Shanghai Dalston

My sister and I have a slightly bizarre hangover cure. When one of us is feeling rough on a Sunday morning, we call the other one for sympathy and eventually if able to get out of bed, we make our way from our respective flats to Shanghai in Dalston for some Dim Sum. Now I completely understand why some people would not associate dim sum with a hangover - the usually glutinous and slimy textures, the often unidentifiable meat content of the dumplings – but for some reason, it just works for us.

The small entry to Shanghai on Kingsland Road makes it easy to miss despite the bright yellow exterior. Once inside there are a few booths at the front or you can go into the back room which is much more spacious and if busy feels slightly buzzier. The décor isn’t glam and to be fair neither is the service, though having lived in Shanghai (the city not the restaurant) I can say that in a way it’s relatively authentic.

We usually order a pot of jasmine tea straight away whilst we pointlessly look at the dim sum menu before always ordering the usual culprits anyway. These include siu mai (prawn andpork dumplings), har gao (crystal prawn dumplins), king prawn cheung fan (the most slimy of all), lotus leaf rice parcels (the epitome of unidentifiable fillings involving meat, shrimp, egg yolk), xiao long bao (Shanghai special dumplings with sort of burst in your mouth)… and a few others. We once decided to be adventurous and ordered the yam dumpling. Don’t.

Now having been here a few times the quality of the food varies. When it’s good, it’s really good but on occasion it can be a bit disappointing. The service also varies – sometimes you get sauces, sometimes you don’t and quite frankly don’t bother to ask for tap water or if you really do want some then be prepared to ask a few different waiters a few times.

But to be honest I always leave slightly less hungover, full of dumplings and feeling like I might just be able to go on. Also value wise you couldn’t complain – I usually leave absolutely stuffed and it tends to be between £10 and £15 each.  If you live near Dalston and fancy a dimsum fix then this is the place for you (and if you are seated near 2 blonde girls looking sorry for themselves - I can only apologise). 

Shanghai 

41 Kingsland High Street London E8 2JS