Wang's Shanghai Cuisine returns!

I was dismayed when several years ago one of my favourite spots for xiao long bao - Wang's in Crystal Mall - closed down. It was a loss for us all.

So you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled onto a new restaurant with the exact same name many years later located in the London Drugs parking lot at 3328 Kingsway.

Instead of being a stall in a food court, it is now a "full" restaurant. I put the full in quotes, because it is a very small space with about 7 tables total. But they do have table service.

I didn't recognize any of the faces, but couldn't see into the kitchen, so I wasn't sure if it was the same people running it. But after ordering the xiao long bao ($4.75 for 6) it seems like it is likely the same dumpling maker, or at least the same recipe. Wang's was the only place I've been where the ginger was not served sliced in the vinegar and instead put inside of the meat mixture to steam into the dumpling directly. And this new Wang's did the same thing. Is that a "signature ginger move" or something?!?!?!?

The xiao long bao arrived piping hot with steam visibly rising from the steamer. The skins were a bit thicker than I remember them, and the tops were a bit sloppily pinched instead of neatly folded as I remember them. Even though they were crammed into the steamer and slightly touching none of them stuck to each other and all came out without breaking at all. The pork and broth were as I remember them. Steaming the ginger directly inside layers the flavours in a very pleasing way, and they were bursting with the impactful broth.

I looked at the dishes other people were ordering (you get crammed into a table with lots of strangers at busy times like when I was there) and I have to say that the other menu items looked of varying quality to me. I saw one stir fried pork dish where the pork looked extremely overcooked visually. So time will tell what dishes are the good ones to get here.

As far as the XLB go, the broth had that same distinctive Wang's taste, and if they work a bit and get back into practice on the thinness of the skin and neater folding they will be back to their old glory days!