Xu's Wonton House 白玉蘭麵家 (2nd visit)

My favourite place for Shanghainese soup dumplings (xiao long bao) is located in Crystal Mall, at Xu's Wonton House. The food stall is also apparently known for a few other dishes, with one including their rice cake which I have never tried. Actually, the only item I have tried here is the XLB! As for the service, man… the staff ain't friendly. However, I decided to speak in Chinese this time and wow… what a big difference it makes! The owner's wife was super friendly and even asked how many plates I needed. FML even the cashier was friendly when I said "thank you" in Chinese as I returned the steamer.

BAYULAN XIAO LONG BAO ($4.55).

Rating: 5/5.

The XLB has a very thin but durable skin, and lots of soup! There is a rich broth along with a nice flavour of ginger and wine, and does not taste salty. Furthermore, the meat tastes flavourful as well as smooth and not gritty.

SHANGHAI STYLE PAN FRIED DUMPLINGS ($5.25).
Rating: 3/5.

Curious to see how some of their other dishes taste, I decided to try the pan fried buns. The buns are pan fried with the twirl on the bottom to prevent the juice from squirting out and are just as juicy as the XLB. The dough is a touch thicker compared to other pan fried buns but I like the recipe, where there is a mild sweetness and no flavour of yeast. As for the filling, the meat tastes tender and flavourful like the XLB. Be careful with these though because the juice can squirt out from anywhere!

BOILED DUMPLINGS ($6.55).

Rating: 2.5/5.

The last item that I decided to try are the pork and cabbage dumplings. The pork has a light flavour and tastes tender, but the dumplings can use more cabbage. There is not enough cabbage in the filling and despite the dumplings tasting a bit juicy, it lacks that nice refreshing flavour. Furthermore, a couple of the dumplings were ripped too :(.

TOTAL: $16.35.

In my opinion, Xu's Wonton House serves the best XLB. The XLB tastes juicy, flavourful and the meat tastes great. As for the other items I ordered, meh… I can live without them. In addition, surprisingly the staff is friendly. I will make sure to order in Chinese on my future visits because on every previous visit, the staff look… so miserable when I order in English.

POSITIVES

- Fresh and made to order XLB

- My favourite XLB in Vancouver

- Staff is friendly to those who speak Chinese

NEGATIVES

- Some may find the XLB too big

- Staff is only friendly to those who speak Chinese

LITTLE THINGS

- First post on Xu's Wonton House [here]