Whampoa Club 黄浦会 Weekend Brunch, Shanghai

The Whampoa Club at Three on the Bund is promoting their new Shanghai Dim Sum lunch. I was able to round up a group of friends that were willing to make it a go. As you know, brunch in Shanghai is big event with so many notable restaurants offering brunch deals and specials. I almost had to do a hard sell to my finicky friends to try this unknown. Thank goodness the Whampoa Club was (and hopefully still are) offering a deal a 2 for 1 All-You-Can-Eat weekend deal.

After getting a nice large table by the window, I glanced at the menu, which was divided into 4 parts – the Appetizers, the Dim Sum, the Mains, and the Sweets – we just decided to say “Yes” four times. The dishes, as we planned, would arrive in 4 different stages or courses.

We started with some of the traditional cold dishes, which can be considered as appetizers. The candied lotus and cucumber salad were the standouts. I am not sure how you can mess or dress up cold dish appetizers.

Next up, we had the Dim Sum page, which was about 12 different dishes. Since we had 10 of us, not everyone was able to try everything, though we did order a couple of the favorites more than once. I came to the realization that Cantonese Dim Sum and Shanghainese Dim Sum vary with their use of shrimp and fried foods. The Cantonese use of shrimp, can be seen in many of the steamed dim sum dishes, while the Shanghainese barely use it. Also, with the Shanghainese, there is many more fried items, like the Pan Fried Pork Dumplings, Pork Buns, Rice cake, and Pork Pastries.

Here in lies the big difference is between Cantonese Dim Sum and the so-called Whampoa Shanghai Dim Sum, is with the main dish offerings. The variety of noodles, from soup, cold, and spicy, allowed our taste palettes enjoy the different flavors and textures. Perhaps its because Cantonese Dim Sum offers so many different choices, we aren’t able to celebrate lunch like the Hong Konger’s do. I must say that the noodles were quite good, especially the Cold Noodle served with Peanut Sauce and the Noodles with salted vegetable and pork in soup. I was looking forward to the Traditional Shanghainese noodles braised in “Ba Bao” noodles with spicy sauce, but they were out of it.

Anyways, I would fully recommend trying the Weekend Brunch with the 2 for 1 deal. Heck, I would go again, even without the deal. Pretty laid back dining experience with great service. Also, I would suggest on getting a table by the window to enjoy the Bund boardwalk views.

What to Order: Noodles – any of the noodles What not to Order: avoid the soy milk drink and the deep fried bread stick.

Rating 2 Pigs Price Range 3 $/¥/NT

Links Food Tourist, Smart Shanghai, Chowhound Discussion, Zagat, Dining City, City weekend, The Thirsty Pig, Life on Nanchang Lu

Whampoa Club 广东路17号, 外滩三号5楼, 近中山东一路 Three on the Bund, 5F, 3 Zhongshan Dongyi Road, Shanghai +86 21 6321 3737 threeonthebund.com