The Succulent Moistness of the BBQ Pork at Crystal Jade 翡翠酒家, Shanghai
I was asking a couple of friends, one who is Shanghainese and the other from the North who’s lived in Shanghai for awhile, what are some of the better restaurants in town. Surprisingly they said they like southern cuisine, more specifically Guangdong, Cantonese, or Hong Kong dishes – could be considered the same. One of the finest in Shanghai is Crystal Jade.
This chain, surprisingly from Singapore, has some of the yummiest dishes. With locations in Hong Kong, Beijing, and other cities, Crystal Jade is popular and well known. I know friends in Taipei have been wanting expansion there as well. Though I have only been in Shanghai for 6 months … people keep asking what I think is good or what I like. Other than speaking of Xiaolongbao’s…I keep thinking Crystal Jade – time and time again.
Located at the popular Xintiandi, Crystal Jade has some of the best Dim Sum that I have ever had – even from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Taiwan, and even Hong Kong. The three delicacies plate with roast pork, bbq pork, and chicken. The BBQ pork was tender with the right amount of fat to meat ratio – for succulent moistness. The chicken was fine . . .but I think I ignored it after one bite. But the roast pork was the best I have ever had – and it wasn’t even the best dish I had for that meal. The crispy skin wasn’t too hard nor too chewy. The skin was light and crunchy … almost the same texture Mexican Chicharrón, but roasted with the meat together. The meat was almost an afterthought, since I have never experience greatness like this in my pie hole.
The other dim sum items . . .like the fried radish cakes, the flakey baked radish mini-pies, hot sticky rice wraps, steam pork dumplings, and pork spare ribs were all very good. I like the flakey baked radish mini-pies, which were delicate and tasty. The steamed pork and shrimp dumplings were as good as they ought to be. But, personally, I couldn’t tell a good one from a bad one.
The star of the day was the slow cooked diced beef with roasted garlic chips in black pepper sauce. This dish was awesome. Anything with roasted garlic chips – gives that great crunchy, and almost chewy texture, makes everything better. The slow cooked cubed beef was strikingly tender … not sure why I used strikingly . . .but I don’t think I have ever had beef for tender. The beef fell apart in my mouth before my tooth chomped right through. I look at pictures and still imagine this dish. Anyways…I know other restaurants have tried, but they can’t come close to duplicating this great dish.
Enjoy!
What to Order: Roasted Pork and slow cooked diced beef with roasted garlic chips in black pepper sauce What not to Order:
Rating 3 Pigs Price Range 2 $/¥/NT
翡翠酒家, 新天地店 湾区兴业路123弄新天地南里6-7号2楼(近马当路) +86 21 6385 8752
Crystal Jade 2F-12A, Lane 123, Xinye Lu (near Madang Lu), South Block Xintiandi Plaza, Shanghai 200021, China. Tel: +86 21 6385 8752 crystaljade.com/
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