Nanxiang (南翔馒头店) Steamed Bun Restaurant, Singapore, is a chain of restaurants that hails from Shanghai, China.
Via wikipedia:
Nanxiang Bun Shop (南翔馒头店) is a traditional Shanghai eatery located in the City God Temple precinct in the old Chinese section of the city. Nanxiang is a town near Shanghai where the xiaolong mantou (小笼包馒头) was invented. The restaurant has more recently expanded internationally, with branches in South Korea and Japan.
With a heritage like this, the restaurants in Singapore has a lot to live up to. Rachel and I dined at the Nanxiang restaurant at City Square Mall, together with our friend, Melvin Ryan Tan, a few days before he flew back to London.
Neither of us had tried the real McCoy in Shanghai, hence we cannot do a comparison. However, what we ate, we like.
I particularly enjoyed the Lions’ Head Noodle. The Lion’s Head refers to hand made meat balls with assorted fillings, made to resemble a Lion’s Head. There are small bits of water chestnut mixed into the balls, adding a delightful crunch to the texture.
I did not find their signature xiaolongbao exceptionally better than the many other Chinese restaurants like Crystal Jade that offers it on their menu. Nonetheless, the tangbao (soup bun) was a delight. I remember drinking this in a restaurant in Shanghai.
Basically, the soup is served in a giant bun with a straw stuck in the middle. In Shanghai, I saw many of the restaurants patrons sipping dry the soup in the bun and then chucking away the bun with the meat filling. I find that rather wasteful and will try to eat up the bun and filling, but to be honest, they are quite tasteless after you siphon away all the taste via the soup.
Overall, the food was good, price was reasonable and the service exceptional (the auntie waitresses were very friendly). The restaurant is kind of forgettable though; as there are too many such similar Chinese restaurants peppered around Singapore.
It’s likely I will dine there again, but it will be on those ‘by the way’ occasion whereby I happen to be in the area, rather than specially making my way down because I have a sudden craving for their food.
Nanxiang has two outlets in Singapore:
Nanxiang @ Bugis Junction:
200 Victoria Street #02-53 Bugis Junction Singapore 188021 | Tel: 6835 7577
Nanxiang @ City Square Mall:
180 Kitchener Road #04-15/16 City Square Mall Singapore 208539 | Tel: 6509 9134
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