Yummy Workshop

Interior

I am writing another restaurant located at the Alexander Road, otherwise known as the “Food Street” of Richmond. Shanghai food is another one of my favourite Chinese foods of all times, I like it because it is mild tasting (although Cantonese dishes are even more mild) and it can be found in many places in Richmond! Shanghai Morning Restaurant serves Shanghai style Chinese food, as we entered the restaurant, I instantly saw a familiar face. It turns out that the owner is actually the old owner of Chen’s Shanghai Kitchen located at No. 3 and Buswell. My family and I frequently visited Chen’s so we chatted a little. The owner lady told us that she sold Chen’s and went back to Shanghai for some time and now back in business in Richmond as Shanghai Morning. The restaurant used to be Twinkle Bubble Tea, although I’ve never been to Twinkle, it seems like the new owner hasn’t changed much in the interior of the restaurant.

Self-serve menu sheet

Menu looks almost exactly like Chen’s.

Beef Roll — $4.75

This is one of my favourite dishes, the flour wrapper was tender and warm. There was also enough flavourful beef with the Hoi Sin sauce and cucumbers. It would have been even better if there was more browning and crust on the wrapper though.

Pan Fried Pork Buns — $4.95

Almost all Shanghai Chinese restaurants serve this dish with the bun usually soft and fluffy, but their style is sort of one-of-a-kind as they have a very crunchy crust on the bottom and a chewy exterior — just like Chen’s signature pan fried buns. You can burn your tongue so easily when eating this because there is so much hot juices inside so I usually wait until the heat manageable for me to eat.

“Tan Tan” Noodles — $6.25

“Tan Tan” noodles is originally a Sichuan dish, famous for their spiciness and bold flavours. It always has peanuts in it, which is why the broth is so tasty. Some restaurants, though, don’t even serve it in a broth and there is about a million styles of this noodle dish. In all the versions that I have had, it doesn’t contain any meats. The noodles here were cooked to the right texture and the broth was also rich and delicious. However, it was a bit too hot for me, as you can see from the orange colour of the broth. Otherwise, it was tasty.

Spring Rolls with Red Bean Filling — $4.25

Yes, sweet spring rolls. They were quite crispy and had a nice and warm red bean filling. Filling is probably housemade because of the texture and the added aged mandarin peel flavour. I am a fan of red beans so I enjoyed it.