New Shanghai Ashfield — Restaurant in Sydney

(3.5 stars) When your favourite bottle shop calls to suggest a whisky dinner you’d do well to answer. Just Liquor Cellars in Ashfield has been supplying our sake and Japanese whisky for years, so we heeded the call when owner Wen invited us to a tasting event ($100/head) with the folks from Westward Whiskey. We joined a set of serious drinkers each swilling a Westward old fashioned on the footpath outside of New Shanghai. Once safely ensconced within the red walls of their private dining room, we were taken through a range of four single malt offerings that really challenged my notions of American whiskey.

They’re made in the American Northwest—Portland, Oregon to be precise—an area with a cool, wet climate like Scotland. Seventy per cent of America’s grain is produced in this area, along with more than a hundred different craft beers. Their standard Westward American Single Malt (RRP $125/700ml) is made on two-row malted barley, has a lick of salinity. It’s brewed like an American pale ale with slow fermentation and aged in new American white oak barrels that are heavily toasted but lightly charred. It drinks beautifully as an old fashioned made with honey (rather than sugar syrup) and salt because the vanilla and brown sugar notes that make this a soothing way to consume whiskey are already there. The Westward American Single Malt Pinot Noir Cask ($160/700ml) takes it somewhere fruity with red currants, plums and a little fruit cake: not quite my bag. However I would happily get lit on the Westward American Single Malt Stout Cask ($155/700ml) where pecan pie and more intrigue on the nose with petrochemical peat bog and roasted grain. Have some distilled water on hand if you opt for the Westward American Single Malt Cask Strength ($180/700ml): it was a bridge too far for me with peppery, tobacco leaf and sesame notes.

We were kept upright through our early whiskeys with san choi bay ($12/4), great prawn spring rolls ($9.80/4) and spring onion pancakes ($8.20/4). By the time we got to platters of steamed and fried dumplings my tastebuds were pretty blown. Shanghai-style stir-fried Chinese rice cakes ($13.80) were the standout on the final stonker-you plate of salt and pepper prawns ($29.90), crispy tofu with salted egg ($23.90) and Yangzhou combination fried rice ($15.80). Not quite the meal I would have chosen—too much fried food and too light on vegetables for me—but probably the meal anyone drinking this much whiskey in one sitting needs. I walked away with two bottles of Westward whiskey both sold at a special discount price. Can’t wait for the next...

There are so many dumpling houses in Sydney & this strip of Ashfield is a competitive one. Yet New Shanghai has been one of the longer standing ones & for good reason. Always busy, the open kitchen is enclosed with glass windows for everyone to watch the skillful dumplings being made. These guys pump out so many of them a day so your dumplings are always fresh. The decor is modern & the place is buzzy with young and old. Dumplings are a must & I have been here many many many times and my always order dishes are the pan fried pork buns - a thicker bun encasing a soup dumpling. Although I always start with a few cold dishes first, such as the shredded kombu, garlic cucumber & jellyfish, as they really get your appetite revved up! The potstickers are also delicious with a golden crispy bottom. Love the pork & chive as well as the pork & cabbage steamed dumplings for the traditional types & the vegetarian dumpling is modern, generously stuffed & with texture added by carrots & vermicelli. The spicy wontons are also a highlight, whether by itself or in a soup or with a hot, steaming, hearty bowl of noodles. For more substantial dishes to fill you up in the end, go for the thick Shanghainese stir fried noodles or the stir fried rice cakes. I enjoyed the yangzhou fried rice also. Even though you might be full from all the delicious dumplings, dont forget the delectable sweets like the steamed pumpkin dumpling with red bean or the crispy sticky rice dumpling with red bean. Get a sweet Asian milk tea to top off the whole...

We came here tonight to celebrate my partner's bday, including our 2 year old toddler and a couple of rellies. This was our second time in less than 2 weeks to have dinner here because we loved the food feom last time, especially the braised tofu for our toddler. Our order was taken wothout any probs. When an order of salt and pepper tofu was brought to our table, I politely declined, saying that was not what we ordered. The young female server took it back but after checking her tickets, put it on our table and said "this is what you ordered", then proceeded to point it out from the menu. Ironically, it was next to the braised tofu that we actually ordered. The lady said it was what my partner pointed to but my partner specifically said braised tofu and mushrooms when she ordered because that was what our toddler liked last time . The young female server repeated herself and said "thats what you ordered." And put the plate of food on our table. So that theres no more drama, of she said/we said, my partner just accepted the food, which was already on our table. I just agreed as well, thinking I dont want this to be charged to the server (if they do that) and also didnt want to ruin tonight's occasion that we were celebrating. The thing that pissed me off the most was, in spite of her mistake, we didnt get any apologies. Nothing at all. She just put the food on our table like we had no choice but to accept it. Anyway, its safe to say we are never going back to this...