recipe to follow as it normally is made with a combination of minced meat and tofu. I’d like to know what goes into this specific one though.
PROS
- fairly large sized, good to share
- not overly salty or seasoned, fantastic over rice
CONS
- slightly drier than I am used to. There’s a restaurant in Atlanta that does them REALLY well and they are super soft to the point that while the meat is cooked, it is falling apart in your mouth as you eat it. I didn’t really get that here from Joe’s Shanghai.
- It’s almost the same exact sauce as the braised shitake mushrooms. REALLY?
lionshead meatballs
All in all it was a really tasty meal! I’m glad I could meet up with some friends. They honestly make the meal so much better, especially if they are amazing conversationalists. I can’t wait to eat with Sarah, Ron, and JT again! A quick summary of the meal:
- crab soup dumplings: **** (4 stars)
- peking duck: *** (3 stars)
- braised shitake mushrooms and bokchoy: ***.75 (3.75 stars)
- lionshead meatballs: ***.5 (3.5 stars)
If you want to check out the midtown location, you can find them here:
24 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019
(212) 333-3868
Until next time, thank you for being patient as I settle into my home back in ATL!
R/g
Rammiegirl 2.0 